Gifts that speak volumes -- books

We have a solution for your last-minute gifts - books.

Wait a minute, don't lump this in with the generic tie or fruitcake.

It's easy to find the right book to fit every homeowner on your list. Whether your friend or relative is a gardener, loves to tweak home decor or is just starting out and needs help with the nitty-gritty, there's a tome out there.

Some are what you think of as Gift Books - those thick, oversized hardbacks packed with lots of rich, colorful photos and great writing that can become cherished possessions and land a place on the coffee table for years.

Others are more simple paperbacks, but so useful the recipient will thank you ever time he or she pages through to a solution for the current household question.

Here are some ideas to get you started in your hunt.

Local authors

• "Today's Botanical Artists" (Schiffer Books, $39.95) features works from about 60 artists, including at least two suburbanites.

Karen Johnson of Naperville, who was educated in scientific illustration, tried to explain the long-term appeal of botanic illustrations.

"For me it's capturing a moment in time," she said. "I'm a gardener. When I grow irises and peonies and roses, I wait 9 or 12 months for this flower to bloom. It lasts a day or two, and then the rains come or the wind, and it is gone. Painting captures its beauty and immortalizes it."

The other local artist featured in the book is Bobbie Brown of St. Charles, and both she and Johnson teach classes at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

• Joel Greenberg's "Of Prairie, Woods, & Water: Two Centuries of Chicago Nature Writing," (University of Chicago, $45) collects descriptions of what our region was like before 1959.

It's amazing to read Jens Jensen as long ago as 1939 bemoaning the loss of the prairies.

And how about Fred J. Wells' essay about black bass fishing in the Fox River in 1896. Of course, Greenberg, who lives in Westmont, tracked down experts who say the Fox still offers pretty good smallmouth fishing compared with other Illinois rivers.

• "Yard and Garden Makeovers: Your Guide to Creating a Beautiful, Logical Landscape," (Ball Publishing, $39.95), shares the wisdom and experience of its authors, George Kay and his son, Brian Kay, who have a landscape design and construction firm based in Geneva.

The duo has strong opinions about what you should build and plant and where. For example, when building a pond, they think it's important to place each rock individually and choose organic shapes and varying sizes of boulders and smaller rocks to create a natural feel.

• Ann Durkin Keating, professor of history at North Central College in Naperville, misses very few communities in "Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide," (University of Chicago, $25).

Tidbits you might not know: Long Grove's original post office in 1847 was called Muttersholz or Mother's Woods because of the area's strong German influence. And the name held until World War I.

Naperville avoided the post World War II suburban growth until the Reagan Tollway was announced as the East-West in 1954. Then it boomed to 128,358 by 2000.

• "Chicago Gardens: The Early History" (University of Chicago Press, $35) by Cathy Jean Maloney, is another book that tells us how our region got to be what it is today. Did you know that roof gardens, which we thought were a modern invention, made their debut in Chicago in 1894? "The roof garden atop the Masonic Temple included two theaters with a total seating capacity of two hundred," wrote Maloney, who writes for the Morton Arboretum.

Interior Design

• Fans of Domino magazine will enjoy the book its editors put together, "Domino: The Book of Decorating," (Melcher Media, $32).

It's full of tips, colored photos and how-to.

Here are quick ideas when you are buying a dining room table: Round tables are great for group conversation, but another interesting thought is two smaller squares rather than one large rectangle. You can push them together when you have a big group.

If you don't have woodwork, paint a border around the ceiling, windows and doorways.

And the easiest way to pull a living room together is to put a pair of lamps on end tables or behind the sofa. Or you can split them up for a looser feel.

• Celerie Kemble designs some gorgeous spaces, and she shows them off in "To Your Taste: Creating Modern Rooms with a Traditional Twist," (Potter, $45). Here are some of her tips: Clash colors carefully. She likes pairing pinks with reds and navy with blacks, "if you do it with conviction and savvy." A lot of clean white in that room can referee.

Use black carefully. "Give serious thought to where the black elements should go - and try to distribute them evenly around the space." If you find one black item you want to use, add two more for balance.

Gardening

• Gardens that just don't seem to come together (and what gardener doesn't think he or she should tweak the design) could use "Designer Plant Combinations," Storey, $18.95) by Scott Calhoun.

One we liked is an informal blending of butterfly weed, black-eyed Susan and white prairie clover - all hardy in our area. The first year you mow frequently to keep the weeds from producing seed while the wildflowers and grasses are less than 6 inches tall. Then you should burn every two or three years if the authorities and the surrounding environment allow it.

• "Lilacs: A Gardener's Encyclopedia," (Timber Press, $49.95) by John L. Fiala, revised and updated by Freek Vrugtman, is a classic for lovers of this favorite shrub. You can almost smell the blossoms as you page through the color photos.

"Perennials for Midwestern Gardens: Proven Plants for the Heartland" (Timber Press, $29.95) by Anthony W. Kahtz should reveal a few choices the gardener on your list hasn't experienced. Sneezeweed won't really make you sneeze, but it will add blooms up to 3 inches in diameter to a garden midsummer to fall, said the author. The colors are yellow, orange and rust-red brown.

• In these days of pinching pennies, overwintering tender plants is a valuable hobby. "Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill" (Storey, $17.95) by Alice and Brian McGowan can tell how.

Your favorite elephant ear or colocasia can grow again next year if you store the tubers properly.

Etc...

• "Smart Home: The 98 Essentials for Starting Out, Starting Over, Scaling Back" (Workman, $12.95), by Barbara Flanagan, tells what you need for a well-run home - and what you don't.

One thing she thinks mobile Americans should embrace is strong, modular storage such as the Japanese tansus that have been used in that country for 400 years.

• "Green Remodeling: Your Start Toward an Eco-Friendly Home," (Creative Homeowner, $19.95) by John D. Wagner tells how to do all kinds of remodeling - in a green fashion. Ceramic tile is a good green choice, if you use mastics with low volatile organic compounds, the author says.

• "Green up your Cleanup," by Jill Potvin Schoff is another book in Creative Homeowner's The Green House series. It is $16.95. Products with citric acid or oxygen bleach are safer for cleaning your deck than oxalic acid, an organic product that is corrosive and can be fatal if ingested.