With my birthday coming up, I have some people asking me if there are any presents I would particularly like this year. Although my house is already stuffed with too many literary things, the internet is full of cool gifts for booklovers. Are you looking for a bookish gift? Here’s a list of my favourite literary presents you can order online!
(To my friends and family: this is not a hint. It is just something that inspired me for a blog post. I love you all very dearly, whether you get me presents or not.)
A literary T-shirt
One of the great things about the internet is that there is so much choice, you can always find a shirt about someone’s favourite book. A good place to start is Etsy, where you can find a lot of options. Litographs is also a cool option, because of their great designs. My personal favourites are Plint, a company that focuses on merchandise around Dutch poetry, and Verloren Woorden, where I got this amazing shirt with a poem by Paul van Ostaijen.
A literary bag
A bag is a great way to show everyone your favourite hobby even when you’re on the road and don’t have your hands free to read a book. A good basic is of course the tote bag (I buy mine from Blossom Books), but how about this more extravagant bag or a cool laptop sleeve?
Take them on a literary trip
Sometimes the best gifts are things you can do together! So go look around: is there a literary festival coming to your town soon? Maybe your friends favourite author is doing a meet-and-greet at a nearby bookstore? Or see if there’s a cool literary museum or other hotspot nearby you can visit! Combine it with a lunch or tea and your present is the memory of a lovely afternoon.
A personalized ex libris
Is your friend constantly losing track of his or her books? An ex libris is a marker (usually a stamp or sticker) to keep track of your books. You mark the first page of the book so anyone who lends it is reminded to whom they should return it. The cool thing about this is you can order personalized stamps, with the name of your friend or a logo that fits his or her identity.
A literary cookbook
Why not combine two hobbies? With a literary cookbook you can make recipes inspired by your favourite books! There are lots of literary cookbooks out there, so pick one that fits your friends interests. For example, a Potterhead might be interested in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. As a fan of Outlander, I’m looking forward to one day making recipes from Outlander Kitchen. More into drinks instead of meals? Tequila Mockingbird has recipes for great cocktails (with and without alcohol), small bites, and literary drinking games (like: drink every time Dickens introduces a new character in Great Expectations).
BOOKSIEN 