Literary Holiday Shopping Guide for 2008
Hello, boys and girls. It's the first week of December, and that, more than anything, is a signal for me to start thinking about holiday gift giving. Of course, I've been unemployed since the end of August so everyone on my list is getting handmade jewelry, lovingly crafted from macaroni and dental floss, but for those of you who still have jobs, I have compiled a list of gift ideas, all of which can be purchased online so you won't have to deal with going to any madhouse stores this time of year. Bonus: the gifts on this list are all for under $20 (except one, which is still under $30), perfect for those of you who are frugal, yet still on the lookout for something cool to get for the literary nerd on your list. Here we go:
-- Eco gift wrap! This is very cool and pretty and probably, if you're clever, reusable. Who wouldn't like to get a macaroni necklace wrapped up in paper from a French text book? It wouldn't even have to be a macaroni necklace! It could be anything (well, anything on the small side). Recycled gift wrap is a good idea, and this particular gift wrap has style.
-- Continuing with the handmade theme (because handmade stuff is cool), here's a mail art-inspired book. It'll be shipped without packaging, so you could have it sent directly to the person you're giving it to.
-- How about a bookmark made from a vintage typewriter key? Pretty neat.
-- Speaking of bookmarks, here's one inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright window design. If I had a bookmark like that maybe I would try harder not to lose my bookmarks all the time.
-- The words of everyone's favorite insanely quoteable literary figure (that's Oscar Wilde, by the way), adorn this money clip.
-- Do you know any Scrabble addicts? Would they appreciate being able to play on the go?
-- Or maybe they'd like a Scrabble shirt with the worst letters ever? Oh, the game-based hilarity.
-- And here's a book for the science-loving food geek in your life. Come on, everyone knows at least one of them, right?
-- Who isn't down with OED?
-- A poetry t-shirt perhaps? (It is too poetry.) And while on the subject of poetry t-shirts... (Biggie + graph = awesome.)
-- An invisible bookshelf might be handy for someone in need of storage.
-- I really like this clock. A lot.
10 reponses to "Literary Holiday Shopping Guide for 2008"
This dental floss you speak of... would it be new or used?
I like the invisible book shelf, but then what do you do if the book you want to read is on the bottom?
I got the invisible bookshelf a couple years ago as a gift, and it is every bit as good as it looks. And if you don't have one big hardback book that you probably won't be opening all the time to put on bottom, its not all that hard to get it out.
Perhaps the invisible book shelf could house the invisible novel most of us have not quite got round to writing yet.
I'm still struggling with the title. Once I've got that out the way the rest should be a piece of Christmas cake.
I'm (temporarily) devastated to find the typewriter key bookmarks have completely sold out. But I am happy for the person that sold them. They can now have a Christmas to enjoy with all the people that received their the bookmark. That's great.
The Invisible bookshelf is cool but the price will make my money vanish...make it even more invisible than the shelf!
Happy Holidays, Jamelah! :) I so hope that the Michigan enconomy is better in the new year for us both.
Bit of sad news I just read (great for this holiday well-wish): it would appear that science-fiction legend, Forrest Ackerman, has passed away:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hTwBvlbmS_52cjIRk2Gxeg...
I think this year I will be giving everyone on my holiday list books. They will be "slightly used," as in, off my bookshelf. But so what. Gifts are gifts. And it's the thought that counts!
Oh, man, Forrest Ackerman . . . one of my all-time great heroes, seriously. I'm sorry to hear the news. I met him once.
Subscriptions to presses always make a good present as well (such as ugly duckling, open letter, etc.) I list my recommendations on my website.
Sarah Utter's Reading is Sexy t-shirts are great:
http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Artist=Sarah+Utter
The Poets.org online store sells some great merchandise including silk scarves featuring lines from Shakespeare or Emily Dickinson, coffee mugs featuring famous poets, and Emily Dickinson, Emerson and Goethe necklaces:
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/397
I would also highly recommend the subscriptions to presses that Sara suggested. It truly is a gift that keeps on giving, while also supporting your press of choice.
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