Welcome readers,
The giving season is upon us and /r/Books is here to help you with gift ideas for the book readers in your life. Please use this thread to ask for and recommend books and book-related paraphernalia for your loved ones!
Happy holidays and enjoy!
by AutoModerator
34 Comments
Number one feel-good book recommendation for these dark times:
Upworthy – GOOD PEOPLE: Stories From the Best of Humanity
by Gabriel Reilich & Lucia Knell
Release date 9/3/24
I just saw a video today that I thought had a great gift idea. The idea is to print out a loved/favorite passage from a book someone loves and frame it for them. It can be as elaborate or as affordable as you want. If you don’t own a printer a lot of public libraries offer printing services for free or for cheap. You can get a custom fancy frame made up if you can afford that, or just find a frame at a thrift store or dollar store that you think they would like/would go with the decor they already have.
My sister and I are both readers, and we used to gift a personally annotated book to each other for Christmas. I think it’s such a fun and intimate way to get to know more about each other — the annotations need not be fully intellectual/ critical notes, it could also include underlining excerpts that we found funny or highlighting passages we found beautiful.
I think this also works great with a partner who also loves to read. It doesn’t cost much, but the intimacy makes it so meaningful.
*(Next Christmas for me, hopefully)*
I was at a bookstore the other day and saw some poem compilations themed around seasons – A Poem for Every Day of the Year, A Poem for Every Winter’s Day, A Poem for Every Winter Evening, that sort of thing. They’re edited by Allie Esiri from Macmillan, compiled out of public domain poems. They might not be ideal for someone who already reads a lot of poetry, but they’re very beautiful books, so if you’ve got someone who might appreciate a themed poetry collection, that might be a place to look!
One of the best bookish gifts I’ve gotten (besides books) is a book repair tape. They’re clear tape that are not supposed to turn brittle, yellow, loose their stickiness, peel off in the corners, etc. I had so much fun taping up my old, well read books and now I can read them again without worrying about them falling apart.
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I can only speak for myself, but what some avid readers really need is more book*shelves*.
I gifted a fellow reader a personalized library stamp set. I purchased a customized self-inking stamp that said “From the library of FirstName LastName” and a pack of those old-school checkout cards with envelopes you used to find in library books back in the day, as a reminder of who borrowed her books (she has a huge book collection and lends out a lot of books). I included some other things in the kit, which I’m suddenly drawing a blank on (maybe some book-related stickers?), but she really liked it! It wasn’t too costly to put together.
This reading light that drapes around your neck. It’s very lightweight and the lights are bright and adjustable. It’s great when I want to read in bed without disturbing my husband. It’s also helpful if the room lighting isn’t so good.
https://glocusent.com/products/glocusent-eyecaring-led-neck-reading-light-gray
Audible subscription
Reusable bags from famous bookstores. I have a collection I use as my general shopping bags.
A book! They will love it
Faber & Faber are selling a book of different famous authors favourite recipes.
https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571390366-sylvia-plaths-tomato-soup-cake/
Bookseller here, happy to make personalised recommendations! Just tell me what the person you’re giving to likes to read.
I’ll do another comment tomorrow (when I’m in the shop) with some lovely general ideas, if people would like.
I LOVE book darts! I would buy myself more but after two tins I can’t justify buying more. I’ve also learned the value of having a nice “house purse” to keep my books in. Also a nice blanket or a nice mug or one of those neat mug warmers are nice too!
When I’ve known a recipient’s favorite author or book, I’ve occasionally given a signed copy or special/first edition. That’s very budget and value dependent, of course, and depends on the author. (One was a signed first of Kingsolver’s *Animal Dreams*, but given her rise in popularity since then, I expect a copy wouldn’t be nearly as affordable now).
For book-related gift items, I quite like my First Lines mug. ([Here’s a link](https://philosophersguild.com/products/great-lines-of-literature) if that’s acceptable).
