What kind of message is a gift saying? And what should you look for when choosing a gift? Here are some top tips for getting right, whoever it may be:
There’s no better way to say I love you than with a Love Story Book. Not if the book is bad. Or worse, if the book has been read before. “Well, I’ve been quite busy lately and honestly I didn’t have time to think, so I ran into Waterstones on the way home from work and grabbed something from the ‘what we’re reading’ table near the cashier.”
You can buy the best gift of the year if you get it right. It will show you care about your customers, want to expand their world, and reward them with hours of pleasure. Additionally, it says you are a great friend, and you deserve the same in return. Here are a few suggestions for finding the perfect gift.
Take A Peek At Their Bookshelves
Does your friend have a big bookshelf, and do they arrange it so that the books are easy to find? Are the books arranged alphabetically, for instance? There is nothing helpful about a jumbled shelf where books are thrown wherever they fit, and certainly nothing beneficial for you. It takes just a moment to figure out what they are missing, in your opinion, and get them that. For those obsessed with e-readers, you will have to be much more devious, i.e. ask to borrow the Kindle in order to reduce your carbon footprint.
Find A Hidden Gem From An Author They Love
So, all the weeks your friend has been telling you how wonderful Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments was, he hasn’t stopped raving about it. There is no doubt that she also read The Handmaid’s Tale and devoured the Maddaddam trilogy, too. In addition to the Booker-winning novelist’s well-known triumph, what about another lesser-known triumph that has kept their Atwood passions alive? For instance, what about her short stories collection, Dancing Girls and Other Stories, published in 1996?
Think About What’s Happening In Their Life
Once again, she is going to be a maid of honor at a wedding. It apparently wasn’t love at first sight. HELP! by Oliver Burkeman could be the book that takes her out of her existential crisis (recommended reading: Better Single Than Sorry by Jennifer Schefft, The History of Love by Nicole Krauss). There is always a book reflecting what’s happening in their lives.
With this approach, you are not only giving a gift but also giving your time. You are saying both what you intended to say as well as confirming your friendship with me through this letter. The card also says, “Hey mate, I’m riding shotgun all the way with you on this long and winding road. Only, I am carrying a book instead of a shotgun. It is locked, loaded, and I am prepared to save your life.
What Are Their Favorite Films Or Television Shows?
Have you ever heard of the book Die Hard, which was actually an inspiration for the movie? Roderick Thorpe wrote a book called Nothing Lasts Forever which is resoundingly faithful to the original text (except the main character is not called John McLain but Joe Leland, and his daughter is saving him, not his wife).
That means every great movie originates from a book. That is a hard-to-believe fact that you can research on the internet. Television shows fall into the same category. It is likely that whenever a show is made in the future, there will be a book or at least a movie adaptation written from an “original” script.
When your friend or family member tells you how much they love a particular movie or TV show, remember that… you may need it when Christmas time comes around, or when they celebrate their birthday, or when you need to say sorry.
Are They A Fan Of Beautiful Things?
In other words, your friend might not be a big reader, but they sure know how to color coordinate a bookshelf for maximum Instagrammability. They’re usually more aesthetes than intellectuals, and they like to surround themselves with beautiful things, because a beautiful home is an expression of a beautiful mind, and who are we to tell them differently?
It is hard not to be enchanted by the beautiful volumes available on the market, those that smell of ancient libraries and long-forgotten memories. In addition to Coralie Bickford-Smith’s Penguin clothbound classics, there are many books with designs by her that are well worth checking out. It has already been said on this website before, and we will put it up again: it is a universally acknowledged truth that a book-lover in possession of a good fortune must be in despair of a beautiful book.
Simply asking them to tell you the title of one book that they would like to read but they haven’t read yet would be a good idea. This will give you an idea to put into your back pocket and use when the time comes to give them a present that they will really love.
Developing a plan is crucial to the success of this method. The earlier you ask them, the more likely they will forget that you asked them even in the first place. Then, when the time comes, you will be amazed by how well you will know them when the day comes.
The intensity of the confrontation might even be diluted by throwing a dinner party with your friends, waiting for your target to knock back a few, and asking everyone around the table, in the guise of taking notes and taking notes. In this strategy, however, you’re taking a very high risk, as you might just be recommending a book they want to read, which they’ll have gone out and bought the next day. Nevertheless, if you accomplish this feat, you will be a Christmas miracle… not only for Christmas but for months to come.
Do you have any other great reasons why you should buy a book for someone for Christmas? Please share them in the comments below.
Mocha Girl Alysia