The books authors have on their Christmas lists

Here's a fun way to get a few new ideas as to what books to put on your own or someone else's Christmas list: Check and see what books well known authors are giving/getting this year.

Penguin Group asked the authors they publish what books they'd be either buying or hoping to receive this year and they said "Our inboxes were immediately flooded with emails about books."

I turns out that Khaled Hosseini plans to give the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz and hopes to received acclaimed short story collection "The Boat" by Nam Le.

Nick Hornsby says he's "evangelical" about "Pictures at a Revolution" by Mark Harris and plans to give that away. Meanwhile, he's hoping someone will give him either "March" or "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks.

Robert Parker will be giving Thomas Friedman's "Hot, Flat and Crowded" and hopes to get "anything by Elmore Leonard.

And that's just for starters. Check it out. It makes for an entertaining read and you might just get an idea or two along the way as well.