The holidays are almost here, which means it's time you start shopping for the friends and loved ones on your holiday gift-giving list. It's time to think about the things that everyone on your list loves, and then find something that suits their interests — something that they don't already have, of course, which can be a challenge! But never fear: If you're looking for the perfect gift for your beloved bookworm, then you've come to the right place.
Picking out gifts for readers is very much in our wheelhouse, and we've put together a guide to the 32 best gifts for readers. From books to reading-related accessories, gadgets, and decor, our list of gifts for book readers has everything you need to please the avid readers on your holiday gift-giving list.
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1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
It's going to be tough to find a book that your favorite book lover has not already read. But if you buy a book with 1,000 great suggestions, the recipient is sure to find something to treasure inside. This book of bucket-list reads is a road map to a lifetime of reading.
$18.98 on Amazon
A Great Bookmark
$9.95
Sure, anything can be a bookmark. It's not a surprise that so many of us use business cards or post-it notes rather than buying fancy bookmarks. But just because readers don't splurge on themselves doesn't mean that you shouldn't spoil them. A really nice bookmark could be the book-related gift idea that your favorite reader never knew they needed.
An eReader
$89.99
There's no denying that ebooks are more convenient than toting around old hardcovers. If you have anyone on your gift-giving list who doesn't have a Nook or a Kindle yet, change that! Even the most die-hard fans of old-school books will find reasons to use an ereader every once in a while.
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Foundryside
What better gifts for readers are there than books? Foundryside is a great fantasy novel that is still new enough that your recipient may not yet have read it. It's also the first book in a new series.
$19.49 on Amazon
Audible Subscription
$14.95/month
Enjoying a book doesn't always mean reading. Sometimes, book lovers enjoy hearing a story told out loud. The era of the "book on tape" is long since gone, though: These days, audiobooks are things that we stream online or download for later listening. Audible is the king of the modern audiobook, and gift subscriptions make great gifts for readers.
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Ball Lightning
Liu's trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past has made him one of science fiction's most important authors. This work of hard science fiction is not a part of Liu's famous trilogy, though. As a brand new book, a standalone novel, and a slightly lesser-known option than the Remembrance of Earth's Past novels, it makes a great gift.
$16.99 on Amazon
Space Opera
This self-aware and gleeful science fiction novel is one of the best gifts for readers that you'll find on a bookstore shelf. Its knowing winks at tropes have drawn comparisons to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy — which would be a good gift, too, if it weren't a near certainty that your recipient had already read it!
$12.19 on Amazon
The Calculating Stars
If you're shopping for gifts for sci-fi readers, then you should consider The Calculating Stars as your gift. Kowal won the 2019 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel with this book. This new novel revisits the ideas that Kowal explored in her wonderful earlier work The Lady Astronaut of Mars.
$14.31 on Amazon
Semiosis
This 2018 novel earned a lot of honors, including a coveted spot on the New York Public Library's Best of 2018 list. This novel about first contact has been compared to the works of Ursula K. Le Guin, which is more than enough to earn it a spot on this list of gifts for readers.
$7.51 on Amazon
'Book Dragon' Mug
$9.46
If the title of 'bookworm' doesn't do justice to the bibliophile in your life, show them with this 'book dragon' mug that you'll never get between them and their book-horde.
A Personal Library Kit
$15.90
This cute little gift gives readers a stylish way to run their own personal library. It's a great gift for kids — or for any reader who doesn't want to keep losing the books that they lend to friends!
A Book-Themed Scented Candle
$29.95
Books are beautiful things. It's not just the words in them: It's the look, the feel, and — yes — even the smell. That's where scented candles come in. Grab one that smells like an old book, a freshly-printed bestseller, or a library.
A Book Weight
$25.94
Depending on what sort of readers we're talking about, book weights can make great gifts for readers. These specialized tools help hold down pages, and they're perfect for people who like to put down their books when they read, or for folks who read outside and deal with the wind turning pages. Book weights can be made of everything from straightforward silicon to fancy leather.
Bookends
$45.13
Anyone who owns physical books can make use of a pair of bookends. And bookends make great gifts for readers, because you have so much freedom to pick out a beautiful, valuable, and meaningful pair that the recipient can treasure for many years to come. This is an idea you can really run with, so get creative!
A Book-Themed Tote Bag
$26.95
Books are wonderful things, but they can sure get heavy! Get your favorite book lover a convenient tote with a bookish theme. It will be just the thing for carrying their haul back from the library or the bookstore.
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The Shadow of the Wind
When it comes to gifts for readers, what could be better than a book? Well, how about a book about books? The Shadow of the Wind is a beautiful genre-defying fantasy set in Barcelona after the Spanish Civil War. In the story, a book dealer's son discovers a mysterious book with the same title as the novel itself: The Shadow of the Wind.
