I'm a big fan of books and history and the folks over at Cartoon Brew (my preferred animation blog) are naming next year's animation-themed books. Can't wait to get my hands on some of these like Tom Bancroft's new one, UPA, Amid's Ward Kimball biography, and the "Art of John Carter of Mars" and "Brave"! Click at the address to see their run down:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/books/2012-animation-book-preview.html