Somehow lost the footage of my favourite digitally-delivered recommendation: book subscriptions! Lots of bookshops do them, and the indie press ones are great. Peirene Press, Weatherglass Books, Charco Press… they’ve all got subscription options 🎁
I was coming to comments to add this! 😂 McNally Editions have some fun ones that are labeled for personality types, so I like that (shhh, I gifted myself the “realist” subscription).
@@benreadsgood Ugh. The struggle is real. I feel the same way about some of the Australian publishers. I am thankful for Blackwell’s, that ship to the United States
Loved the tip for what not to buy. That is so true. I personally prefer the gift card for a bookshop gift as a reader for myself and others. I have gotten so many books I just never read or would read in the past.
There's always the added pressure of not liking a book someone has got for you! It's obviously not that person's fault... they didn't write the book... but it still feels bad 😅
It's good isn't it! The Christmas atmosphere sadly is not representative of my whole house right now, but it was nice to create a lil Christmassy corner for a bit 😅
When you started your recommendations with Still Life, I knew I had to pay attention. That book has never gone wrong for me either. Some non book things: if you know your friend annotates, then they will probably like to get a bunch of sticky tabs. Big book readers might like receiving a book stand or book pillow, which can hold the book up for them. A book light that you can put around your neck helps you read in dark places - and you can also use it for other hobbies like jigsaw puzzling or crafting.
Really great “what books not to buy” advice 🙌 Also love seeing Between Dog and Wolf, and it was the first one that came to mind when you said female friendship. Such a good book. Oh, and def agree with your take on tote bags, lol.
It's a really great one about friendship, isn't it! I actually should put in the description that it was published under a different title in the US...
GREAT suggestions, Ben! Especially liked the anti-suggestions. I used to buy my mom candles because she always seemed to be burning one. Other people had the same idea, so it seemed safe enough. Then one day I discovered the candle cupboard... When you mentioned different price points, I thought you might be referencing a press like Conversation Tree that has editions of Lem's "Solaris" for $275, $745, and $2,695. Also fun to learn the word Tannoy. Not sure I'll ever hear it again, but now I know what it is. Same with book nooks. Just discovered those. If I was craftier, and more into dusting, I could see myself getting into those. Books can always go under the bed or in the garage. 🤔
I love the idea of the candle cupboard 😂 It sounds like my glass/mug cupboard, because for some reason people seem to love giving me those. Not sure what it says about my drinking habits!!
these are such good suggestions! i particularly like books (or even editions) unavailable in the person's country of residence and recent re-issues, as well as going out with someone and letting them choose something. that reminds me wonderfully of childhood: let's go to the shop, and you can pick something you like 🖤
Loved Still Life and recommended it to a friend who is another avid reader. He loved it as well. The kind of book that is generally all around a pleasing story arc. Would make a great mini-series or film. And, I should say I got the recommendation from you earlier in the year.
Thanks Ben for all the great ideas and recos! Your tree is looking cute! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season and you see a few bookish gifts under the tree! 🎄🎅📚❤️
Thank you Ben for the Agatha prompt - Alice would be delighted. A lovely tribute and a beautiful image,very touching.All the best for Christmas and a great year of reading 2025
Thank you Jane - I was really glad to include a tribute to Alice. She'd have wanted us all to read more Agatha! Hope you have a lovely Christmas too ♥️
I've noted down several of those recs... Thanks Ben! I recently listened to Kevin Barry's The Heart in Winter and thought of you; Irish author + a western = ✨ Kevin narrates the audiobook with such aplomb. He nails it. Some of the lines in the book are imprinted in my memory. Great.
Thank you for the recommendation! I would really love to read that one. I think I might wait for the paperback next year, but definitely on my list (and bumped up now you've suggested it!)
@benreadsgood oh, and I forgot to say Thank You for the recommendations! I haven't read a Terry Pratchett yet, and since you said Truckers is a kid's book, it will count for one of the squares in my library's winter reading challenge ❄️ Love those reading games -- I completed your yearlong Storygraph challenge 😃
Thanks, Ben!🎅🏻📚I love receiving book tokens! When I use them in a bookshop, I ask them to wrap up the books as presents. Then I unwrap them with the friends who gifted me the tokens. This gives them the feeling they actually bought the books for me, and it’s always very much appreciated. Totally agree on Still Life. It makes a great present! And thanks for mentioning Maud Martha. It’s been on my shelves, unread, for quite a while. Time to dust it off and read it in 2025😊.
That's a really nice way to do it! One thing I have done the last year or two is try my best to shun wrapping paper, as it always seems so wasteful... I'm all in on tissue paper 😅 Hope Maud Martha is good - I need to pick that one up myself!
The book cover is also good for people with hyperhidrosis in their palm hands. I suffer from it and I always have it in order to prevent damage in my books 😅
It definitely deserves more love! I actually enjoyed it more than My Brilliant Friend, but I'm not sure how much I should be broadcasting that fact... it is the 'best book of the 21st century' after all 😅
What a brilliant list of ideas! My nieces bought me a 3month subscription at Mr B's Emporium in Bath a few years ago which was fantastic and worked really well with receiving appropriate books after completing the bookshop's questionnaire. I find that, on the whole, those who aren't into reading tend to think it boring to buy bookish stuff.
Mr B's is so great! I received their Reading Spa experience as a gift quite a few years ago now, and absolutely loved it. I would actually love to do it again as I think I know my taste even better now than I did back then.
Great recommendations as usual. I'm currently awaiting my copy of The Borrowed Hills to arrive from the UK, and definitely interested in Breakdown, though i haven't read All Fours. I absolutely love your videos, i always get recommendations for great literature that I probably would not have discovered otherwise
A gifted Ferrari (to drive all your books home in style) would be my suggestion. Harry August is at the library. I'm currently reading Liars (Sarah Manguso). 20:00. Love those bookmarks. I've ordered Franz Kafka/H.P.Lovecraft bookmarks , but use mostly business cards from Anime/Comic/Toy conventions I attend. That was fun to watch.
I've never really been a big 'fancy bookmark' fan, but these ones were pretty cheap and really nice. I have been known to use train tickets / receipts / Pokemon cards as bookmarks.
I was just looking up a book with the exact premise of Claire North's book two days ago and failed to find one, then you casually mention this book 😮 Thank you!!
Yes! I'm with you on everything you said about hardbacks and charity shops. I buy brand new hardbacks from Oxfam here in Didsbury, Manchester. Untouched. Some of them have pages still stuck together from cutting(is that what the process is called?). Clearly unwanted presents. £3.99 each! January hunt shall soon commence! 🕵♂
I like your suggestion of a book buying trip. You could take your friend out for tea and cake, for example, followed by a visit to an indie bookstore where they can purchase something of their choice.
I quite enjoyed Juice by Tim Winton, have thought about it quite a bit since reading it. I think it's the Australian novel, I would recommend over Dusk, after reading both. Oh Truckers, is hilarious. Still have the first edition copy and the other two. So good! Oh Claire North, so so good! I loved it too.
Definitely want to read Juice! But it has been published in the UK so no need to import. I do love the Aus cover way more though. Dusk sadly isn’t heading to these shores until August next year 😢
I need to be quicker off the mark! There have been a few I’ve loved (particularly space-themed ones) but they’re always sold out by the time I notice them 😂
Thank you for your recommendations. Can you think of a good heist thriller? Because that's the favourite genre of my sis, which I'm still looking to buy a book for.
Oooh I can't say I read too many thrillers to be honest. I know Colson Whitehead's last few books have been heist novels, starting with Harlem Shuffle. And I've heard a lot of people rave about Portrait of a Thief.
Ben, my library book club is reading Oye by Melissa Mogollon to be discussed early January. They give us the books. I'd be willing to send it to you after I've read it if you don't get it for Christmas.
Ahhh that's so very generous of you! The international shipping will probably be eye-watering though, so I couldn't ask you to do that. I will just hang on and hope it gets a UK publisher at some point (and to be honest it's not like I don't have an endless stack of books to get through in the meantime 😅).
Great suggestions but one question… a hamper? I’m a dumb American who thinks a hamper is something you keep in the bathroom for your dirty laundry 🤷🏻♀️😬 Thank you
Haha I always forget some things can get lost in translation! It's basically a gift basket. To be fair we tend to use 'hamper' over here more to mean a basket of food stuffs, but it can apply to any basket. And oddly, while I think 'laundry hamper' is not an unusual term in the UK, I would much more commonly use 'laundry basket'!
Somehow lost the footage of my favourite digitally-delivered recommendation: book subscriptions!
