Suddenly

Suddenly it is December and I am scrambling to finish my Christmas shopping. Yes, finish - I started shopping weeks ago. I don't like shopping and I hate crowds so I always start early. Sometimes people think this makes life easier, but it is still the same amount of shopping, the same amount of worry (will Dad like this?!?) just without the lineups and out of stock disappointments.
I confess I buy people books as often as I can. I'm comfortable in bookstores, I know how to navigate them, unlike music stores. I must wander around HMV with a look of confused panic on my face judging by the way the hip salespeople descend on me, call me Ma'am, fetch everything on my list, then send me on my way as quickly as possible. Perhaps I scare all the young customers. I am, after all, the future.
Occasionally, when I am book buying for others, I wonder why it is that I am so seldom given books as gifts? I know other book lovers who have this same complaint. Do you get books as gifts? Or do you make a mad dash to your favourite bookstore on Boxing Day with the cash your mother gave you gripped firmly in hand and a maniacal grin on your face the same way I do?