Books Holiday Gift Guide

Kindle crusher
It wasn’t too long ago that Amazon’s Kindle eReader was ready to burn down your paperback collection. But then people saw it, and while it was kind of nifty, it wasn’t the most user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing device imaginable. Now comes B&N’s Nook ($259) which is priced the same as the Kindle, and suffers from the same clunkiness issues. But, two aspects make us believers: first, it supports the open-source ePub formay, and secondly, it allows users to “lend” books to friends. Sure, your pal needs a Nook, too, but the ability to pass books back and forth, that’s one of print’s greatest advantages. Available at barnesandnoble.com.

Squirrely sequel
Poster-making local legend Ryan has just compiled his second collection of work Animals and Objects In and Out of Water (Akashic, $22.95), following 2005’s 100 Posters, 134 Squirrels. Like the last one, you’ll find loads of mind-bending band posters, along with some of Ryan’s other playful prints. And as a signal of how at home Ryan is in local music and literary circles, there’s an introduction by troubadour Andrew Bird and an essay from novelist Joe Meno. Available at The Book Cellar (4736-4738 N Lincoln Ave, 773-293-2665, bookcellarinc.com).

Old-school comics
It’s a story that’s reached mythic proportions: Famed indie comics imprint Fantagraphics was in dire financial straits, until it was saved when a savvy, smartly packaged reissue of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts sold like crazy. Since then, Fantagraphics has tried to recapture that lightning with a Dennis the Menace reissue, and now Drawn & Quarterly collects John Stanley’s classic Nancy strips from 1957-58 in Nancy: Volume One (Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95). We cracked it open on a lark, and it is seriously charming, funny and at times downright weird. Available at Quimby’s (1815 W North Ave, 773-342-0910, quimbys.com).

Jonathan’s Wish List
Remember how we were talking about the virtues of eReaders a second ago? Forget all that. Print will always rule when it comes to design, and lifelong readers are nothing if not print fetishists. John Gall set out to redesign 21 of Vladimir Nabokov’s books (Vintage, $14–$17.95), doling out the assignments to some of his favorite designers. The task was to riff on the Russian novelist’s love of butterfly collecting, and each one came back looking like a lepidoptery box, a gorgeous diorama shot for each over. I know, I know, inside they read just the same, but these things are too cool to pass up. Available at Women and Children First (5233 N Clark St, 773-769-9299, womenandchildrenfirst.com).

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