5 Reasons Why a Book Makes the Perfect Gift

Admittedly, I’m biased, and frequently have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from a chapter, but there’s a joy to giving someone a book. No other gift can take you back in time, or into the future, make you laugh and cry (often on the same page), broaden your horizons, deepen your interests, and end your day on a relaxed high, or maybe with a determination to enjoy just one more page. What else can scare you and look great on a shelf?

But it goes deeper than that, and with a little time and thought, a book, and in particular a vintage book, really can make the perfect present.

Here are just five reasons why -

It’s Deeply Personal

When you give a book, you also give a little bit of yourself, and whereas it would be strange to give someone the same perfume or clothes you wear, a book is different. Saying that, like all good things, it comes with an element of risk - which is why we can’t stress enough the importance of reading the book first. If you haven’t read Bridget Jones’s Diary, you might not know what a bundle of calorie-counting, bad-boyfriend choosing, Spanx wearing neuroses she is. The same goes for giving Lady Chatterley’s Lover to a friend who works in landscape gardening. Either way the recipient might think that you’re trying to tell them something.

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There’s also the danger of giving someone a much-loved book and discovering that they hated it, or even worse, didn’t read it at all - although that’s probably no reason to question the whole friendship. However, if you know the recipient well, then the chances are they will feel the same about it as you do, with that slightly different take that can make for a really interesting conversation.

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It’s an Experience

A book is much more than a physical object; it’s a whole new world filled with new, interesting, challenging and lovable characters that can be kept, re-read, talked about and shared whenever they want. It can be funny, shocking, provocative or insightful, and the reaction to a book is always unique to everyone who reads it. It also plays into the current trend away from giving someone yet more stuff that they grow out of (mentally or physically) and towards doing something memorable, or sharing something together. It literally is the gift keeps on giving.

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It Makes an Emotional Connection

A book has a power to it that a jumper or a piece of jewellery would struggle to match. It can provoke opinions, share thoughts and passion, kick off a debate, and hopefully begin a lifelong love affair with a new author or subject. Best of all it can create a warm connection between you and the person you give it to. My father and I had entirely different world views, but loved buying books for each other. Perhaps it was a way to create a shared experience, or gently steer the other towards our camp, or just to have a really good conversation late into the night, either way, I always looked forward to it and still smile at some of the things he gave me.

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It’s as Affordable, or as Expensive, as you Choose

A book doesn’t get its value from its financial weight, but from the emotional value and thought that went into choosing it. Sure you can hunt down rare first editions, or collectable copies, and they can make for unbelievable presents, but our vintage books start at just £4.00 – well within anyone’s reach. They’re also great for a far-away friend; cheap and easy to send, unlikely to get damaged in transit, and once that person has read it, it creates a reason to get in touch again. What could be better than that?

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Vintage Books are always one of a Kind

Each book is a unique object; with no two possessing the same patina of age, notes, feel, history, or inscriptions, guaranteeing that they won’t be getting the same thing from anyone else. Plus they often have really beautiful covers and an evocative smell that makes them wonderful decorations and closer to art; whether they’re on a shelf, a coffee table, sat on a chair, or stacked like a column beside it - we’re pretty sure no room has ever been made worse by the presence of an old book.

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Want to send someone their own special book? Click here for hundreds of classic novels, rare titles and undiscovered gems.

Alternatively, you can search our World Book Day Collection and Give the gift of a good book!