Sometimes there is that person you care a lot about, who is just so particular, or smart, or well-read that it is impossible to give them something original. Never fear! Olsson's can help you with this daunting problem... Because our intrepid bookstockers are here for you!

But first, a few suggestions if you exchange gifts at Hanukah, belated, simply because we had restocking issues with the all-important, McSweeney's-issued, fabulously-irreverent children's story for the whole family that's on everybody's wishlist - The Latke Who Wouldn't Stop Screaming, by Lemony Snicket! (Those small presses, you gotta love 'em.) It's a combination of "The boy who cried wolf" and "The gingerbread man" - and anyway in the eastern European version, it really was a pancake that rolled away. Gingerbread man, hmpf! It's a big misunderstanding, so the latke of this story reminds us how painful and frustrating it is to be seared in hot olive oil, and to be misunderstood, with this seasonal emphasis on Christmas cheer; there's a lot to scream about. But, it's in stock now, and it's fun, as I said, for the whole family. ($9.95 from McSweeney's, 1-932416-87-0)

Speaking of being misunderstood, Emily Franklin has edited a deliciously funny, dark, twisted, and brutally honest collection of reminiscences of family gatherings in How to Spell Chanukah... And Other Holiday Dilemmas: 18 Writers Celebrate 8 Nights of Lights. Worth a peek for the maladjusted in recovery. (Workman, 156512538x, $19.95)

And don't overlook for your favorite mentsh (decent and proper human being) or shtifer-kindehs (scalawag and prankster), Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do), (On Sale for $21.56!) in which Michael Wex adds more muscle and meat to his best-selling Born to Kvetch. Because you know those latkes do. Kvetch, I mean. And you can also give your favorite dog-lover Yiddish for Dogs: Chutzpah, Feh!, Kibbitz, and More: Every Word Your Canine Needs to Know, by Janet Perr (Hyperion, 1-4013-0323-4, $14.95)

And if that's not enough, Olsson's brings you, as I promised, the solutions to everyone's gift-giving dilemmas.

These elegant little delights pack easily, are diversely funny, poignant, informative and beautiful, all to be treasured and used. These are the reasons you come to us for help finding the perfect gift. These will not just sit on the shelf.

For the poet or mystic, Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds;

For the creative genius, biologist, or sociologist: Proust Was a Neuroscientist;

For the comedian, bar devotee, or philosopher, Plato and a Platypus Walked into a Bar;

For the perpetual student or politician: The Intellectual Devotional: American History;

For the architect/gardener/world or armchair traveler, Quiet Corners of Paris;

For the smart-alecky know-it-all or trivia buff: The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong;

and for the genuinely curious: Father Knows Less: Or "Can I Cook My Sister?": One Dad's Quest to Answer His Son's Most Baffling Questions.

Trust me. Think no more. The conclusively convincing, beautiful aspect of this method is that all of these books are ideal even for those who don't see themselves as readers, or who wish they could read but say they don't have time... because the contents can be flipped through and read at leisure, out of sequence, or in small doses.

You can't go wrong. Satisfaction guaranteed!