Do you give book as gifts? Where do you go for great books?

I’ve had quite the influx in books to review lately but I started thinking about the best place to purchase books  for my Hubby and the kids.  This year, I’m thinking about giving books as gifts. My husband is one of those guys that can go into a store and get ALL of his Christmas shopping done in about 30 minutes. And the gifts he chooses are perfect too. He doesn’t plan for weeks or months like I do. He just goes in, buys what he thinks we’ll like and that’s it. Buying for him is another story though. He is PICKY! I never know what to get him or if he’ll like it. And he really doesn’t show much emotion when he opens a gift. So  you never know if he totally digs it or if it is just ho-hum. He’s a hard fellow to “read”! (pun intended) He loves books though. So I thought that this year I might just buy him books. And the kids too.

But should I go to a discount book store or should I shop online at places like Amazon or B&N. (we could go in-store there too)? Another thought I had was to just get him a gift card for a book store. But which one? As you can tell, I don’t do a lot of in-store book shopping so I honestly don’t know what would be best. I’m leaning more towards the gift card but would that be too impersonal? UUUGH I love my Hubby but why does he  have to be so difficult to shop for?!?!?!?!

Give me your thoughts people. I need them! Please.