Lots of gift choices this season for those who like books, games

As the temperature drops and winter draws near, some of life’s cozier moments can be enjoyed indoors. Reading a good book or playing a challenging game by a crackling fire can be as rewarding for some as is an invigorating ski trip for others.

A quick tour of the books and games in Boulder and Broomfield counties can help undecided shoppers find the perfect gift for their favorite indoor enthusiast.

If your intended gift recipients love to read, but you don’t know what book to buy for them, Boulder Bookstore sells Book Sense gift certificates. These are redeemable at any participating independent bookstore nationwide.

There are several new titles this season, and some are already flying off the shelves. ?You Shall Know Our Velocity? by Dave Eggers is only sold by independent bookstores.

Susan Nuzum, Boulder Bookstore promotions manager, said the hardcover book is about friends who attempt to give away a large sum of money. ?It’s only been out a couple of months, and we’ve already sold 180 copies,? Nuzum said. She added that the book is appropriate for both men and women.

Anne Lamott’s ?Blue Shoe? is about a recently separated woman moving back into the house where she grew up. The protagonist also must cope with her mother’s mental illness. Boulder Bookstore sold more than 102 copies of this title in one month. This hardcover sells there for $24.95.

Nuzum’s non-fiction pick for success in Boulder and Broomfield counties is ?The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for the Animals We Love? by Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff, a University of Colorado at Boulder biology professor. The book’s premise is that people have destroyed animal habitats, and their behaviors must be changed to save life on this Earth. The hardcover sells for approximately $24.

If your gift recipient is younger than 6-years-old, perhaps a picture book might be more appropriate. ?Jazzy in the Jungle? by Lucy Cousins is an interactive book with a jungle theme. Cousins also wrote the popular Maisy stories. This hardcover sells for $15.

For someone a few years older try ?Toot and Puddle: Top of the World? by Holly Hobbie, which chronicles the adventures of two pigs. This book is one of many in the Toot and Puddle series. It is a more traditional picture book and sells for $16 in hardcover.

Indoor revelers of all ages might enjoy trying their hand at some of this season’s new video games. EverQuest The Planes of Power is an expansion to the original EverQuest. Art Aragon, Boulder CompUSA gaming specialist, praised the game’s graphics. CompUSA sells the online role-playing game for nearly $30.

Sports fans might enjoy recently released Madden NFL 2003. CompUSA sells the console game (for use with Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Game Cube) for $49.99. ?It’s not every day you can be your favorite quarterback,? said Aragon talking about the popularity of the game.

Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania is a game to be played on a personal computer. It is expected to sell well this season. Much like the Sims, in which players control human characters, here, players control zoo animals. The game also sells at CompUSA and is rated E for Everyone.

Jaleco Entertainment has just produced a similar PC game. Trailer Park Tycoon allows a player to buy trailer parks while appeasing the local tenants. Jaleco Entertainment games can be found at CompUSA, Kmart, Electronics Boutique, Wal-Mart and Sears. Both the humor and accounting features make this game more appropriate for adults.

Though it already came out on PC approximately a year ago, Superbubble Pop is expected to burst onto the puzzle genre scene by Christmas in Game Cube and Xbox. Players match up bubble colors and characters that move to the music. ?It’s totally addictive,? said Jill Storms, Jaleco Entertainment public relations manager. ?I can’t put it down.? Costs vary depending on game platform and where it is sold.

Game Stop at FlatIron Crossing mall in Broomfield sells PlayStation 2’s Grand Theft Auto Vice City for less than $50. The store received more than 200 copies of the adult appropriate game and all were gone in less than one month. ?A lot of people like being able to drive cars they couldn’t drive in real life,? said Jeremy Davis, assistant manager. ?It’s set in the ’80s, so it’s got a lot of ’80s tunes to it.?

If you’re buying for someone who prefers to play with real (albeit, very small) cars, Radio Shack has the thing for them — ZipZaps. The starter kit includes a car body, motors, wheels and upgrades. Starter kits sell for $19.99, while accessory kits go from $5 to $12.99.

Manager Trey Wren said these interchangeable collectors items appeal to teens and adults. Car bodies include Mustangs, Hondas, Porches and PT Cruisers, and they run on AAA batteries. The remote runs for 15 minutes a charge.

A variety of adult low-tech games are also available this season. The How to Host a Murder series is an old standby, said Preston Young, sales associate at Boulder’s It’s Your Move. How to Host a Murder comes in many different settings, story lines and decades. It also has versions for teens. The Pearl St. store sells the mystery party games for $29.95.

The America Monopoly Special Edition Celebrating the People, Places and Greatness of America just came out this year. This patriotic board game sells at It’s Your Move on Pearl Street Mall and Wizards of the Coast in FlatIron Crossing.

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit board games are new this year, hot on the coattails of the Lord of the Rings movie. Geared toward teens and adults, the adventure games sell for less than $45 each.

Gabe Frankel, assistant manager at Wizards of the Coast in FlatIron, said he has many different board games to choose from.

Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary Edition was recently released for the holidays. Frankel said the pop culture questions from the past 20 years should ensure its success with a wide audience.

Scene It? is a movie trivia game that just came out in early November. It sells for less than $50. ?It’s really different from all the other movie trivial games out there because it actually plays on your DVD player and shows clips of movies as you play along on the board,? Frankel said.

Despite all the new video games, Frankel remains undaunted. ?Honestly, I think people are turning more toward board games now,? he said. ?I think it directly relates to Sept. 11. A lot of people are spending more time getting to know their friends by playing board games instead of shutting themselves in their room and playing video games.?

Either way, you may have trouble getting your indoor enthusiast to leave the house. Contact Sheryl Bass at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail research@bcbr.com.

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