Brian Peek (probably the most well known member of our TVUG user group) has a book coming out, “10 Coding4Fun Projects with .NET for Programmers, Hobbyists, and Game Developers”, and it’s listed on Amazon for pre-orders. Brian is probably best known for his managed code API for working with the Nintendo Wiimote. You can get the current version of the code from it’s CodePlex page. His blog is worth reading if you want to control hardware devices with .NET.
Not too long ago Brian demonstrated his code at a TVUG meeting. He used the Wiimote to control a radio controlled car. It was pretty cool watching the car turn when he rotated the Wiimote. You can download the code from his presentation from his blog at this page. Other people have used his library to do some interesting things. It sounds like this book would be a cool Christmas gift.