As you can imagine, running websites such as Book Notification, reading is my life. And because of that, I naturally surround myself with various book lovers among my friends and family.
That means that come Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries, I’m always researching gifts for people who read books.
The evolution of eBooks has made gifting books more difficult these days, but I was never a fan of gifting someone a book unless they specifically asked for it.
When you gift someone a book, there’s a pressure on them to read and enjoy it – and reading should be a no-pressure activity. So, I’ve always tried to think “outside of the book” when it comes to gifts for readers.
In this article, I will list ten book-related items I have gifted to the book lovers in my life over the past year. I’ll describe the item and then a personal anecdote about the gift.
#1: The Author Clock
The Author Clock is a clock which tells you the time via words in books. As I am writing this, it is 2:50 pm. The clock states:
“But the Director had looked at his watch. “Ten to three,” he said. “No time for the intellectual embryos. I’m afraid. We must go up to the nurseries before the children have finished their afternoon sleep.” – Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.
I’m listing this one first because it’s my favourite gift to give. Not only that – but I purchased one for my daughter for her birthday earlier this year, and now have four of them throughout my house as I hated the idea of all these book quotes and not seeing them because I was in a different room! Easily the best gift one can give to a reader.
And I hope all my friends reading this are aware – as soon as the author forecast is out, you’ll be receiving it on your next birthday!
#2: Clothing
There are a lot of clothing items out there that you can buy for people who love books. If you search book t-shirt on Amazon, for example, you’ll see a lot of general t-shirts for people who love to read. Some with fun phrases such as “It’s Not Hoarding if It’s Books” and “Books: Helping Introverts Avoiding Conversation Since 1454”.
I like going one step further and using websites such as Cafepress or Zazzle to make custom t-shirts tailored to that person’s likes. Many of my friends, who are Jack Reacher fans, now own a t-shirt which proudly declares “Reacher Said Nothing”, for example.
The highlighted t-shirt above, “Fist My Bump”, is for fans of Project Hail Mary and a great example of that. My family and I listened to it together earlier this year and my son gifted me that shirt. What I really enjoy about it is it’s a fun t-shirt regardless, but it’s a nice little wink to people who have also read the book:
There are also sellers on Etsy who can create custom bookshelf sweatshirts which is really cool.
#3: Accessories and Jewelry
There are lots of little knickknacks out there that you can purchase readers. For example, I’ve purchased the above hair clip for my daughter, who loves to read and is always using hair clips. Nice and simple.
There are bow ties, earrings, and necklaces; I’ve even seen rings with “Book Worm” engraved on them, which is neat.
These are great little stocking stuffers, and you see a lot of creativity related to this on the likes of Etsy and RedBubble. Amazon also has book hair clips and other items.
#4: Personalized Blanket
I mean, who doesn’t love a blanket? No matter what age or gender you are, everyone loves a blanket to snuggle up to while reading on those cool nights.
This etsy seller created a large throw blanket for book lovers. What’s really cool about this, though, is you can customize many of the books on it to match that person’s favourite books.
I purchased this one for my wife this year. She is adamant that we have enough blankets in the living room and don’t need any more – but as soon as she sees this one, with books like “Dark Matter”, “Replay” and “11/22/63” on it – I know she’ll change her mind.
#5: Reading-Related Candle
Candles are usually solid gifts to give people. Most people love a good candle, and it’s rare that they won’t be used.
Last year, I gave my friend a book shop candle which promised it would smell like an old bookshop. What’s funny about it is she told me she would light it whenever she was reading and got so used to the smell that when it was done, she had to go out and buy more of them as “reading just wasn’t the same”.
#6: eReader Page Turner
This was one of those gifts I was unsure about – an eReader page-turner. You attach a clip to your Kindle, and then you have a small remote control in your hand that you press to flick the page.
I bought this for my wife, who likes to read her Kindle in the hot tub, but it can be challenging to move to the next page sometimes with wet fingers. She loves this! Not only for the hot tub, but we’ve both started using it if we’re reading while walking on the treadmill, reading while eating dinner solo, and even laying my side in bed, Kindle propped up on a stand.
It’s one of those items you purchase thinking it’s a bit “gimmicky”, but it ends up becoming incredibly useful.
#7: Posters / Wall Art
You can purchase many great book posters or wall art for someone. There are a lot of generic posters and wall art related to reading that you can buy.
I bought the above one for our house last year from Three Under the Rain, framed it and have it hanging on the area I read most. Wall art like that is perfect for the person in your life who has a reading nook.
#8: Create a Custom Game
There’s no better present than a homemade present, and one gift I love to give people is a card game related to their favourite book series. I often create a trivia game – you can create templates on your own or get one off the likes of Etsy. Even if you haven’t read the books, you can get some good trivia questions at various online forums by asking AI or even just skimming through various books within that series.
The above image features a neat game called Liebrary. Unfortunately, it’s from 2005, out of print, and difficult to get a copy of. I stumbled upon it at a thrift store a few years ago and couldn’t believe my luck. It has a neat concept that you can copy; one person picks a card, and it lists the name of the book and the author, as well as the synopsis.
All the other players must write down what they think the book’s first line is. The player who picked the card reads the real first line along with the others, and then whoever guesses the real line wins a point. Similar to the likes of Fibbage, it is an easy game to replicate at home.
Or if you have friends who enjoy reading challenges, you could create some Book Bingo cards for them to fill in throughout the year.
#9: Mugs
Reading and drinking a coffee or tea go together like peanut butter and jelly. It just fits. And everyone loves a mug.
So, a nice and easy gift for people is a mug related to reading. There are a lot of good ones out there, and if you’re looking for something different, I’m a big fan of these 3D bookshelf style mugs.
#10: Gift Cards So People Can Buy Books!
Mugs, games, wall art, knickknacks, etc are neat – but at the end of the day, the one thing a reader loves most is books. However, books cost money, and if you give readers money, they can buy what they love most – more books.
Get them some gift cards so they can head straight out on Boxing Day and take advantage of all the sales.
Have you purchased any of these gifts for the readers in your life? How did they react? And are there any gifts not mentioned here that you’d like to suggest? Let us know in the comments below.