4 ms·

Your post really struck a chord with me because I'm the type of person that likes to give books as a gift. As the type of person that would totally give a book

Your post really struck a chord with me because I'm the type of person that likes to give books as a gift. As the type of person that would totally give a book of 100 bread recipes to someone that I just know "bakes bread," I'm wondering if you think there are book gifts that someone could get you using that mindset and just a little more thinking about depth of domains. One doesn't need to know anything about baking bread to know that a recipe compilation book is a beginner gift and not something you'd give to someone who has any sort of domain expertise. Similar to how I'm not giving any of my SE friends the Computer Science for Dummies book. I guess what I'm trying to ask is... would a book about baking that isn't basic be a better gift? Even if it isn't particularly something you would have gotten yourself. Examples off the top of my head include a biography about a famous or obscure baker, an in depth book about the science behind baking, a hyper focused book about history of baking techniques, etc. Maybe trying to gain some domain expertise in something your potential gift receiver is interested in - in order to give a better gift - is a gift in itself? Here's a quick way you can get some functional domain expertise in knives to give a better gift to your knife friend (if you want). Depending on if they're into knives as collectibles or for use, I'd suggest finding out which brand(s) your friend favors and then picking up a used knife in a discontinued model from that brand on ebay. Worst case scenario they have it already but even then I bet they'd still value the gift.

busterarm 6y ago
My intuition would be to not give a book on baking bread, but on something tangential to bread baking... like a book on brewing or other kinds of fermentation! Something that connects with their expertise but is new to both of you. If somebody is into knives, maybe gift a course on blacksmithing or some japanese whetstones.
- yarcob 6y ago
  As a recipient of a blacksmithing course I'd like to say it was one of the best gifts I ever got. But it's a pretty expensive gift. But I've also been given knives a few times, and I loved most of them. It's not like you can have too many knives. I'm not sure what I'd do with an extra set of whetstones though.
  - kd0amg 6y ago
    I've been blacksmithing long enough to have arguably too many knives.
- war1025 6y ago
  > or some japanese whetstones I bought a set of diamond sharpening plates this summer after having had a cheap Arkansas stone for several years. Night and day difference. I can actually get things sharp quickly and consistently now. Since we're on the topic of gifts, if someone out there is thinking of a sharpening setup as a gift, can't recommend diamond plates highly enough. I bought a 300 / 600 / 1200 grit set off Amazon for I think $100
  - mauvehaus 6y ago
    A good coarse stone makes all the difference. I have a 220/320 grit diamond plate for flattening my water stones, but it does wonders for making sharpening knives non-onerous. Woodworkers might be interested in the Norton water stone starter set of 2 combo stones 220/1000 and 4000/8000. The 220 wears out of flat so quickly it's useless, but I have the diamond plate anyhow. The 1000 and 8000 are great. The 4000 is a little soft, and you'll replace it before the others. Personally, I'll be replacing it with the Shapton equivalent in another year or two.
    - war1025 6y ago
      I completely agree the 300 grit plate is what makes all the difference.
  - yarcob 6y ago
    I've never heard of these diamond plates. Do they take away a lot of material? My whetstones are 2000/6000 grit.
    - busterarm 6y ago
      I use diamond plates to flatten my whetstones mostly, because masochism. They're also great on blades. You wanna look for DMT / Dia-Sharp. All the big online knife shops should have you covered here (epicurean edge, etc)
- cwkoss 6y ago
  Or unusual bread supplies could be cool. Like flour made from ancient grains and/or ground with a traditional stone mill, etc. For knives, a nice grind stone or knife oil could be useful. I think splurge hobby consumables is a great way to go.
  - saalweachter 6y ago
    Eh, not always. Every knitter I know would murder you if you bought them more yarn, even nice yarn, even though they knit frequently. They already have three bins full and are running out of places to stash it.
scrooched_moose 6y ago
It's not perfect, but depending on how much you know about them, probing niche areas of their interest can work out. A book of 100 basic bread recipes is nearly useless for an experienced baker. A book of "authentic Mozambique bread recipes" though - that might be very interesting to them because it broadens their knowledge within their field. It's even better if it connects to them in a personal way - a family connection to Mozambique, or traveled there, etc. It's not foolproof, but it's a big improvement.
leetcrew 6y ago
in all likelihood, this person knows way more about bread and bread-related items than you do. if it's bread related and costs less than $20, assume they either have it already or know about it and don't want it. I find it's usually not a good idea to buy someone this kind of present unless you're willing to just ask them exactly what they want. instead, why not select something that you know a lot about that could still be useful to them? last christmas I set up backblaze on my mom's NAS (which I built for her several years ago) and paid for the first few months of service. my mom couldn't care less about the nuances of cloud storage providers, but she's quite happy to be paying a fraction of what a 10TB google drive subscription would have cost.
alexhutcheson 6y ago
Tyler Cowen has an interesting perspective on giving books as gifts: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/09/hesitate-give-books-gifts.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/09/he...
- war1025 6y ago
  That post seems to be referring more to donating used books rather than buying a book for someone as a gift. Seems like a different topic entirely to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
- dbspin 6y ago
  This is quite frankly ludicrous, and speaks to an unintentionally humorous pomposity. It's quite literally impossible to estimate the potential utility of another persons leisure time. But part of the joy of gift giving is trying to figure out what they might enjoy. Just as part of the social game of gifting is to see what others think you might like. It's a way of opening up to new experiences granted by people who know you. Ideally scaffolding perspectives and pleasures that appeal but were outside what you'd normally enjoy. An unread book can always be regifted, and it takes a sociopath to regard a gifted book as an insult. Sure, if your goal is to maximise the utility of every moment algorithmically, this might seem wasteful. But you're also very likely not any fun at all, and have few people to gift.
Ekaros 6y ago
With comment about in-depth book about bread I remembered this: https://modernistcuisine.com/books/modernist-bread/ https://modernistcuisine.com/books/modernist-bread/ 25 kilos, about 2600 pages of book... What happens if person isn't that interested on the subject after all... Maybe a book might be a good one, but still total overkill. And maybe even harmful if subject isn't ready to invest even more...

