J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard is out on the shelves today with something just short of the fanfare of a typical Harry Potter launch. Still, 8 million copies were released worldwide, and the book has already begun rising to the top of all the bestseller lists.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of fairy tales mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. According to this Associated Press article, Rowling, who both wrote and illustrated The Tales, described them as a distillation of themes from the Harry Potter books and her goodbye to that world.

Rowling is donating royalties from the book to a children's charity that she co-founded.

Set in Waynesville, North Carolina during the depression, Ron Rash's novel Serena traces the story of a wealthy lumber baron and his ruthlessly ambitious wife. Think Lady Macbeth in Appalachia... read more

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In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell dissected the phenomena of social epidemics; and in Blink, he discussed the nature of split-second decision-making. In Outliers, Gladwell, the founding father of pop-sociology, examines high-achieving individuals and questions what makes them different from everyone else.

In debunking the Horatio Alger story, in which the disadvantaged but gifted and tenacious individual rises above his or her circumstances to achieve the American dream, Gladwell probes the social advantages, cultural influences, and auspicious timing enjoyed by those who "make it." He examines everyone - child hockey players, rock stars, and Fortune 500 executives - to illustrate that a person's success, while certainly tied to talent, owes a great deal to their circumstances.

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10 Days of Giftmas: Holiday Gift Books 2008

The release this year of Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga coincided with the release of the film version of the saga's first book, creating a YA literary phenomenon not unlike that seen with Harry Potter. Around the world devoted teenage and adult fans have snatched up Stephenie Meyer's vampire books in record quantities sometimes even outnumbering those for J.K. Rowling's boy wizard series.

Twilight tells the story of Bella, the new teenager at school, who meets and falls in love with Edward, one of a small group of teenage vampires who keep strictly to an animal diet, having renounced human prey. Romance and horror ensue. If the YA reader on your gift list is not already firmly ensconced in the Twilight Saga, ensconce them.

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10 Days of Giftmas: Holiday Gift Books 2008