I was eight years old when I learned that books make great gifts. For Christmas that year, my aunt (who was a teacher and in the business of encouraging kids to read) sent a box of goodies: books by Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and a copy of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I read from that box of books from the time I got home from school until bedtime, only taking a break for dinner because I had to. ("One more page!" I'd tell my parents after they’d told me for the third time that dinner was ready.)

Once I became known as “the bookworm,” every birthday and Christmas brought gifts of books. I think this photograph is from my tenth birthday. I couldn't get enough Trixie Belden mysteries!

I took the time to display and photograph my books before opening the rest of the presents.

As an adult I try to do as much book-gifting to others as I possibly can, and there are several University of Nebraska Press books that I've given as gifts in the past and will continue to give:

The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central: High School Basketball at the ’68 Racial Divide by Steve Marantz

I'm an alum of Omaha Central High School, along with several family members and many friends. Not only does this book offer a history of the school in the late 1960s, it also gives you an important look at the civil rights movement in Omaha, which was something I was not that familiar with before reading the book.

Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red Guard by Fan Shen 

Gang of One is the author's account of growing up in Communist China, then fleeing the country as an adult. Even though I knew from the beginning that the author eventually made it to the United States, once I got to the part of his story where his attempts seem to be doomed, I couldn't put it down until I finished it.

Forever Red: Confessions of a Cornhusker Football Fan by Steve Smith

I caught my Husker fever the night of the 1984 Orange Bowl when Nebraska went for the win rather than the tie with the 2-point conversion. Steve Smith grew up with the same fever, and collected in Forever Red are his memories of Husker games throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. It's great nostalgia for all Huskers fans.

That covers my top picks. I've created an entire Pinterest board of my favorite University of Nebraska Press books. With the holidays fast approaching, consider giving the readers in your life the gift of a great book!

-Erica