Buying a book for someone who reads a lot is a gamble. They have probably read it, or they own it, or they have decided not to read it for reasons they will explain at length. Everyone who has ever given a reader a novel knows the particular face they make while working out whether to admit it.
The way round it is to give them something that goes with the reading rather than something that competes with it. This is what actually gets used, based on what people order for readers and what they tell us afterwards.
Start with what a reader actually complains about
Not shelf space. Readers do not want more shelves; they want the small frictions gone.
They lose their place. They use a receipt, a boarding pass, an envelope or the book's own dust jacket flap, and then it falls out. They read in bed and put the book face-down, which ruins the spine. They keep meaning to write down the line they liked and never do. They drink tea while reading and put the mug on the arm of the sofa.
Every good gift for a reader solves one of those.
A bookmark that is worth keeping
The obvious gift, and the one most often bought badly. A flimsy card bookmark from a shop counter is not a gift, it is a receipt with a picture on it.
What makes one worth having is weight and a tassel. Weight means it stays put when the book is closed and picked up. A tassel means it hangs out of the top of the book so it can be found without opening it, and it means the bookmark can be pulled without touching the page.
Our personalised tassel bookmark takes a name, a quote or a short line of your own. Two pieces of advice on wording: keep it under about twenty-five characters so it does not shrink, and resist the urge to be clever about reading. "Georgia's page" ages better than a joke about book hoarding, which is funny once and then is on the object forever.
Somewhere to put the lines they liked
A lot of readers keep a commonplace book — a notebook of quotations, titles to look up, and things they want to remember. Most of them keep it in the notes app on their phone and are quietly annoyed about it.
A personalised slim kraft notebook works here because it is slim. A thick hardback journal is intimidating and stays blank; something thin enough to sit inside the book being read gets filled. Put their name on it in Serif and nothing else — this is not the object for a quote.
If you are unsure which lettering suits which item, there is a longer piece on that in our guide to choosing a font for a personalised gift.
The bag that carries the book
Readers carry books. Books are heavy and have corners, and a thin supermarket bag-for-life is not built for either.
A personalised tote bag gift set pairs a zipped canvas tote with a notebook and pen, which is a neat combination for someone who reads on the train or at a café. The zip matters more than it sounds — an open tote tips a hardback onto the pavement.
For what to actually have printed on a tote, we went through the options in what to write on a personalised tote bag. The short version for a reader: their name, or a library or bookshop they love, beats a slogan about books.
The tea, and where it goes
Reading and a hot drink are the same activity for most people, which is why mugs and coasters are so heavily bought for readers and so often bought lazily.
A personalised photo mug earns its place when it carries something specific — a photo of them with the person giving it, an in-joke, a date. A generic mug about books does not; they already own four. There are fifty wording ideas that survive a year of use in what to write on a personalised mug.
A personalised fabric coaster is the cheap gift that gets used every single day. Fabric rather than cork, so it grips the mug and does not slide when it is lifted, and absorbent enough that the ring never reaches the table.
For summer reading in the garden, the personalised iced coffee glass is the version people come back for.
Putting a set together without spending much
Readers are one of the easiest people to build a small bundle for, because the individual pieces are inexpensive and they genuinely go together.
A bookmark and a slim notebook, both in the same font, comes to under twenty pounds and looks like it was planned rather than grabbed. Add a coaster if it is going in a card-sized box. For a bigger occasion, the tote set plus a bookmark covers the commute and the sofa.
The trick with any set is to keep the font identical across every piece and let the colour vary. Same lettering, different colours reads as a deliberate collection; different lettering on each reads as a mistake.
What to avoid
Anything that goes inside the book. Sticky bookplates, embossers and "ex libris" stamps divide readers sharply. Half of them love it; half consider it defacing a book they may want to pass on.
Book-shaped novelty. Book-scented candles, quote posters, socks with spines on. Fine as a stocking filler, but they say "I know you like reading" rather than "I know what you read".
An e-reader accessory for someone who reads paper, or the reverse. Check before you buy. Readers have strong feelings about this and will not tell you.
Ordering
Everything here is printed to order in Cheshire, dispatched in one to three working days with free UK delivery. Because each piece carries your text, it cannot be returned for a spelling change, so read the field back before checkout.
More ideas in the same price range sit in gifts under £10, and if this is for a birthday there is a broader guide in personalised birthday gifts.
The short version
- Do not buy a reader a book. Buy the thing that goes with the book.
- A weighted bookmark with a tassel beats every card one ever printed.
- Slim notebooks get filled; thick ones stay blank.
- Keep the wording personal and short. Jokes about reading age badly.
- Match the font across a set and let the colour do the varying.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a bookmark worth giving?
Weight and a tassel. Weight keeps it in place when the book is closed and picked up; the tassel hangs out of the top so the page can be found without opening the book.
What should I have printed on a bookmark?
A name, a quote or a short line under about 25 characters so it does not shrink. "Georgia's page" ages better than a joke about book hoarding.
Why a slim notebook rather than a thick journal?
A slim kraft notebook is thin enough to sit inside the book being read, so it actually gets filled with the lines they liked. A thick hardback journal is intimidating and stays blank.
