There's an art to giving a book as a present. You can't just stumble into a bookstore and wander around aimlessly. (Well, that actually sounds quite pleasant, but who has time for that sort of activity this time of year?) The lazy way to handle the situation is simply to pick up a gift card, and have done with it. And truth be told, there are a lot of people who are happy enough to be given the choice. Whether they actually get around to using the card is another matter.

According to financial analysts, billions of dollars' worth of gift cards are uncashed every year, which is a windfall for the retailers who issued the cards and kind of sad for the gift recipient. (If you have unused gift cards you never intend to use, check out www.certificateswap.com, a Web site that allows people to swap cards for other cards or buy and sell unused cards. Otherwise, you might as well use the plastic cards to scrape ice off your windshield.)

As with any thoughtful gift, the trick is paying attention. Do a little research. Who doesn't like to look through people's books? (Not as much fun as scoping out their medicine cabinets, maybe, but still sort of sneaky.) When you've got a good idea of your reader's likes and dislikes, it's time to go shopping.

For History Buffs

The perfect place to start is Fountain Bookstore in Shockoe Slip. The salesfolk there know how to party, and are holding holiday events all through the month of December. Plus, you can do a little pre-browsing on their Web site at www.fountainbookstore.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp.

The best history books often read like novels and Ben Macintyre's book "Agent Zigzag" is what was once called a "ripping good read." The story of a British criminal who became a double agent in World War II, the story has the kind of plot you'd find in a fictional thriller. And more. (Macintyre has a soft spot for crooks. One of his earlier bestsellers was "The Napoleon of Crime," which is about a sympathetic thief fascinated by the portrait of a beautiful socialite.)

Social histories of strange cultures can be equally fascinating, as in the case of Roberto Saviano's first book, a fascinating look at Naples, Italy's criminal underground and its global reach.

History is being made right now, of course, and there are a lot of books chronicling the events unfolding in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots. A lot of the books have an immediacy that takes the reader inside surges and the patrols and the armored personnel carriers. A rare book that offers perspective and analysis (albeit with an admitted bias) is "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone" by Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Newly available in paperback, this gracefully written account of bad policy made worse by ineptitude offers readers of every political persuasion food for thought.

For Foodies

There are a lot of cookbooks out there, and even serious cooks don't often buy the glossy, gorgeous, hard-backed cookbooks for themselves. Who wouldn't love to get one of the "Barefoot Contessa" books by Ina Garten? Or Nigella Lawton's "Feast?" You might want to skip the unfortunately named "Cooking with Pooh" (Winnie the, not the biological byproducts of eating), which sent the food blog writers into paroxysms earlier this year.

The next best thing to eating and cooking food is reading about food. There are some wonderful books out there that combine recipes and reveries on all sorts of things. Check out any of Jane and Michael Stern's books, which include everything from an encyclopedia of bad taste (the velvet Elvis painting kind not Brussels sprouts with apples kind) to a series of gracefully written restaurant cookbooks.

Before there was "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, there was "Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel. It's worth it to track down a copy. A newer book, "Man Who Ate Everything," is an often hilarious account of author Jeffrey Steingarten's obsession with culinary minutiae. (There's a whole chapter on his search for a very special kind of fat to fry potatoes in that will either intrigue or appall readers.) Steingarten is a frequent judge on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America," and one of the most popular. And by the way, the host of that show, Alton Brown, has a whole series of books out, including "I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0."

For Mystery Lovers

Mystery lovers are gluttonous readers, always eager to find new writers or writers who offer new twists on old formulas. A quick glance at a friend's bookshelves will tell you the kind of stories they prefer — hard-boiled, cozy, thriller — and you'll usually see multiple titles by the same author. What you don't want to do is wrap up the latest James Patterson for someone who likes James Patterson, because they've already read it. What you want to do is find a book that shares similarities with Patterson's work and buy that. You could turn a reader on to a whole new batch of books.

Amazon.com has a great feature that tells browsers the titles of books that readers of a certain author might like. Or you could check out the Web site of Creatures 'n Crooks Bookshoppe (www.cncbooks.com/staffpicks.html ) which specializes in mystery, science fiction, fantasy and horror. They offer both staff and reader picks, and it's like having your own personal book shopper backing you up. (One of the staff picks for November/December is Don Winslow's "California Fire and Life," one of the best books of a prolific author and a book that any mystery lover will enjoy.)

Another trick is to purchase a book by an author the reader has sampled but not fully explored. Everybody and his mother read "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson, enjoying his tale of an American Jack the Ripper. His latest book, "Thunderstruck" came out in paperback in September and would make a dandy stocking stuffer. It's another period true crime thriller, this time pitting a sympathetic murderer against a determined police officer using the brand-new radio technology of Marconi.

For Kids

There are two schools of thought about buying books for children. One theory is that you should buy something that's a timeless literary classic, something that might improve a young mind by providing a well-written example to follow. A book that you read and treasured and want to kindle the same enthusiasm for in a young friend. This is the literary equivalent of buying socks for your grandchildren and will be met with roughly the same insincere gratitude. "'Moby Dick!' Awesome. I'll get to it right after I break my Playstation 3!"