busterarm 6y ago

My intuition would be to not give a book on baking bread, but on something tangential to bread baking... like a book on brewing or other kinds of fermentation! Something that connects with their expertise but is new to both of you. If somebody is into knives, maybe gift a course on blacksmithing or some japanese whetstones.

yarcob 6y ago
As a recipient of a blacksmithing course I'd like to say it was one of the best gifts I ever got. But it's a pretty expensive gift. But I've also been given knives a few times, and I loved most of them. It's not like you can have too many knives. I'm not sure what I'd do with an extra set of whetstones though.
- kd0amg 6y ago
  I've been blacksmithing long enough to have arguably too many knives.
war1025 6y ago
> or some japanese whetstones I bought a set of diamond sharpening plates this summer after having had a cheap Arkansas stone for several years. Night and day difference. I can actually get things sharp quickly and consistently now. Since we're on the topic of gifts, if someone out there is thinking of a sharpening setup as a gift, can't recommend diamond plates highly enough. I bought a 300 / 600 / 1200 grit set off Amazon for I think $100
- mauvehaus 6y ago
  A good coarse stone makes all the difference. I have a 220/320 grit diamond plate for flattening my water stones, but it does wonders for making sharpening knives non-onerous. Woodworkers might be interested in the Norton water stone starter set of 2 combo stones 220/1000 and 4000/8000. The 220 wears out of flat so quickly it's useless, but I have the diamond plate anyhow. The 1000 and 8000 are great. The 4000 is a little soft, and you'll replace it before the others. Personally, I'll be replacing it with the Shapton equivalent in another year or two.
  - war1025 6y ago
    I completely agree the 300 grit plate is what makes all the difference.
- yarcob 6y ago
  I've never heard of these diamond plates. Do they take away a lot of material? My whetstones are 2000/6000 grit.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    I use diamond plates to flatten my whetstones mostly, because masochism. They're also great on blades. You wanna look for DMT / Dia-Sharp. All the big online knife shops should have you covered here (epicurean edge, etc)
cwkoss 6y ago
Or unusual bread supplies could be cool. Like flour made from ancient grains and/or ground with a traditional stone mill, etc. For knives, a nice grind stone or knife oil could be useful. I think splurge hobby consumables is a great way to go.
- saalweachter 6y ago
  Eh, not always. Every knitter I know would murder you if you bought them more yarn, even nice yarn, even though they knit frequently. They already have three bins full and are running out of places to stash it.

scrooched_moose 6y ago

It's not perfect, but depending on how much you know about them, probing niche areas of their interest can work out. A book of 100 basic bread recipes is nearly useless for an experienced baker. A book of "authentic Mozambique bread recipes" though - that might be very interesting to them because it broadens their knowledge within their field. It's even better if it connects to them in a personal way - a family connection to Mozambique, or traveled there, etc. It's not foolproof, but it's a big improvement.

leetcrew 6y ago

in all likelihood, this person knows way more about bread and bread-related items than you do. if it's bread related and costs less than $20, assume they either have it already or know about it and don't want it. I find it's usually not a good idea to buy someone this kind of present unless you're willing to just ask them exactly what they want. instead, why not select something that you know a lot about that could still be useful to them? last christmas I set up backblaze on my mom's NAS (which I built for her several years ago) and paid for the first few months of service. my mom couldn't care less about the nuances of cloud storage providers, but she's quite happy to be paying a fraction of what a 10TB google drive subscription would have cost.

alexhutcheson 6y ago

Tyler Cowen has an interesting perspective on giving books as gifts: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/09/hesitate-give-books-gifts.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/09/he...

war1025 6y ago
That post seems to be referring more to donating used books rather than buying a book for someone as a gift. Seems like a different topic entirely to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
dbspin 6y ago
This is quite frankly ludicrous, and speaks to an unintentionally humorous pomposity. It's quite literally impossible to estimate the potential utility of another persons leisure time. But part of the joy of gift giving is trying to figure out what they might enjoy. Just as part of the social game of gifting is to see what others think you might like. It's a way of opening up to new experiences granted by people who know you. Ideally scaffolding perspectives and pleasures that appeal but were outside what you'd normally enjoy. An unread book can always be regifted, and it takes a sociopath to regard a gifted book as an insult. Sure, if your goal is to maximise the utility of every moment algorithmically, this might seem wasteful. But you're also very likely not any fun at all, and have few people to gift.

Ekaros 6y ago

With comment about in-depth book about bread I remembered this: https://modernistcuisine.com/books/modernist-bread/ https://modernistcuisine.com/books/modernist-bread/ 25 kilos, about 2600 pages of book... What happens if person isn't that interested on the subject after all... Maybe a book might be a good one, but still total overkill. And maybe even harmful if subject isn't ready to invest even more...