With the holiday season coming, few gifts satisfy an auto enthusiast more than a good book on a favorite car or a replica to display proudly. With that in mind, over the next couple of weeks we'll take look at some of the gifts that are available.

First up is a terrific $40 book about Porsche's new baby, called appropriately "Porsche Cayman: Thrill of the Chase," by Jutta Deise Elmar Brummer and Reiner Schloz. This one is a nice coffee table book published by Motorbooks, chock full of pictures, data and lots of detailed information.

Readers are taken from the conceptual sketches and the design process to the engineering and testing of the engine, and then it's off to the race track and the testing laboratory. You'll also take a well-photographed trip to Malta, to join Porsche representatives, dealers and the media for the actual introduction of the car.

Photos show the car hurdling down race tracks, undergoing tests in laboratories and looking just plain beautiful. You'll find huge pictures of every detail, from gear shifts and door handles to wheels and parking brakes . Nothing is left to chance here.

It's a terrific read, and probably should be on the wish list of Porsche enthusiasts in particular and auto aficionados in general.

Another fun read is "365 Cars You Must Drive," by Matt Stone and John Matras.

Whether you agree with the selection of cars or not -- some admittedly are off-beat choices -- you'll enjoy the brief thumbnail sketches and beautiful photography and reproduction of advertisements that run all through this book. Everything from Alfa Romeo to Yugo -- that was one of the weirder choices -- is included in the book. Just about every decade from the dawn of the automobile also is included.

As part of each entry, you get basic statistics such as horsepower, price when new and current price, suggestions on where you would drive the car, and even appropriate music to play while you drive.

A lot of it is tongue in cheek, of course, but always great fun. It's a blast to simply imagine yourself behind the wheel of some of these obscure, and not so obscure, cars and trucks. The cost of the book, also published by Motorbooks, is $19.95.

For more information, go to www.motorbooks.com or call 1-800-826-6600.