Lots of bookshops do them, and the indie press ones are great. Peirene Press, Weatherglass Books, Charco Press… they’ve all got subscription options 🎁
I was coming to comments to add this! 😂 McNally Editions have some fun ones that are labeled for personality types, so I like that (shhh, I gifted myself the “realist” subscription).
Ahhh I so wish we could get hold of McNallys more easily here in the UK.
@@benreadsgood Ugh. The struggle is real. I feel the same way about some of the Australian publishers. I am thankful for Blackwell’s, that ship to the United States
Loved the tip for what not to buy. That is so true. I personally prefer the gift card for a bookshop gift as a reader for myself and others. I have gotten so many books I just never read or would read in the past.
There's always the added pressure of not liking a book someone has got for you! It's obviously not that person's fault... they didn't write the book... but it still feels bad 😅
This is so specific and I LOVE it!!
I was quite impressed with my own fake people I made up. I need more friends who would be happy to receive books for Christmas 😂
a book vase will make your bookshelf all mouldy😭 def agree that it's a no go
Eww I hadn't even thought of that. Down with book vases! Although to be fair they'll probably fall down on their own.
that cover of rhine journey!!! so moody! i love it! I'm really vibing w/ the Christmas atmosphere of this vid!! ty for the shout out :)
It's good isn't it! The Christmas atmosphere sadly is not representative of my whole house right now, but it was nice to create a lil Christmassy corner for a bit 😅
When you started your recommendations with Still Life, I knew I had to pay attention. That book has never gone wrong for me either.
Some non book things: if you know your friend annotates, then they will probably like to get a bunch of sticky tabs. Big book readers might like receiving a book stand or book pillow, which can hold the book up for them. A book light that you can put around your neck helps you read in dark places - and you can also use it for other hobbies like jigsaw puzzling or crafting.
Really great “what books not to buy” advice 🙌 Also love seeing Between Dog and Wolf, and it was the first one that came to mind when you said female friendship. Such a good book. Oh, and def agree with your take on tote bags, lol.
It's a really great one about friendship, isn't it! I actually should put in the description that it was published under a different title in the US...
GREAT suggestions, Ben! Especially liked the anti-suggestions. I used to buy my mom candles because she always seemed to be burning one. Other people had the same idea, so it seemed safe enough. Then one day I discovered the candle cupboard... When you mentioned different price points, I thought you might be referencing a press like Conversation Tree that has editions of Lem's "Solaris" for $275, $745, and $2,695. Also fun to learn the word Tannoy. Not sure I'll ever hear it again, but now I know what it is. Same with book nooks. Just discovered those. If I was craftier, and more into dusting, I could see myself getting into those. Books can always go under the bed or in the garage. 🤔
I love the idea of the candle cupboard 😂 It sounds like my glass/mug cupboard, because for some reason people seem to love giving me those. Not sure what it says about my drinking habits!!
these are such good suggestions! i particularly like books (or even editions) unavailable in the person's country of residence and recent re-issues, as well as going out with someone and letting them choose something. that reminds me wonderfully of childhood: let's go to the shop, and you can pick something you like 🖤
I think it would be a fast-track to making me fall in love with someone (even if just as a friend) if they took me book shopping! 🥰
Loved Still Life and recommended it to a friend who is another avid reader. He loved it as well. The kind of book that is generally all around a pleasing story arc. Would make a great mini-series or film. And, I should say I got the recommendation from you earlier in the year.
It's such a great pick! Always a brilliant one to recommend.
Thanks Ben for all the great ideas and recos! Your tree is looking cute! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season and you see a few bookish gifts under the tree! 🎄🎅📚❤️
Thank you for watching - have a wonderful Christmas!
An exhaustive list of things coming out of my ears, according to this video: mugs, tote bags.
I was hoping the second tote you showed was full of mugs.
All my spare mugs are in my bigger mug.
At least they're coming out of your *ears* 😆
Thank you Ben for the Agatha prompt - Alice would be delighted. A lovely tribute and a beautiful image,very touching.All the best for Christmas and a great year of reading 2025
Thank you Jane - I was really glad to include a tribute to Alice. She'd have wanted us all to read more Agatha!
