Christmas in my family is pretty efficient, since we just e-mail a list to everyone and then coordinate who gets what. makes shopping easier and no one is ever disappointed with gifts.
BUT this year i'm getting my dad a sweet harmonica, something that is not on his list (mostly because i bought it before he sent it out). he was talking to me a while back about how he used to like to play a lot back in the day, but hasn't had one for a long time, so i looked online and found a really good one for $30. pretty sure he'll be pleasantly surprised
as for the best kind of gift i like to get, really anything gaming-, movie-, music-, or book-related pleases me.