Gift Guide: Self-Care for the Book Lover (Or Gift Ideas for the Book Lover in Your Life )

This link does include some affiliate links. This in no way has affected my opinion of the products, Girl Scouts Honor. You can find the full disclosure policy here. 

Hey everyone, in particular, my bookworms and loved ones of bookworms.Hopefully, November has treated you well.  I feel like Autumn and Winter are when book nerds peak! I mean really, it’s cozy weather, beautiful colors, and hot drinks. Everything, somehow, becomes quieter and calmer. The world essentially becomes your favorite corner in your favorite bookstore!  Speaking of corners, funny enough the first post after the new addition of the corners, sort of fits in all of them. Self-care for the mental health corner, book gifts for the nerd corner and a how-to for the general categories.  If you haven’t heard about the corners you can hop over to the about page to find out more. So, why delay?

If you know me, you know I consider mental health to be a high priority. I suffer from chronic depression and anxiety. It’s not easy, and often people don’t understand. ( I talk about talking about your mental illness with loved ones here.) So, self-care is usually one of the best routes to manage the ups and downs. For some, it’s the only resource they have. All that to say, I believe in taking care of yourself. Not only to combat mental illness but to indulge! Everyone deserves that, don’t you think?

Indulgence and the holidays tend to go hand-in-hand. With the time for indulging approaching, this post seemed fitting. So, I’m going to dish on my favorite book-themed self-care products. This is the perfect “spoil yourself” check-list, particularly for the bibliophile. Or, the perfect guide to buying gifts for the bibliophile in your life! Bonus: They will not break the bank because as we all know, this is the worst time of year for high priced items!

Quick Tip: Leave this article up and open around people you’d like to give subliminal messages to about preferred gifts.

Let’s dig right in! Here are 5 ways you can treat yourself and foster your inner nerd simultaneously.

Candles

First up, the ever popular candles. Nothing sets the atmosphere better than a nice candle. But, what’s  better than a candle that nods to some of your favorite books or characters? The beauty of a book is that you can transport yourself to another world. Now, you can even have the scents to accompany. Here are some of my favorite candle companies with book themed products.

Reverie Library -This shop has it all! No matter your fandom, I’m sure they’ve got it covered. I’m currently waiting for a package myself! I currently have Ilvermorny and Dark Mark on the way!

Frostbeard– This shop not only has the fandom-specific scents, but also the generally enjoyed scents like old books!

Novelly Yours -Two words: ‘Book Boyfriend’. Not your thing? How about ‘Currently Reading’? I mean, I cannot be the only one needing that feeling in a candle, right?!

After you light your candle, you put on your kettle? Just me? Didn’t think so.  Between the candles and tea, this is all about treating your senses and forcing yourself even deeper into your favorite fictional fairy-tale (insert sunglass emoji because alliteration is cool).

Tea & Accessories

First up is NovelTea Tins. These are honestly a two for one. You get the literature based teas but you also get the beautiful tea tins based on classic books.

Literary Tea Company -This little Etsy shop is cranking out some major product and the tins are aesthetically pleasing! Which is important, because … aesthetics.

Bookish Teas -I love this shop because you can buy themed sets. Currently running is the Disnember Set, which combines Disney and December. In the set, you get four teas AND an infuser!

Becca’s Little Boutique

This adorable shop appeared in my suggestions on Etsy and I fully plan on grabbing multiple things from here. She has everything from candles to bookmarks and of course, book-inspired teas. She even has a “blind date with a book” option where you can purchase a book she handpicks and it’s a complete surprise what you’ll get!

The Book Lover’s Cup of Tea: Tea infuser and MiniBook -What’s better for a book and tea lover than a book about tea?  A book that tells you what teas pair well with your favorite books! And the infuser that comes with it that looks like a book!

Tea Spoon -All of that tea making, you’ll need plenty of mugs and a reliable spoon. This tea themed spoon says it all. Literally. I’ve been eyeing this one for a while, so I’m about to grab mine!

