(Enlarge) "The Suicide Collectors" might be an enjoyable read for the Scrooge in your household.

In troubled economic times, books make the ideal gift. They are fairly inexpensive, yet come in varieties for every taste. One of the following new arrivals may make the perfect present for someone on your list.

*You may go to plenty of holiday parties this year, but chances are none will be as strange as the one in Gert Jonke's "Homage to Czerny," (Dalkey Archive, $12.95). The novel begins as its protagonist arrives at the annual soiree thrown by his friends Anton and Johanna Diabelli, who are brother and sister. This year, Anton and Johanna have hired the painter Florian Waldstein to paint a life-size replica of their garden. In this setting, they hope their guests will, without knowing it, act out an exact repetition of last year's party. Impossible, the protagonist declares, but soon enough, as his hosts predicted, the guests begin to repeat the previous year's actions and conversations, which are often ridiculous in nature. But then things take an unforeseen turn. By turns playful and uncanny, "Homage to Czerny" will appeal to fans of literary fabulists like Italo Calvino and Alfredo Bioy Casares.

*For a nonfiction behind-the-scenes account of the social whirl, try "Mrs. Woolf and the Servants" (Bloomsbury, $30), by scholar and literary critic Alison Light. Light details the lives of the women and men who worked in the households of the Bloomsbury set, particularly its most famous member, Virginia Woolf. Though Woolf, her husband and their circle of friends prided themselves on being forward-thinking, Light reveals that in their attitudes toward their household help, they were very much products of their time. Light is a first-rate scholar, using literary criticism, biography and social history to give readers both an intimate view of one extraordinary household and a larger view of the role of service and class in British society.

*Charles Ardai's mystery romp "Fifty-to-One" (Hard Case Crime, $7.99) also takes readers back in time, in this case to 1958 in New York City. Tricia Heverstadt arrives in the big city with stars in her eyes and dreams of becoming a dancer and, some day, a writer. Then, Tricia crosses paths with Charles Borden, an unscrupulous publisher of pulp novels. Tricia writes a book for Charles, "I Robbed the Mob," which she passes off as the true confession of one of gangster Sal Nicolazzo's underlings. But someone actually has robbed Nicolazzzo, and suddenly she and Charles have a lot of explaining to do to some very dangerous -- and angry -- people. Ardai, who also writes under the name Richard Aleas, is the founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, and "Fifty-to-One" serves as a delightful alternative history of the publisher. It is a page-turner that includes many laugh-out-loud moments, including cameos from Hard Case authors Lawrence Block and Donald Westlake, and should appeal to all lovers of the hardboiled genre.

*Readers who would rather travel forward than backward in time will enjoy "The Suicide Collectors" (St. Martin's Press, $26.95) by debut novelist David Oppegaard. It is the near future, and a psychological plague called the Despair has swept the planet, leaving mass suicide in its wake. In Florida, Norman; his wife, Jordan; and their neighbor, "Pops," are part of "the last 10 percent" of humanity until Jordan, too, takes her own life. When the "collectors," mysterious men and women who steal the bodies of the dead, arrive for Jordan's body, Norman kills one of them. Fearing for their lives and with nothing to keep them in their deserted neighborhood, Norman and Pops set off for Seattle to find a scientist rumored to be working on a cure for the Despair. Oppegaard is an exceptionally gifted storyteller, able to conjure up images and events that are iconic yet strange. The characters and situations Norman and Pops encounter on their journey will stick with readers for a long time.

*Louis Theroux's "The Call of the Weird" (Da Capo, $15.95) also offers readers its share of encounters with strange characters, but Theroux's quirky travelogue is nonfiction. Several years ago, the author hosted a British television series called "Weird Weekends," in which he traveled the United States in search of adherents to bizarre subcultures. After the show ended, Theroux decided to track down his old subjects and get updates on their lives. His search is half the fun as he tracks down such memorable individuals as Thor Templar, who claimed to have killed several space invaders; Mike Cain, who took a stand against the government by refusing to pay property taxes; and Hayley, who struggled to make a living as a prostitute in one of Nevada's legal brothels. Theroux's brilliance lies in the gentle, tolerant tone he takes with his interviewees, seeking to understand them rather than mock or dehumanize them.

*"Essential Cinema" (Johns Hopkins, $25), by Jonathan Rosenbaum, also takes readers on a journey, in this case through films of all time periods and nationalities. This is the new paperback edition of Rosenbaum's collected film criticism, and what a collection it is. Rosenbaum's omnivorous viewing ranges from Claude Chabrol's "The Ceremony" to Stanley Kwan's "Actress" to Frank Tashlin's "The Girl Can't Help It" and seemingly everywhere in between. His observations on film composition are astute and thought-provoking, whether or not one agrees with his conclusions. His comparison of "The Decalogue" and "Fargo" is especially inspired. "Essential Cinema" is essential reading for the movie buff on your gift list.

Rebecca Oppenheimer, a Towson University graduate and National Book Critics' Circle member, dives into the latest books from her home in Stevenson.

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