My whole life is books. I read books. I’m writing one. I’m getting married in a bookstore. Do you know how many books I have? I don’t either. That’s probably how I wound up with three copies of Pride and Prejudice. I mean that other people don’t know how many books I have, or which ones exactly they are. Like, I only bought one of those; other people gave me the rest. I feel like this is true for many, many book people? The lesson is: never get a book person books unless they’ve asked for something specific or you’ve had some sort of conversation. Instead, get them book things that aren’t books! Here are a few suggestions!
Wearable Book Things
Books for your body! There are these lovely chiffon book scarves over on Etsy ($24) — there’s a bunch of different ones, but I’m featuring Pride and Prejudice because, as previously mentioned, it is my favorite book. Actually, you’re about to learn a lot about my book tastes, because I’m about to let you know about Litographs (one of my favorite companies) by showing you a tee shirt with the entire text of The Tempest on it ($34). The Tempest is my favorite Shakespeare. I also want to make sure to include something comics-related on this gift guide, because comics are just as much literature as anything else. So here’s a skirt that looks like a comic book ($50)! If you’re looking for something jewelry, here’s an Open Book Necklace ($15). I want to point out that it is entirely possible to wear all of these things at one time.
Household Book Things
Book things for your house! The obvious thing to start off with is things to hang on the walls — check out this Harry Potter Golden Trio Portrait ($20) or this print of a nerdy owl on a dictionary page ($7). Plant in books with an up-cycled book planter ($50). I feel like that’s a controversial suggestion — some book people might not enjoy that a book died for the planter. So proceed with caution. No books had to die for this Old Books Scented Candle ($18), so it might be a safer gift idea for the more purist among us. Frostbeard Studio also has scents from specific books (Sherlock’s Study or Le Cirque des Rêves, among others).
Readers Who Are Writers
I feel like most readers are also writers, even if they don’t do it professionally. Readers usually have a reverence for the written word that leads to journaling, fan fiction and personal project novels AT THE VERY LEAST. That love doesn’t evaporate. So consider a Midori Traveler’s Notebook ($35) with some planner and journal pages (and some binding-elastics to keep it all together). A set of good pens wouldn’t go amiss ($13) — I have these exact ones and can highly recommend them. If your book person already has a journal, a bandolier to keep books and pens together ($26) in a bag is a nice thing to do. If you’re not sure of your book person’s writing preferences, maybe get them a loose-leaf tee shirt ($50) so they can wear their blank-page-conquering-pride on their sleeve — literally.
If you’re not really sure what a Midori Traveler’s Notebook is or is for, by the way, here’s a really good overview.
Book Accoutrements
Lastly, things that are for the books that book people own. First, those bookends on which you can build with Legos ($25) because I’m your Geekery Editor and of course that’s what I found on the internet. If your book person is a book-shelf-possessor, help them organize their life with Birch A-Z Book Dividers ($120). I’m pretty sure I’ve recommended this library kit before ($15), but a great alternative is a customizable stamp ($27) to just plomp that ownership right on the inside cover with some ink and a prideful smile.
