Gifts that are books

48!!! books!!! and a giveaway

You may be a little stumped on what to get your cousin’s new wife that you just met at Thanksgiving and whose name you unfortunately pulled in the family gift exchange. Or you might be waiting until the last minute to do any shopping and are going to be panic when you miss all the shipping deadlines. Buy a book!!!

Books are great gifts for a few reasons:

1. They show the recipient that you’ve been listening when they tell you about something they’re interested in.

2. They come at a large range of price points, so you have options.

3. You can wait until the last possible minute and buy them at your local bookstore.

If your friend isn’t a reader, get them a beautiful art book to keep on their coffee table. If they love vintage, grab a secondhand book on a topic they’re into. Cookbooks, I think, are a pretty safe gift for anyone who likes food, even if they don’t cook. If you went on vacation with someone this year, get them a book about that place. And, if you’re just not sure, a gift card to Bookshop.org lets them choose from a bajillion options (and still supports local bookstores in the process).

Read on (hehe) for 48 books I think would make great gifts, including books for reading, cookbooks, art books, and more.

Unrelated side note: you may have seen that I made a print edition of À La Carte as a gift for some friends and clients this holiday season, and I have a few left over, so I’m giving them away to some randomly chosen paid subscribers! I’ll choose the winners next week and will contact them via email. To be automatically entered to win, just upgrade your subscription here: