A Very Bookworm Christmas
Book gifts are always the best gifts. My need-to-read pile is the only Christmas list I will ever need to share with anyone, and book lovers are the easiest people to shop for. A book (and don't forget the inscription!) is always, always a valuable gift. Choose your favorite, or go to an indie book store, describe your recipient's personality to the clerk and ask them for recommendations. (Having once worked at a bookstore, I can promise you that being asked for recommendations will be the highlight of their day.) If you're not sure what your pal has or hasn't read, a bookstore gift card - nicely packaged and presented with a bookmark, for instance - is never a bad idea.
And here are a few other great ideas for bookworms. I wrote about Out of Print Clothing back in June, interviewing the owner of this literary paradise, but they've added a few new items since then that I must share. Above: the punk author coaster series, which you can get here - along with sci-fi novel coasters or library card coasters.
They now have a Gone With the Wind series that I am badly coveting/feeling guilty for wanting because of slavery. Get it here.
Right now all of their beautiful jewelry is 30% off! Get it here.
And they have a new "Spooky Collection" for the horror scholar in your life. Get it here.
Bookriot has some amazing book-related ornaments right now. Below: Hunger Games, A Christmas Carol, On the Road and a customizable book-cover ornament.
I would personally flip for this engraved cuff featuring the Louisa May Alcott quote, "She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain."
I bought a vintage Tiffany sterling silver bookmark for a book-loving recipient this year (not the below - a MUCH more affordable version), and I think it's going to be a really lovely gift.
This library pendant is to die for.
A candle scented like the favorite smell of every book nerd on earth: old books!
But again - the best gift for a book lover is a book, and first editions will NEVER fail you. All of my favorite gifts have been first, anniversary or signed editions of beloved novels, and they don't have to set you very far back. My dad and I both love Elmore Leonard and the show Justified, and I found a signed first edition of his book Pronto, featuring the first appearance of the Justified character Raylan Givens, for a very reasonable price on eBay, because Leonard was so prolific. Don't be scared to hit up old bookstores or the Internet for first editions - many of them are more affordable than you would ever guess, and it's the kind of gift a bibliophile will treasure for a lifetime.