I love reading at night, but I don’t want full lights on close to bed time. Having a lamp at the side always shadowed the book pages in some way and book lights that clip on are even worse. I discovered neck lights a couple years ago, they looked silly but I figured why not?
Game changer! They are amazing. Perfectly light up the pages. I highly recommend getting one with an amber light setting for night reading, they usually come with three light modes, but not all have the amber light color.
I secretly want this and think this would be a great present for a book lover. But it’s outrageously priced. Still can admire it from afar though.
https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/literary-clock/599490000001
Would you guys like a passport that someone made for you with different book categories to stamp when you read them? Like “western” or “author from another country” and stuff?
I’m exclusively an e-Reader reader.
So, I’m going to go with a gift card to their favorite book source, a case or cover for their e-Reader or even if you are willing to spend the money and upgraded e-reader.
Personally, I have a rather large collection of bookmarks, and I think they make great gifts! There are tons of really beautiful and interesting bookmarks on Etsy!
I always need another booklight or bookmarks as I lose those things all the time. I had the perfect booklight and left it in the last hotel I stayed in. Bought the same model again, but, now the clamp is a different style. I have no idea where my bookmarks go. They just grow wings and fly away I guess.
Bookmarks or customized bookmarks. I keep asking people for more because they’re cute, useful, and take up little space. Trying to figure out a good way to display them when I am not using them
There is an independent bookstore in my city that occasionally hosts themed mixers. They close the store to the public, decorate it, invite some authors of works that fit the theme, have wine and charcuterie set out. You can have a drink and snack while you peruse the books, and chat with writers and other book lovers. It’s so nice – a much more relaxed and intimate experience than shopping usually is. So – tickets to something like that!
I had a friend make me a readers snack kit. Using a clear tackle box that she had put book themed stickers on and filled with different candies and snacks in each section. I loved it. She knew I was going away for the week to read and recharge and it was perfect for having next to me while I was reading.
Books sleeves!! Specially if they travel! It keeps your book nice and protected. Other than that costum bookmarks are also very fun!
https://www.answerinprogress.com/shop
This ladies bookmarks are pretty cool. I would rather just make my own and print them off. But I love the idea of a unique bookmark with small annotations/ratings on them to keep in the book forever.
A really nice slick coloured bookmark.
There’s an independent bookstore called Page One Books (not Page 1 Books, that’s different). They do a book subscription where the reader tells them their reading preferences (and/or gives them a link to whatever book tracking program they use), and the bookstore chooses a book a month for that individual. If they send you a book you already have, you tell them and they send you another. I used the service for a couple of years and thought it was great, and then I gave my sister a six-month subscription for Winter Holiday one year and she loved it, too.
To emphasize — they pick out a book specific to that one subscriber, this isn’t a curated selection that goes to each subscriber, and they do a fantastic job of selecting books.
I love books so I started selling “Blind Date with a Book” boxes on Etsy. I think it is a really good gift for someone who loves reading.
Saw a cheaper option for those of us who use e-readers or tablets, but there’s sticker packs for decorating that are book themed.
this article is interesting for book/pop culture lovers! [https://ministryofpopculture.substack.com/p/pop-culture-secret-santa](https://ministryofpopculture.substack.com/p/pop-culture-secret-santa)
I am a big believer in giving someone the gift of personalized reading. Note I own this business and definitely don’t want to be deceptive about that. I’m just really excited about what we’ve built and would love if people would check us out at [www.bookboxai.com](http://www.bookboxai.com) 🙂
Istg we all should collectively decide to stop gifting these people more books. I believe a mug with a lid might be something good for a change cuz every reader likes to have something to drink while reading but it usually gets cold or hot (depending on the kind of drink they’re having). Imo go for something with books or reading theme related like [this one](https://ra-sl.com/dp-B082878WT5F) is a tumbler for book people. It’s insulated so your hot coffee or cold wine whatever you like stays at the right temp.