Books
15 College Dorm Essentials For Book Lovers, Because Your Love Of Reading Knows No Bounds
You're making a list, checking it twice — no, it's not Christmas, but it is almost time for school, and you can't go back to campus without a adding a few college dorm essentials for bookworms to your packing list. After all, college is a great time to express your devotion to books through your own personal style. Sure, you have the back-to-school wardrobe staples packed, you pre-ordered your textbooks, and you've stocked up on microwavable noodle cups — but as a bibliophile, you owe it to yourself to make sure your dorm room and school supplies are fully decked out in bookish style.
From the poster over your bed to the socks on your feet, here are 15 things that every book lover needs before heading back to school this fall.
Image: Olde Book Pillow Classics, $17.99-24.99, ThinkGeek
Personal Library Kit
This personal library kit will help you keep track of who borrowed what book from you. Complete with stamps and checkout cards, you’ll never lose a book to that girl down the hall again. (Plus, you’ll get to stamp books, which always looked fun.)
iPhone Dock
Charge your phone in bookish style with a cloth-bound classic novel. Trust me, it looks a lot better than the tangle of wires I know you have going on now.
Pride & Prejudice iPhone Dock, $52, Fab
Bookish Posters & Prints
You know your roommate already has more than one “Keep Calm and Carry On” print, so forget the cliches and choose a print featuring your favorite novel. With Litographs, the images are created entirely out of words straight from the pages. They look great and celebrate your favorite thing about books: the words.
Moby Dick Poster, $24, Litographs
Bookends
Dorm rooms are small, and so are the bedrooms at your first apartment away from home. Do yourself a favor and save some space with these adorable and functional bookends that double as storage. They’ll hold up your ever-growing collection of novels and give you a place to store your bookmarks.
Preference for Self Reference Bookends, $39.99, ModCloth
Book Pillows
Waking up to lines covering your face after you fall asleep reading is never fun, but these book pillows won’t leave a mark. They’re cure, clever, and will change your definition of “cozying up with a good book.”
Olde Book Pillow Classics, $17.99-24.99, ThinkGeek
Reading-Themed Tapestry
Cover the blank white walls of your dorm room with a beautiful tapestry that celebrates reading. It will add enough color, class, and a touch of your own personal style to brighten up even the most depressing campus bedrooms.
Lost in a book Tapestry, $79, Society6
Author-Enthusiastic Tote Bag
Backpacks are so high school. Ditch the initialed knapsack your mom got you years ago and instead pick up a cute tote with your favorite author’s quotes — or in this case, your favorite author’s face — on it. You know you need something to carry all your new books in anyways.
Edgar Allan Poe-Ka Dots, $18, Out of Print
Reading Light
Don’t be that roommate who keeps your bunk mate awake until all hours of the night with the light on. Instead, opt for a small, portable book light that will allow you to keep reading until long after quiet hours. Just be sure to pack extra batteries.
MiniFlex LED Book Light, $12.99, Mighty Bright
Book-Wrapped Penicls
You need writing utensils for note-taking and exams, so make sure your pens and pencils celebrate the great literature you’re studying. An added bonus of these book-wrapped pencils? When you’re hit with writer’s block, inspiration is literally at your fingertips.
Pencil Case
If you thought Lisa Frank was cool, check out the Kate Spade “Like a Book” pencil pouch set. Not only is it chic and and stylish, but it’s also pretty useful — just think of all those times you’ve found a pen broken in the bottom of your purse and backpack. No more.
Like a Book Pencil Pouch Set, $30, Kate Spade
Tape
Hanging a poster, mailing a package home, making a DIY outfit for this weekend’s frat party — you never know when a good roll of tape will come in handy. Skip the boring old silver duck tape and instead stock up on a roll or two of this book-lined one of the masking variety. Useful never looked so good.
Masking Tape, $4.49, Etsy.com
Socks
When the fall weather hits, cover your toes up with forbidden literature from these banned book socks. That way, when you’re bored in your non-English related class, you can still gaze upon the things that really matter, like Ulysses and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Bookmark
If this isn’t your first semester at school, then you know that during any given week, you’re reading at least two or three different books. It’s easy to lose your place with that much going on. No one likes a page-folder, so make sure you head off to class with a bookmark or two. That way, when you borrow that Kafka novel from the cute guy in your comp lit class, you can return it with crisp pages, unbent pages.
Lightmark, $5.90, Peleg Design
Notebook
Chances are you take notes on your laptop, but no matter what your major is in college, a notebook will always come in handy. For the library lovers, this adorable composition notebook is both adorable and super handy for jotting down reminders and that cute classmate’s phone number.
Library Card Composition Notebook, $7, Barnes & Noble
Book Safe
No matter how close you and your college roommate are, it’s never a bad idea to have a secure, locked place to put your valuables. Since you already have shelves lined with books, this hidden safe will blend right in to your bookish decor.
Concealed Lock Book Safe, $34, Office Depot
