Hey, fellow readers. I hereby ask for help. I have two nephews, ages 8 and 6, and I’ve got no idea what titles to get them for Christmas this year. I am the Book Aunt, so I have to get something cool and interesting, and readable, but while there are often age recommendations on the fly-leaves of books, there’s no such thing as children insurance that guarantees the child in question will like what you send.

So, suggestions please: What’s are good titles for bright, kinda geeky but leaning more toward engineering geekery than computer geekery, boys?

(Girl books? No problem).

If it helps, in previous years they’ve received Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen, and stuff like that.

I’m more about classic titles that hold up than trendy stuff.

And I prefer to buy hardcovers.

If you think Tim Gunn should come and give you a fashion makeover, if you imitate Heidi Klum as she tells designers they’re out, if you would love to put Wendy Pepper (Season One) and Crazy Vincent (Season Three) in a boxing ring together, then you need to come play with us.

Where? At Electric Tangerine of course. I’ll be joining four other fashionistas in blogging Project Runway, and you’re invited to come dish some designer dirt.

So, grab your score cards and your snarkiest attitude, slip your feet into a killer pair of shoes, and strut down the runway with us.

All are welcome.

Even if you think tangerine really is the new pink.

After much searching online, I discovered that the closest thing I could find to the LED light I mentioned a few days ago is the one pictured here which, apparently, you can get for about $2 from Amazon.com.

I got mine for $4.98 at Half Price books, but if you’re doing an Amazon order anyway, tossing in one or two of these might not be a bad idea. (Ordering JUST a light would be a waste of shipping costs.)

This is the light that’s working for me, at the moment. As with any such thing, your mileage may vary.

I have to ask, though, what’s your ideal booklight? What do you use now?

I’ve seen those cute little LED clip-on lights at Borders and Barnes and Nobel and resisted buying them, but last weekend we were at Half Price Books and they had them for $5 so I bought one with the intent of testing it for reading in bed.

Now, you wouldn’t think light for reading in bed would be a problem if you saw our bed, because it has a lightbridge that casts illumination down on us from above the headboard, but the problem is that if you’re holding a book and reclining in the bed as well, a shadow is cast on the book. We do have an overhead light, but that’s too bright, especially if I’m awake and Fuzzy is asleep, which often happens when he’s working a more normal schedule than the vampire hours he’s been keeping since his return from San Jose, and while I often joke that our back neighbor’s outdoor lighting is bright enough to read by, the light is blocked if the wind blows the trees the wrong way, and gone if they remember to actually flip the light switch (which is a rare, but possible occurrence). Hence the LED.

I have to say it’s impressive. Light enough for a paperback. Completely bendy. Has a clip wide enough to stick on the screen of my laptop so I can see my control keys if I’m computing in the dark, and they claim the battery will last three years. Also, the light is bright without being harsh, which is great for working with text.

So, I spent about $5, and I’m tickled to death by the light, and I suspect many of my family will find similar gadgets in their Christmas stockings or Hanukkah stashes this year.