The 15 Best Holiday Gifts for Book Lovers

The holiday season is the season for reading. If you’re looking for book recommendations, TIME’s 100-must read books of 2021 has plenty to choose from. But we also have suggestions for the perfect gift to accompany that perfect book. From games to puzzles to subscription book boxes, these presents are wonderful ways to celebrate the power of reading.

Whether you’re shopping for the book lovers in your life or looking to treat yourself, we encourage you to start your holiday shopping now. Due to supply chain issues, the publishing industry is facing numerous challenges and independent bookstores need your support more than ever (we’ve included Bookshop links to everything on our list that is available on the platform).

Games and puzzles

Book Nerd 1,000 piece puzzle

Price: $18.35

Puzzle lovers and book nerds rejoice! This puzzle is a great activity for family get togethers or alone time before diving into that next long read. At 1,000 pieces, it’s a colorful love letter to books filled with beloved titles on the illustrated shelves.

Buy Now: Book Nerd 1,000 piece puzzle

STET! Dreyer’s English: A Game for Language Lovers, Grammar Geeks, and Bibliophiles

Price: $18.39

Following his 2019 bestseller Dreyer’s English, Benjamin Dreyer, the copy chief of Random House, presents an entertaining game made for English language fanatics and those looking to improve their grammar. Designed for every level, STET! contains 100 cards each with a sentence that might have a grammatical error. The rules? Either identify what’s wrong with the sentence or say “STET” aka a copy editor’s term for “let it stand.”

Buy Now: STET: Dreyer’s English: A Game for Language Lovers, Grammar Geeks, and Bibliophiles

Lizzy Loves Darcy: A Jane Austen Matchmaking Game

Price: $23

This glitzy board game offers Jane Austen lovers a chance to test their knowledge of the iconic author. The set up is similar to Chutes and Ladders—each player is in search of their perfect match, which they will find by spinning a wheel, answering Austen trivia questions and then going up the social ladder or down the ropes of scandal. It’s a beautifully decorated game board with silhouettes of the characters from Pride and Prejudice and over 100 trivia cards.

Buy Now: Lizzy Loves Darcy: A Jane Austen Matchmaking Game

Accessories

Poe-Ka Dot socks

Price: $11.04

Help someone spice up any outfit with a tribute to one of the most famous American writers of all time, Edgar Allen Poe. These socks are sure to make any fellow Poe fan laugh—with a graphic design of the poet making a very dreary face.

Buy Now: Poe-Ka Dot Socks

Hungry Caterpillar socks

Price: $11.04

For readers that may skew a bit younger, these socks featuring the beloved face of Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar are sure to bring holiday cheer and perhaps inspire a reread of the classic picture book. An added bonus: the green and red color of the caterpillar is coincidentally very in theme for the season!

Buy Now: Hungry Caterpillar Socks

Hoarding tote

Price: $18.40

A bag that is both practical and snarky, this tote lets the world know you’re a reader and that you probably have an enormous TBR pile. Adorned with the text, “It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books,” this bag defends spending habits and will catch the eyes of fellow readers.

Buy Now: Hoarding Tote

Bibliophile Bookshelf Keychain

Price: $13.75

This delightful keychain features an illustrated stack of Jane Mount’s charming books, including Little Women, Moby Dick and Frankenstein. It would make for a great gift for English teachers, librarians or any book lover in your life.

Buy Now: Bibliophile Bookshelf Keychain

Knick-knacks and stationery

Typewriter Mug

Price: $11.04

What better way to start the day than with a cup of tea or coffee in this cozy mug? For readers and writers alike, the mug includes an inspiring quote from Margaret Atwood: “In the end, we’ll all become stories.”

Buy Now: Typewriter Mug

Bookstore postcards

Price: $21.11

Help an avid reader celebrate the beauty of book stores with this dazzling collection of postcards that feature shops from London to Tokyo to New York City. With 100 postcards, this gift can then be spread to a big literary-loving crowd.

Buy Now: This Is My Bookstore: 100 Postcards of Beautiful Shops Around the World

Book Journal

Price: $18.39

It’s easy to lose track of the books you’ve read over time. This journal, created by Anne Bogel with book fanatics in mind, has space to help solve that problem. Beyond capturing what they’ve already read, they can also find inspiration for starting something new with the reading lists Bogel also includes in the journal.

Buy Now: My Reading Life: A Book Journal

Gift boxes and subscriptions

Reese’s Book Club Gift of Reading Box

Price: $49.95

This gift box offers a little bit of everything plus a Reese’s Book Club pick of your choosing. There’s also a pair of cozy socks, a wrap to keep you warm while reading, a chocolate bar, ground coffee and a small skincare set.

Buy Now: Gift of Reading: Edition 3 – Reese’s Book Club

Literati subscription

Price: Starts at $75 for three months

Choose from varying subscriptions to Literati, which offers exclusive book clubs led by inspiring authors, activists and leaders. Each month, Literati will deliver a book from your gift recipient’s selected club (they can switch clubs at any time). Plus they’ll get access to discussions and events led by a buzzy roster of “Luminaries” including Megan Rapinoe, Malala, Roxane Gay and Cheryl Strayed.

Buy Now: Literati subscription

Libro.fm Holiday Gift Bundle

Price: $45 and up

For the audiobook lovers, consider this holiday gift bundle from audiobook company Libro.fm. This gift box is a collaboration between Libro.fm and author Ann Shen. Inside is a candle, 1,000 piece puzzle and an audiobook you can select from Libro.fm’s extensive catalog. And there’s more—all proceeds from the box will go to the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books.

Buy Now: Libro.fm Holiday Gift Bundle

Coffee and a Classic Book box subscription

Price: Starts at $52.99 a month

With this whimsical book subscription, the avid readers you know can revisit classics they haven’t picked up in awhile—or perhaps dive into some they’ve never read before. Coffee and a Classic offers two options and both contain a classic book (think Wuthering Heights or A Tale of Two Cities), a fun beverage, two “bookish items” and a bookmark.

Buy Now: Coffee and a Classic Book box subscription

The Equal Opportunity Book Box

Price: Starts at $24.99 a month

Made specifically for young readers, this book box has options for young and older children. Sent every month, both boxes contain three books, which feature characters from underrepresented communities. For every book they sell, Equal Opportunity Book Box also donates one to a child attending a Title 1 school through their partnership with Bernie’s Book Bank.

Buy Now: The Equal Opportunity Book Box