Read Into Special Interests While Holiday Gift Shopping

Now that stray visitors have headed home and leftovers are history, the crazed-shopper season has arrived. Pity the poor souls with gifts already bought and wrapped. They are stuck with free time left to second-guess their choices, while you brave ever-growing crowds in search of that perfect book for special people.

Buying books for someone else is guilt-free entertainment. You get to sample selections you might not have chosen for yourself. For example, “The Bear Comes Home,” by Ravi Zabor (Norton), a novel about jazz life since the Beat Generation, or “The Black Zodiac” (Ferrar Straus & Giroux), Charles Wright’s latest collection of poems. Here are a few more suggestions suited to specific interests.

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For thrill-seekers, the new edition of “Into Thin Air: The Illustrated Edition” by Jon Krakauer (Random House), with the author’s postscript and 250 photographs to accompany the full text of the 1996 Mount Everest ascent. For aviation buffs, “Lindbergh” (Putnam), Scott Berg’s biography of the famous flier.

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Wordsmiths might romp through “Crazy English: The Ultimate Joy Ride Through Our Language,” by Richard Lederer (Pocket Books). Another choice for the curiosity-seeker: “Passion and Craft: Conversations With Notable Writers,” edited by Bonnie Lyons and Bill Oliver (University of Illinois Press).

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Since memoirs abound lately, “Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir,” edited by William Zinsser (Houghton-Mifflin), offers a selection of writers who explore their pasts--notably Russell Baker and Toni Morrison. On the other hand, a pet lover’s choice would be “Memoirs of a Pet Therapist: America’s Leading Expert Bares All,” by Warren Eckstein (Fawcett Books). Eckstein will be discussing his lifelong devotion to animals at 2:30 p.m. today at Barnes & Noble, 160 S. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. 446-2820.

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Fiction lovers play it safe with novels by old favorites--for example, Pulitzer Prize-winner Philip Roth’s latest novel, “I Married a Communist” (Houghton-Mifflin). Looking for humor along with serious themes? Take Fannie Flagg’s latest novel, “Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!” (Random House). Or Pearl Cleage’s comic novel, “What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day” (Avon Books), an Oprah Book Club selection. For those lofty seekers on your list--”The Best Spiritual Writing 1998,” edited by Philip Zaleski (Black Dog and Leventhal and Harper).

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If your decision motor is still in neutral, it’s time to consider “Great Books for Every Book Lover, 2002 Great Reading Suggestions for the Discriminating Bibliophile” (Workman), by Thomas J. Craughwell. Enough already. Catch you next week.

* Information about book-signings, writers groups or publishing events can be faxed to Ann Shields at (805) 647-5649, or e-mailed to anns40@aol.com