15 Bookish & Arty Gifts to Buy Without Leaving Your Couch
Avoiding malls at holiday time can be your best treat. Small shopping, with artists & small shops—or library shops!—is a treat for all. Below, a sampling of ways to do good, gift friends and family with love, and do it all in your pj’s online.
1) Do you have an ornament lover in your life who is also passionate reader? Combine them with this ornament from the .
2) Reach into the way back machine and find an antique typewriter (or at least vintage.) Hours can be spent searching on Ebay, or it can be done quick by following the link provided.
3) Please feel free to gift me with this Ineke Scent Library eau de parfum from the Library Foundation of Los Angeles Gift Shop. San Francisco based perfumer and avid gardener Ineke Ruhland designed these handmade scents from the unique, rare botanicals she cultivates. The Scent Library includes five 2.5 ml eaux de parfums in a charming “book” with “library cards” describing each of the scents.
4) Tell my husband about what’s on sale at the Huntington Library in California: this lovely art to wear: “During the Victorian era, slide bracelets were made from old keepsake jewelry parts, stickpin heads, rings, small pins and buttons. They became known as ‘slide’ bracelets because of the movement of the pieces on the chain. Ours is a dainty sequence of ovals, diamonds, hearts and squares.”
5) We all need to dab at our noses. Why not use this perfectly bookish holder for tissues, from The Gadget Flow
6) Is your man about to win a Pulitzer? Or act like he is? Get him a pair of New York Library Lion’s cufflinks, from (where else?) the NYPL shop (There is a ton of great stuff here—and you support the library!)
7) Perfect for that Scrabble obsessive in the family, coasters marking their love, with support for the Springfield-Greene County Libraries in Missouri.
8) What could be more artistic and bright than teaching your little one how many varieties of kids there are? This “Mixmates Boys & Girls are colorful wooden blocks with characters as diverse as the children that play with them. Made of hardwood and durable inks, Mixmates will survive the bumps that go along with being a child’s favorite toy. As children mix, stack and play, they develop fine motor skills as well as language as they describe their creations.”
9) If you have a book and alien abduction fascination, here’s your perfect present from, where else? Etsy: UFO Abduction Metal Art Bookends
10) Also on Etsy, for the outdoor enthusiast biker, a less alien set of bookends.
11) And you know that you need card catalog cuffs (bracelets, that is.) I know I’d like one (hint, hint.)
12) For those who remember those library catalog cards, what could be more romantic than wearing a Dewey decimal number locket around your neck? Here’s one representing “Civil Disobedience” —timely, yes?
13) Of course we want our kids to read and to keep their rooms tidy. At least the book section? Here’s some encouragement for little ones, with a truck for their books.
14) For those on your list for whom wearing Dante around their neck would be perfect: the “Divine Comedy -Literary Scarf.”
15) Does your fantasy involve having your very own Darcy? Perhaps you should buy your man this Regency era Men’s dress shirt. (And see how far he will go to prove his love. Will he wear it for New Years?)
And if books are what you want, here’s a selection from my fellow members of Beyond The Margins, past & present, and a great selection of independent bookstores:
Chris Abouzied
ANATOPSIS from Porter Square Books
Ann Bauer
THE FOREVER MARRIAGE from Magers & Quinn
Nichole Bernier
THE UNFINISHED LIFE OF ELIZABETH D. from Wellesley Books
Robin Black
LIFE DRAWING from Concord Books
Juliette Fay
THE SHORTEST WAY HOME from Odyssey Books
Laura Harrington
ALICE BLISS from RJ Julia
Randy Susan Meyers
ACCIDENTS OF MARRIAGE from Foxtale Bookshoppe
E.B. Moore
AN UNSEEMLY WIFE from Gibson’s Bookstore
Henriette Lazaridis Power
THE CLOVER HOUSE from Brookline Booksmith
Anna Solomon
THE LITTLE BRIDE from Blue Willow Bookshop
Kim Triedman
THE OTHER ROOM from Acorn Books
Julie Wu
THE THIRD SON from Hickory Stick Bookshop
Laura Zigman
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY from Harvard Bookstore
Or shop in person at your local indies; in Massachusetts we’re especially blessed. Along with the above, who also offer online, please visit the wonderful:
Andover Bookstore in Andover
Buttonwoods Books and Toys in Cohasset
Newtonville Books in Newton
New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton
Papercuts in Jamaica Plain
Westwinds Bookstore in Duxbury
