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What To Buy The Writer In Your Life Who Already Has WAY Too Many Books

Give them something that won’t collect dust on the shelf.

by E. Ce Miller

Dec. 4, 2018

The season of giving is definitely upon us — and if you are someone whose got a writer or two (or more!) in your life, that means it’s time to start shopping for the kinds of gifts that writers will totally love. Whether you know it or not, writers are notoriously easy people to shop for. After all, we’ll always be happy to receive a beautifully bound journal, some super swanky writing utensils, or that just-released book we’ve been talking about all season. (As a writer, you can never have enough fancy journals — at least IMO.)

But if you’re looking for a gift that’s a little more outside the box this year, there are plenty of items on this list that go far beyond the page (or the pencil, for that matter.) Festive bottles, bookish candles, literary accessories, memberships galore, and plenty of other products to get those creative juices flowing! You’re guaranteed to find a little something — or, you know, a few somethings — for all the writers on your list this year. There’s something for every budget too, in case you want something small to stuff a stocking or a gift that keeps on giving all year long.

So here they are: 21 gifts that any writer would love to receive this holiday season.

1. Once Upon a Time Notebook

Once Upon a Time Notebook

MoMA Design Store

Writers will love this classic book-style notebook, with the quintessential fairytale beginning printed on the cover. Hand-dyed paper and gold-trimmed edges will make any writer’s journaling feel super luxurious.

2. Anselm Bookbinding Kit

Anselm Bookbinding Kit

Perfect for the DIY writer, this bookbinding kit celebrates not only the art of writing, but the art of lovingly hand-binding your own text as well.

3. Bibliophile Notebook Collection

Bibliophile Notebook Collection

Chronicle Books

This bright bundle of notebooks features artfully designed covers that celebrate bestselling and book club-loved titles, from classic to contemporary lit.

4. The Green Light Candle

The Green Light Candle

Hearth & Hammer

This Great Gatsby candle smells like vanilla, musk, and ocean air, so you can almost imagine staring longingly over the bay at the green light with every whiff.

5. Jane Austen Notebook

Jane Austen Notebook

This Jane Austen Notebook from Obvious State features a sassy black-and-white cover celebrating Austen and all her novels, and includes an Austen quote that all writers can relate to.

6. Composition Notebook Water Bottle

Composition Notebook Water Bottle

If there’s one thing writers need to do more of, it’s drink water while they’re writing. What better way to celebrate the spirit of writing than Out of Print’s Composition Notebook bottle, styled like those classic notebooks we all remember from our school days.

7. PEN America Membership

PEN America Membership

PEN America members are directly linked with an international community of authors, journalists, editors, translators, dramatists, screen writers, other established and emerging writing professionals, and their supporters who promote, defend, and celebrate the freedom to write. Other benefits include discounts to PEN America’s yearly programs, festivals, awards, receptions, and more.

8. Writing Prompt Cubes

Writing Prompt Cubes

Get those creative juices flowing with writing prompt cubes that can act as a jumping off point for your next big story.

9. People Pencils

Chronicle Books

The writing life can be a lonely one, filled with uninterrupted days of toiling away at the desk. These People Pencils — each illustrated to look like a different character — might just be the quiet company needed.

10. The Book HookUp Membership

The Book HookUp Membership

A gift that gives all year long — the Strand Book HookUp. Pick from topics like Fiction, Feminist Literature, Young Adult, and Mystery & Suspense, and for $200 your book-loving writer will receive 4 quarterly boxes containing a signed, first edition of a forthcoming book, an additional paperback title, and plenty of literary goodies — snacks, accessories, and more.

11. Desktop Pen Garden

Desktop Pen Garden

MoMA Design Store

Bring a little outdoors into the writing space — and writing utensils! — with MoMA Design Store’s Desktop Pen Garden. Features five magnetic, grass and flower-inspired ballpoint pens, planted neatly in an oak wood tray.

12. Novel Teas

Few things pair better with a good book — or a good writing session — than an equally-good cup of tea. This brand’s tea bags are each individually tagged with some of literature’s most-loved and amusing quotes and characters.

13. Library Card Tote Bag

Library Card Tote Bag

Taking any writer’s love of the library to another level, this Library Card-themed tote bag is perfect for carting one’s own writing, some latest TBRs, or anything else that might need toting around.

14. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Art Print

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Art Print

Perfect for the office of any aspiring writer, this art print features a quote by author Elizabeth Barrett Browning, alongside original artwork by Obvious State.

15. The Harper Journal with Quote

The Harper Journal with Quote

This quote-emblazoned journal is a true luxury for any writer — constructed of vegetarian tanned leather, antique fabric lining, and hand-torn, hand-stitched Strathmore drawing paper. Choose from the Anaïs Nin quote featured, or a custom one of your own.

16. Aromatherapy Pen

Aromatherapy Pen

Wake up the senses and get the creative juices flowing with this Aromatherapy Pen, featuring cotton inserts you can drop your favorite oils onto so you can inhale and focus on the writing.

17. Direct Trade Coffee Sampler

Direct Trade Coffee Sampler

When it comes to writing life essentials, coffee ranks right up there with pens, paper, a laptop, and an idea. This Direct Trade Coffee Sampler from World Market will not only take a writer around the globe in coffee — with Hawaiian, Colombian, Brazilian, and Ethiopian blends — it’ll also provide that jolt of energy needed to continue writing.

18. Bookstore Candle

Bookstore Candle

Frostbeard Studio

A scent worthy of any writer’s creative space, Frostbeard Studio’s Bookstore Candle invokes a coffee-filled afternoon of browsing a favorite bookstore, featuring mahogany, leather, and coffee notes.

19. Women Writers Postcard Set

Women Writers Postcard Set

Featuring 24 modern interpretations of classic lines from literature, this postcard set celebrates women writers who have had a major impact on the written word. Authors include: Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Emily Dickinson, Zora Neale Hurston, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Brontë, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, Harriet Beecher Stowe and more.

20. When in Doubt, Go to the Library Sweatshirt

When in Doubt, Go to the Library Sweatshirt

This super soft, vintage black sweatshirt features what might be the single most recognized quote from the library-loving Muggle who’s an inspiration to writers and book lovers alike: the one and only Hermione Granger.

21. Never-Ending Notepad

Never-Ending Notepad

Chronicle Books

Write, edit, and write again with this dry erase Never-Ending Notepad: perfect for writing down (and rewriting) those plot concepts, character ideas, and more.