Okay, your candles are lit, your cup of tea is hot and ready, what’s next? Draw a luxurious bath of course.

Bath

An ultimate act of self-care, however, is to treat yourself to something that makes you feel good or better than you were feeling. For some, this is a quiet bath or a cup of tea. For others, this is a gift or trinket.

The MacBath  Well first, let us give kudos to this shops name. Then let us appreciate these lit-inspired soaps and bath bombs!

The Soap Librarian -Classic Book lovers scents in cute, book shaped soaps! I love it! I can’t see any book lover turning this down!

Fantastic Bath Bombs Listen, I love a good bath bomb. They are so relaxing and fun to look at! So, with that being said, if anyone wants to hop on over to this shop and check these awesome, book and movie inspired bath bombs, I’d love a Ravenclaw bath bomb!! But wait, there’s more! Each of these bath bombs comes with a handmade necklace inside!

Fizzy Fairy Apothecary This shop covers every fandom and every product you could need. They have bath bombs, lotions, candles & more. I particularly love the drink shaped bath bombs!

Treats & Trinkets

Treat Yoself! 

I think social media can be an amazing way to connect individuals when it is used for it’s best. You get to connect with like-minded folks from all around. On my Instagram page, I recently started following Claudia (@the.book.badger).  Claudia runs a beautiful (so jealous!! ) Bookstagram.  She mentioned that she also had an Etsy shop the other day and so I took a peek and instantly fell in love. It’s quality work and you get to support a small business. You have to check it out, she’s so talented! It’s full of handmade jewelry, art and more. She, in particular, has these beautiful resin necklaces with book excerpts inside of them! You can find her shop here: Tolackcolour.

Common Fiction Everything in this shop is book inspired. They have shirts and they have these super cool pins. Pins are the perfect little trinkets because you can wear them in multiple ways or use them on bags, whatever floats your boat.

Tea & Books Pin I just fell in love with the perfect little pin that showcases all of my loves!

Punky Pins Punky pins is another shop with some high-quality hand-drawn pins. The shop owner collaborated with comic artist Introvert Doodles and the end result is several pins for the book lover! I own two!

Personal Library Kit No doubt that if you’re reading this, you have a pretty decent collection of books (or the person you’re shopping for does.)So this gift is a nostalgic throwback that can help you organize your stash and keep track of them, if you’re nice enough to lend them out.

But of course, Books

However, the best thing for a book nerd is always a book! You probably already know about the several subscription boxes for books. These usually include a book, booked themed toys, bookmarks, and more! If you’re gifting this, you can pay for the first few months of a subscription box, buy a one time box so they can see if they like it or buy a membership to Books-A-Million or Barnes and Noble.

Owl Crate is a subscription box that includes YA based books, trinkets, toys, candles, and more in their box. They also have a Junior option if your buying for someone on the younger side. They have three different payment options whether you’re buying for yourself or gifting. You can pay for a monthly subscription, prepay for 3  months or prepay for 6 months. Along the same lines are ShelfLove Crate & ShelfLove Reads. ShelfLove Crate focuses more on the sci-fi genre but otherwise, it’s the same concept. ShelfLove Reads is a more general subscription box with their debut box going out this January! They even allow you to purchase a one-time box which is perfect for getting to know the product and deciding on whether you like it or not. These boxes are perfect because they are specifically curated for book lovers by book lovers, with multiple items included.

 

Whether you’re treating yourself or treating a loved one, you can’t really go wrong with any of these. This is coming from a person who doesn’t really enjoy receiving gifts. If you do check out any of these products, please let me know how you like them. Also, if think there is something that should be on the list, let me know.

Lastly, if you’re ordering these things online, which is more likely than not, please don’t forget to sign up for Ebates. Ebates gives you cash back for shopping on sites they’ve partnered with and they have partnered with a lot of sites! Most of them are sites you’re already shopping, so why not get some money back. And they have a plugin that will alert you to cashback and coupons everytime you arrive at a site. Check them out here.

Remeber to take care of yourselves! Best of Luck!

-C

This post was proofread by Grammarly