I once read this in a magazine advice column:

“Every year my sister sends my children gifts for their birthdays. I know this is a nice thing to do, but I have a complaint. She knows when their birthdays are, but the gifts never arrive on time. Her gifts often come a week, or even as much as a month after their birthdays. This is so inconsiderate.

“If my sister is going to remember my children’s birthdays, why can’t she just send the gifts on time? I would rather she not send any at all then send them so late. Should I tell my sister to just stop sending gifts?”

My first reaction to this was, what a whiner! But then I had a pang of guilt: I’m frequently a late gift giver. Does my sister feel offended when I send her kids a gift after their birthdays?

I asked her, and she scoffed at the idea. So I stopped feeling guilty about that.

But I also used to worry that I was getting the wrong gifts for my nieces and nephews. None of them live nearby, and some are far enough away we only see them once a year. I wouldn’t dare try to choose clothes or music for them. Too tricky. Gift cards are appreciated, but my kids often forget who gave them a gift card. I, in my vanity, want my nieces and nephews to look at their gifts and think, “My Aunt Necie loves me.”

Dirk’s aunt is a librarian in Idaho and she hit on the perfect gift. Every couple of years, she comes to our house with a bag of books for my children. It’s like Christmas in the summertime. There’s something for everyone, from picture books, to middle grade novels, to beautiful anthologies of folklore, mythology, and fairy tales. She has fun picking them out, my children have fun reading them, and we all remember those books came from Aunt Mary.

That is why I decided to be the Book Aunt for my nieces and nephews.

At first, I thought this might be something like trying to identify tastes in clothes or music, but it wasn’t so hard. I asked their parents what types of books they enjoyed, then found something in that genre that was more obscure. For example, my niece likes dystopian novels, so I gave her a highly rated dystopian book by a new author. Ka-ching! She loved it.

The very best part of being the Book Aunt is when my nieces and nephews tell me what they thought of a book I gave them. My oldest niece is a true bibliophile, and it’s easy talking to her about books we both like. Not all of my 11 nieces, nephews and grand-nieces are as quick to share. One quiet teenaged nephew in particular has opened up to me several times, not just talking about the book I gave him but also recommending books to me that he enjoyed! I love that.

Another nephew hated reading, his parents would tell me. I wondered if that was a hint I should stop sending him books, but I didn’t. Pushy Book Aunt. But, on our last visit to this family, we learned that our non-reading nephew had picked up the latest book and loved it! It happened to be the first in a series, and he has since pursued more by this author! I got goose bumps. I already have another series in mind to send for his next gift.

Want to be a Book Aunt or Uncle too? For me, it helps that my own kids read a lot, in many different genres. That put me in touch with a lot of different titles. Librarians and local book stores are a big help too. The ladies at Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo are happy to give you recommendations.

And please, don’t hesitate to send a gift late. I’ve been as late as three months (*blushing), but my nieces and nephews know eventually Aunt Necie will send them a book.

— Check out more from Denise Roundy at thetreesandi.blogspot.com. Contact her at dirkroundy@yahoo.com.