Bookish Holiday Gift Guide | 2017
Were getting closer and closer to Christmas and since it's not long until December I thought I'd have a go at creating a gift guide.
Are you looking for the perfect gift for a book lover? Or maybe you are the book lover looking to introduce someone else to the wonders of reading. Whether you can't decide on an actual book to buy or you're looking for something book inspired, then I have all the answers you need. Or at least I think I have a few ideas that I'd like to share and hopefully help make your gift buying a more pleasant experience.
The first step no matter what you're thinking of buying is to make sure they don't already own it. I mean, you might already know all the books they own, which will make buying a gift really easy. Or if you're buying for someone you live with, then this is also pretty easy because you can have a good glance at there shelves. If not then I'd recommend having a sneaky look around there Goodreads page if they have one, to see what they've read. A lot of people have owned shelves so you might get lucky. However if you don't get any luck in those areas, then I'd say to make sure you get something they can exchange if they do already own it or possibly go down the other route which is to get something bookish inspired. Possibly even based on a favourite book of theirs. Of course you could always get a gift card to their favourite store instead, but I'm one of those people who likes the idea of someone choosing something that they think you might enjoy, it's just much more fun.
If your buying for someone who's only just getting into reading, or possibly likes reading but doesn't do it very often then here are a few books I found easy to get into.
1. Harry Potter (If by chance they haven't already read it, or at least don't own it, then they have to have it!)
2. Anything by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass was the series that made me love reading so much.)
If you're not really a book lover yourself this can get kind of intimidating because there are so many possibilities. But an easy way to do it is to think about the books the person you are buying for enjoys most and put a genre to them. For example if their favourite book series is Harry Potter, then I'd go for something magical and stick with fantasy or possibly magical realism. Or if their favourite author is John Green, I would lean towards contemporary or possibly romance. It honestly depends on the person. If you're really not sure where a certain book fits then I would go to Goodreads and look at the categories other readers have put it in.
Ok, so now I'm going to go into a couple of my favourite genres and go through some books I think would make great presents.
Fantasy:
6. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Or if you know they already have this and love it, go for: Night of Cake and Puppets which is another story in this world, and there are newly released physical copies available with gorgeous illustrations.)
Contemporary:
Mixed Genre:
1. The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey (Has a mix of Sci-fi and Dystopian elements.)
2. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Has a mix of Fantasy and Dystopian elements.)
3. The Queen of The Tearling by Erika Johansen (Mostly fantasy based however second and third books have dystopian elements.)
Mental Health:
(Mental health isn't a topic that is talked about enough in my honest opinion so I just had to include a couple of my top picks when it comes to mental health representation!)
Bookish items:
Colouring Books:
Colouring Books are really on trend right now and there are plenty to choose from. For example if you know the person you're buying for loves A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR), then I would highly recommend the colouring book as the art is beautiful. There are also ones based on Harry Potter, Red Queen, Mortal Instruments, Percy Jackson, the Lunar Chronicles and many more different book series'.
Candles:
Another one of my favourite things right now is bookish candles. Most of them are based on characters or places from different books. A few of my favourite shops are:
Mugs/Tote Bags/Pillows/T-Shirts etc:
These are also really great gifts and there are so many different designs available to choose from. I would recommend checking out Redbubble it is an amazing store with so many artists that create unique designs. And check out eviebookish she is one of my favourite creators; her designs are absolutely beautiful.
Funko Pops:
There isn't a load of book based pop vinyls, but a lot of well known books have been turned into movies and tv shows alike. For example I have the biggest addiction to collecting Harry Potter and Game of Thrones ones. They are cute and look great on our bookshelves. Here are some of my favourites that I think look great:
Harry Potter with the Sorting Hat
Luna Lovegood
Dobby
Bellatrix Lestrange
Hagrid
Newt Scamander
Daenerys with Drogon Pop Ride
Jon Snow and Ramsey Bolton Battle of the Bastards 2 pack
Check out Pop In A Box they are a great online store and they have a massive selection!
Harry Potter
A lot of people love Harry Potter so I think a safe choice is to go with something inspired by this wonderful series. I've already talked about a lot of Harry Potter themed items already but there are so many more options! So I had to add a separate section for these items.
-The Harry Potter Illustrated Editions: These editions are beautiful and the illustrations are truly stunning. The Prisoner of Azkaban is the latest one to be released.
-There are also various companion books that dive into more information about the books and the movies, I own most of these and I have to say that they are so worth picking up and would make great gifts too. For example my favourite is the Film Wizardry as it is full of super cool content and extras.
-Chocolate Frogs and Every Flavour Beans: Recently I visited the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London and picked up both of these, the every flavour beans for the first time and another chocolate frog which I have purchased before. Because of the amazing movie authentic packaging they make great decorations and after consuming them I display them on my bookshelf because they look really great.
-If they are sorted into a Hogwarts house, why not splurge and get them authentic replica scarf. I have both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw ones and I love them!
Check out the Warner Brothers Studio Tour online shop at: https://shop.wbstudiotour.co.uk/
Exclusive Editions:
The Last thing I want to add is exclusive editions. Recently so many great books have come out with collectors editions, and tenth anniversary limited editions and these make great gifts. They are absolutely beautiful and have exciting new content for people who already know and love the book. So I would definitely recommend taking a look at them. I've picked up four really amazing ones in the last month and have to say that they are well worth it. Those being:
Red Queen Collector's Edition (If you're considering this I would definitely go for the American version as it is so much better than the UK one.)
A Darker Shade of Magic Collector's Edition (There are a few different versions of this and they are all wonderful.)
Anyway I hope this was at least a little bit helpful and I wish you luck on all your gift buying. I'll be back soon with another post!
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Thank you so much for reading!
-Sophie
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