Here's a money-saving shortcut to help with your Christmas shopping. We're clearing the piles of new titles off our desks to give away. We have everything from children's stories to books for foodies, sports fans and history books as well as some nifty calendars.

To win one of these books, tell us who you would give it to (you can choose yourself) and why. Entries should be no longer than 100 words. Since we likely can't give everyone their first choice, be sure to mention other titles that interest you, but you only need to explain why you want one of them.

Entries (one only per household, please) can be mailed to or dropped off at the reception desk of the Times Colonist, 2621 Douglas St., Victoria BC V8T 4M2, or can be e-mailed to contest@tc.canwest.com. Please write Books Giveaway in the subject line. Entries must include your name and a daytime phone number. Deadline for entries is noon on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Only winners will be contacted.

Here are the books we have to choose from:

- Kids books: Under the Star: A Christmas Counting Story, written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen; The Christmas Magic, by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jon J. Muth; On This Special Night, by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Simon Mendez; Stick Man, by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

- Special interests: A history buff will enjoy the beautifully illustrated coffee table book Knights: In History and Legend by Constance Brittain Bouchard. A figure-skating afficionado will love Figure Skating's Greatest Stars by Steve Milton. As well as running restaurants and starring television shows, chef Gordon Ramsay has written a cookbook Gordon Ramsay's Maze -- a gift sure to thrill any foodie. For the foodie who is also crafty, we have Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen by Georgeanne Brennan. For one of the legion of Simpsons fans, there's The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History by John Ortved. If you know a music lover, Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful, a coffee table book full of photos and stories might be a great gift. We have two choices for political junkies: Frank McKenna: Beyond Politics by Harvey Sawler and Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame by Colin Thatcher. Looking for something for the green thumb on your list? How about The Bizarre and Incredible World of Plants, a lushly illustrated hardcover by Wolfgang Stuppy, Rob Kesseler and Madeline Harley. For the Dickens fan, there's The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued his Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford.

- Fiction: The big prize here -- a heavy, 500-page hardcover -- is the new illustrated edition of Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes, winner of the Commonwealth Writer's prize, the Rogers Writer's Trust prize and Canada Reads. This edition contains more than 100 images, including early maps, documents, paintings and illustrations. We also have copies of Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes, the manuscript found after his death in 2008; Anne Rice's Angel Time and Edward Rutherford's New York.

- Calendars: We have The Canadian Weather Trivia calendar from Canada's weather expert David Phillips as well as two page-a-day desktop calendars: One-Minute Devotions and The Wine Lover's Calendar.