$10.72 on Amazon
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales
If you're not sure what your favorite reader has and has not read, it never hurts to opt for a beautiful illustrated edition of a classic. With a book like this, it's not just about reading something new; it's also about the beauty of the item and the new experience of the illustrations.
$20.99 on Amazon
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A Reading Light
$6.79
A good book can keep a dedicated reader turning the pages until well after bedtime. And, like your mother always told you, that’s hard on your eyes! Don’t let your favorite reader resort to the old flashlight-under-the-covers trick. Instead, treat them to a nice reading light. A private reading light is a particularly good choice for readers in relationships, who might want to stay up finishing their latest book while their partner tries to snooze nearby. When the overhead light isn’t an option, a book light can be a lifesaver!
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
When it comes to books about books, few novels are as strange and as memorable as Italo Calvino's mind-bending If On a Winter's Night a Traveler. Calvino opens his book in second person, describing the reader acquiring "Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler." It only gets weirder and more beautiful from there.
$8.99 on Amazon
The Library Book
The Library Book is Susan Orlean's compelling investigation of a terrible 1986 fire in the Los Angeles Public Library. It's a true crime and mystery story informed by Orlean's own love of and passion for books, and it makes a great gift for any reader.
$11.59 on Amazon
Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books
A love of books is something that all readers have in common, but that doesn't mean that there aren't new and beautiful insights to be found in this book by Wendy Lesser. Lesser's account of her own love of reading is a great gift for any book lover.
$9.00 on Amazon
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Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany
There are plenty of wonderful book-related "miscellany" in this big and beautiful book. From bookish quizzes to gorgeous photographs of bookstores from around the world, this is a book that belongs on every reader's shelf — or coffee table.
$16.59 on Amazon
Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books
Unpacking My Library looks at books through the collections of prominent authors. It's mediated through writer Leah Price, who knows a thing or two about books herself: She's an English professor at Harvard. Writers featured include Philip Pullman and Lev Grossman.
$20.00 on Amazon
Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers
Book lovers tend to love bookstores, which is why we're including this great book about bookstores on our list of gifts for book lovers. Bookshops have stories of their own!
$13.95 on Amazon
Browse: The World in Bookshops
Can a bookstore help you understand a time, a place, or a person? If you read Hitchings’ book, you’ll think so. Hitchings asked writers to talk about their favorite bookstores, and the result is this remarkable book about bookshops and all of the things that they mean to people and places.
$20.72 on Amazon
A Reader's Journal
$11.01
Great books provoke lots of thoughts and reactions in careful and clever readers. This journal is designed for readers, and it's the perfect way for the book lover on your list to organize their thoughts and reactions to the wonderful books they read.
A Literary Poster
$24.00
Bookshelves are beautiful things, but even the most obsessive book collector is going to have some bare walls in between all of his or her bookcases and bookshelves. Help the book lover on your list decorate by getting them a nice wall hanging — like this bookish poster print. If you’re looking for something really inspiring, you could even commission a custom piece on a site like Etsy.
Library Card Socks
$12.00
Book-related clothing items can make great gifts for readers. These library card socks are a perfect example. Socks are a great choice as a gift, too — they’re a bit less noticeable, which makes them an easy way for a book lover to express him or herself even if there's a dress code to worry about.
A Book Cover T-Shirt
$30.00
Let the bookworm on your list wear their love of reading on their sleeve! Choose a tee shirt that mixes bookish theme with a decent design, and you'll find your book lover's next favorite shirt. Some of the designs offered by companies like Out of Print are really pretty cool. They’d make good gifts even without the literary references — and with them, they make great gifts for readers!
"Invisible" Floating Bookshelves
$25.00
It's the coolest way to store books: On top of more books! These seemingly invisible floating bookshelves turn regular books into shelves themselves. The affect is somewhere in between attention-grabbing and minimalist, making floating shelves perfect hip gifts for book lovers.
Yoda 'Read and the Force Is With You' Socks
$7.78
Whether you love reading sacred Jedi texts or something a little lighter, these Yoda socks will keep you picking up books, they will. For the friend who needs to keep their feet warm while curling up with a good book in the swamps of Dagobah, this makes a thoughtful and unique present.
Harry Potter: The Illustrated Collection
The Harry Potter series is required reading for any book lover, and there's a very good chance that everyone on your list has already read it. No big deal: Harry Potter fans are always down to re-read their favorites, and the illustrated editions of the books offer a new experience with the familiar text. Plus, these editions make beautiful collectibles for die-hard fans.
$64.99 on Amazon
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