Buying for a reader is easy to get wrong - guess a novel and they've read it; guess wrong and they'll never say. This is our counter-tested list: gifts that circle the reading life itself, from beautiful editions to the small practical things every reader secretly wants.
Editor's Picks
- Rechargeable Book Light - the gift they'll use nightly
- Personal Library Kit - for the friend who lends
- A Reader's Journal - a log of a reading life
0184, Charing Cross Road
Twenty years of letters between a New York writer and a London bookshop. The most beloved book about loving books ever written - give it to any reader who hasn't met it. Barely a hundred pages, endlessly reread.
02The Diary of a Bookseller
Grumpy, hilarious dispatches from a second-hand bookshop in Wigtown. Catnip for anyone who's ever dreamt of owning one. Three more volumes if you enjoy it.
03Penguin Clothbound Classics
The gift edition of record: foil-stamped clothbound hardbacks of the classics. Pick their favourite - or start their collection with Austen. Designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith throughout.
Rechargeable Book Light
A warm-toned clip light that saves marriages and eyesight alike. The unglamorous gift they'll use every single night. USB charging, so no battery hunting.
Personal Library Kit
Date stamps, checkout cards and pockets - a tiny library circulation desk for the friend whose books never come back. Charming, and quietly effective at recovering books.
A Reader's Journal
A place to log every book, verdict and favourite line. Readers who keep one become evangelical about it. Start it in January for best effect.
Marble Bookends
Heavy, handsome and endlessly useful - because every reader's shelves are one paperback from collapse. A safe gift for the reader who already owns every book you might think of.
Book Lover's Scented Candle
Old-books-and-cedar in candle form. A cliché that never once fails to delight. Safe gift for almost any reader.
Bamboo Book Stand
Holds a cookbook, doorstop fantasy or tablet at the perfect angle. Quietly one of the most-used gifts on this list. Folds flat for easy storage.
10The Bookshop
A widow opens a bookshop in a town that doesn't want one. Slim, sharp and quietly devastating - a perfect one-evening gift. Under two hundred pages, and the ending is the reason it stays with people for years.
Choosing presents for book lovers
The safest presents for book lovers are the ones that improve reading rather than compete with it - a proper reading light, a bookmark they will not lose, an edition of something they already love and own badly. Book lover gifts go wrong when they are about the idea of reading: the novelty mug, the tote with a pun on it.
If you are buying an actual book, buy one they have already read and adored, in a better edition. It is the rare gift that cannot be wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's a safe gift for a reader whose taste I don't know?
84, Charing Cross Road - short, universally loved and about the reading life itself. Pair it with the book light and you can't miss.
Is a book token a cop-out?
Not to readers - a National Book Token or bookshop gift card is genuinely welcome. Tuck it inside a Clothbound Classic and it stops feeling like one.
What about an e-reader or audiobook subscription?
If they already listen, an Audible subscription is a strong gift; we'd never buy a paper devotee an e-reader unasked - it's a lifestyle, not a stocking filler.
What should I avoid buying a reader?
Anything that assumes they have not read the obvious. Buying a keen crime reader the year's biggest crime novel usually means buying them a second copy. Safer ground is a beautiful edition of something they already love, or a book from a neighbouring genre they would not have picked up themselves.
Shelf 02Crime & Mystery
Cosy crime, gritty thrillers and a good whodunnit for a wet afternoon.
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Shelf 03Nature & Countryside
Nature writing, walking, farming and the wild places - our house speciality.
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Shelf 04History
Popular history, biography and the stories behind the stories.
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Shelf 05Cookery
Seasonal cooking, baking and the kitchen books worth the shelf space.
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