Last-Minute Gifts for Readers You Can Give Right Now

4 days ago 1

Oops. The holidays are here, and you’re still looking for gifts, huh? Don’t worry. I’ve been there, and it’s not too late! Now is not the time to panic. In fact, now is the time to take a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief, because you’ve just found the solution to all your problems. There are plenty of gifts you can turn around quickly, and these last-minute gift ideas are perfect for all the readers on your list. Even if you have a holiday party today or just received a gift from someone you didn’t think to have on your own list, these digital gifts will be ready to give immediately. Seriously, one click and these gifts are ready to go. Don’t believe me? By the end of this list your holiday shopping could be done. All you have to do is start reading.

Local Bookstore Gift Card

A gift card from a local bookstore or even the promise of a shopping trip is the perfect treat for the bookworm in your life. Even better? You’re shopping local, and supporting your community!

If you don’t have a favorite local bookstore, might I recommend one of my favorites: Two Friends Books.

Bookish Subscription

You probably know Book Riot offers an incredible book recommendation and subscription service called TBR (aka Tailored Book Recommendations). It’s a great option for gifting, offering subscriptions for hardcovers, paperbacks, or digital book recommendations.

But it’s not the only bookish subscription service out there. One of my local bookshops, Underbrush, offers a similar book recommendation service, and popular book boxes like Owlcrate and Book of the Month are evergreen options. Loyalty Books and Parnassus Books both have cool monthly subscription boxes featuring signed new editions handpicked by their booksellers. For readers particularly interested in reading BIPOC authors or LGBTQ books, there’s Hues Box, Satisfiction, Rainbow Crate Book Box, and Queer Book Box. There’s even a banned book-specific box: Banned Books Box. Basically, there’s a book box for everyone.

There are book subscriptions for littles, too. Check out Bookroo, with options for kids ages 0-12; Momo’s Book Club for kids 3-8; Our Shelves, with three options for kids 0-8 and a focus on diversity and inclusion, and Literati, which has a book box for 6th-8th grade readers. If you have a little one and haven’t signed them up for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, that is an absolute must that could also serve as a holiday gift. The nonprofit donates books to kids across five countries (USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the UK).

If you have time, you can save the first subscription box you receive to wrap. But the true last-minute option is to print out the gift subscription and put it in a card or gift bag. No waiting necessary!

Bookshop.org Gift Card

A digital gift card for bookshop.org can be printed out or emailed with the click of a button. It’s perfect for the reader who reads so much you wouldn’t even know where to begin picking a specific book for them.

Magazine Subscription

A subscription to a bookish magazine is another great last-minute gift option. You probably know of Highlights, Cricket, and National Geographic, but did you know there are book-centric magazines for adults, too? Oh Reader (which I’ve written for in the past) and The Happy Reader feature articles about books, writers, and reading. Then there’s the whole world of literary magazines to explore. If you know someone who enjoys short stories, a lit mag subscription would make the perfect gift. F(r)iction and Uncanny Magazine are great options, especially for people who love genre fiction.

Libro.fm Audiobook Credit Bundles

Another great gift option is Libro.fm. This audiobook subscription app is a great alternative to Audible and a personal favorite of mine. For audiobook lovers, it’s a must-have. Gifts come in bundles from two credits to 24 credits, and your gift helps support local bookstores.

Ebooks

Okay, obvious, I know. But printing out the cover of a gifted ebook and tying it up with a ribbon makes for a cute and easy gift. It’s been a go-to gift for my mom, who prefers ebooks to print books, for many years now. We often get her gift cards to pick out books for herself as well, but gifting specific ebooks is a fun way to introduce her to specific books we think she’d like. It feels a little more thoughtful, which I like.

As for which ebooks to gift, well, you’re in the right place because recommending books is kind of what we do best here at Book Riot. Our Best Books of 2024 list might be a good place to start.

Bookish Sticker Digital Download

Did you know you can buy digital stickers online and print them yourself? As a planner person and sticker lover, this was very exciting information for me. Including what I’m reading in my planner is actually one of my favorite parts of keeping a planner. These digital stickers are perfect not only for printing and using in a reading journal or planner, but also for using in a digital book tracker. From bookworm clipart and bookish digital sticker packs to cozy reading stickers and pinup reader stickers for the romance girlies.

Digital Book Binding Workshop

Hi, hello, it’s me, a bookworm who has always secretly wanted to learn the art of bookbinding. Truly, is there any bookworm who doesn’t want to know how to bind a book themselves? Probably not. These online bookbinding classes and workshops seem like a dream come true for any reader with ambitions of designing a book their way. You can find various online bookbinding classes through:

Passes to a Bookish Museum or Experience

Bookworms spend a good deal of their time between the pages of a book, but getting out in the real world can be fun, too—especially when that real world activity is still all about books. There are all sorts of bookish museums and experiences out there. I’m not going to try to make a comprehensive list here, because, for starters, which bookish experience it would make sense to gift will have a lot to do with where you live and what kind of books and authors the reader in your life enjoys. That said, here are a few bookish museums and experiences that would make for great gifting, just to get you thinking: