How special are books, right? There’s absolutely no other smell like the smell of an old book’s pages, and that’s not even taking into consideration the fact that those pages have words on them. Two of my good friends run book blogs – Louise writes A Novel Haul and Amanda (a publicist for Penguin Random House) runs Book Enchanted about historical fiction. They are brilliant writers and avid readers who I truly adore.
But the thing about book-friends is that they can be hard to buy gifts for. Obviously, the coolest scenario would be that you buy them this amazing, dusty book from the back of a shop and they open it up and start glowing with joy over something they’ve never seen or heard of, and it just so happens that reading it is the best thing they’ve ever done in their whole lives.
Ideal, right? Though sadly, this isn’t terribly realistic. Bookworms go through books like toilet paper, and chances are, if you’ve got a highly recommended book in your hands as a gift, they’ve at least heard of it and in a lot of cases, they’ve probably already read it. Boo.
So for the book monsters in my family, I actually turn away from the obvious book choice and onto some other literary gifts that they’re sure to love, and definitely don’t own yet!
Vintage Book Cover Tees
by Out of Print
A long, long time ago (okay, five years), I saw the cover of one of my favorite books, Catcher In The Rye, emblazoned on a soft, cotton t-shirt hanging in a book shop on Queen Anne hill in Seattle. It totally blew my mind – how, in all of my graphic t-shirt obsessing, had I never stumbled across literary graphic t-shirts? I have been in love with book cover design since I was in my teens, and to think that I could have been wearing the sultry eyes of the original Great Gatsby book cover or proudly support the beasts of Where The Wild Things Are – the time I’ve wasted with every other t-shirt will haunt me ’til the end of time.
Or, on the off-chance your book-friend is way, way into leggings, they’ll surely appreciate the Composition Notebook leggings. As a former college newspaper staff member, I know I certainly do. Or, for scarf-wearers, you’ll be lucky to get your hands on the newly released (and subsequently out of stock) Library Card Scarves which are only $22 each.
Out of Print tees are all about $28 each (usually, check the note below!), sweatshirts are $42, tank tops are $24, and they have a luscious sale section full of good deals, so be sure to check there for your friends’ favorite books!
By the way, every item you purchase (yes, every item) equals one book that Out of Print donates and sends to Africa. Since 2010, they’ve donated over one million books – be part of a big movement and rep your lifelong literary heroes in the process!
Library Themed Soy Candles
by Paddywax
The essence of your bookworm friend’s favorite classic author has been captured and infused into a long-burning soy candle. The Jane Austen candle is full of gardenia, tuberose, and jasmine scents – clearly feminine and floral. The Tolstoy candle features black plum, persimmon, and oak moss which sounds earth, mysterious, and deliciously fruity! My favorite author is Ralph Waldo Emerson, which would fill my house with the scent of cedar and wild fern. The Oscar Wilde candle, with tobacco flower and vanilla, might be my favorite choice based on my love of simplicity and cozy lodge smells.
Each Paddywax candle is $21 and is hand-poured into a 6.5 oz. glass container. If that’s a little bit over your budget, you’re in luck, because there is an adorable 2.5 oz. tin version of each scent for only $15. See all of the Library collection candles here.
Decomposition Notebooks
by BeGood
Speaking of notebooks, these incredibly beautiful journals by BeGood are made with 100% post-consumer waste, recycled into pages and a tough cover printed with soy ink. Boom. Everything you’d want in a sustainable notebook, including illustrations like the ones above, left is called “Illumination” and the right is appropriately called “Celestial.”
There are a total of six designs to choose from, some tape-bound and some spiral-bound, so you can custom-tailor the design to the book lover or writer in your life. Best of all, each one of these notebook journals are only $10 each.
And don’t worry – of course there is a journal with a “Cats in Space“-themed cover design. Your gift shopping is basically done at this point.
Those three goldmines should give you a health head start on your bookworm appreciation shopping! As you know, this is all part of…
The Sustainable Holiday Shopping challenge! Can you do all of your shopping from small businesses, or make sure all of your gifts were produced sustainably? Make 2015 the year you started shopping differently!
Tag your favorite Green Gift Guide items or Sustainable Shopping Scores with #SustainableHolidayChallenge! You just might win something!
If you have an amazing gift idea for a book lover, leave your suggestion or link in the comments!