Hope you have a lovely Christmas too ♥️
I've noted down several of those recs... Thanks Ben! I recently listened to Kevin Barry's The Heart in Winter and thought of you; Irish author + a western = ✨ Kevin narrates the audiobook with such aplomb. He nails it. Some of the lines in the book are imprinted in my memory. Great.
Thank you for the recommendation! I would really love to read that one. I think I might wait for the paperback next year, but definitely on my list (and bumped up now you've suggested it!)
Love your hoodie. Love the perfectly composed ornaments and lights on your tree. It's ready to be painted! 🎄
Thank you! We are slowly building up our collection of ornaments 😊
@benreadsgood oh, and I forgot to say Thank You for the recommendations! I haven't read a Terry Pratchett yet, and since you said Truckers is a kid's book, it will count for one of the squares in my library's winter reading challenge ❄️ Love those reading games -- I completed your yearlong Storygraph challenge 😃
Thanks, Ben!🎅🏻📚I love receiving book tokens! When I use them in a bookshop, I ask them to wrap up the books as presents. Then I unwrap them with the friends who gifted me the tokens. This gives them the feeling they actually bought the books for me, and it’s always very much appreciated. Totally agree on Still Life. It makes a great present! And thanks for mentioning Maud Martha. It’s been on my shelves, unread, for quite a while. Time to dust it off and read it in 2025😊.
That's a really nice way to do it! One thing I have done the last year or two is try my best to shun wrapping paper, as it always seems so wasteful... I'm all in on tissue paper 😅 Hope Maud Martha is good - I need to pick that one up myself!
Wow I really enjoyed this video. Even though I’m watching it on 1/25/25. Great suggestions and love the ambience. 📚📚
Ahh thank you! There's never a bad time to think about bookish gifts 😅
I have 2 book nooks and they look gorgeous, also good to separate genres
Glad you like them! If I receive any I can send them your way, or they'll just end up unopened under my bed 😅
The book cover is also good for people with hyperhidrosis in their palm hands. I suffer from it and I always have it in order to prevent damage in my books 😅
That is a benefit I had not anticipated, but sounds very useful! I too would do anything required to prevent damage to my books 😅
Ah, I also loved We Run the Tides and I don't hear it mentioned too often. You have some fun ideas! I donlove a good tote bag, though...
It definitely deserves more love! I actually enjoyed it more than My Brilliant Friend, but I'm not sure how much I should be broadcasting that fact... it is the 'best book of the 21st century' after all 😅
@benreadsgood I'm not into Elena Ferrante. I said what I said. Hopefully I won't be exiled from BookTube!
Your secret is safe with me 🤐
What a brilliant list of ideas! My nieces bought me a 3month subscription at Mr B's Emporium in Bath a few years ago which was fantastic and worked really well with receiving appropriate books after completing the bookshop's questionnaire. I find that, on the whole, those who aren't into reading tend to think it boring to buy bookish stuff.
Mr B's is so great! I received their Reading Spa experience as a gift quite a few years ago now, and absolutely loved it. I would actually love to do it again as I think I know my taste even better now than I did back then.
Great recommendations as usual. I'm currently awaiting my copy of The Borrowed Hills to arrive from the UK, and definitely interested in Breakdown, though i haven't read All Fours. I absolutely love your videos, i always get recommendations for great literature that I probably would not have discovered otherwise
Hope you love Borrowed Hills - I thought it was a terrific debut. And thanks so much for the kind words, I'm so pleased you enjoy the vids! 🙌
A gifted Ferrari (to drive all your books home in style) would be my suggestion.
Harry August is at the library. I'm currently reading Liars (Sarah Manguso).
20:00. Love those bookmarks. I've ordered Franz Kafka/H.P.Lovecraft bookmarks , but use mostly business cards from Anime/Comic/Toy conventions I attend.
That was fun to watch.
I've never really been a big 'fancy bookmark' fan, but these ones were pretty cheap and really nice. I have been known to use train tickets / receipts / Pokemon cards as bookmarks.
Great suggestions 😊 thank you❤
Thanks for watching! 🙏
You did it again, Ben! Happy Holidays.
Thanks, you too! 🎄
I was just looking up a book with the exact premise of Claire North's book two days ago and failed to find one, then you casually mention this book 😮 Thank you!!
It's fate!!! Now you have to read it 😂
@benreadsgood Already 100+ pages in, you changed my fate 🤭
Hope you’re loving it!
Truckers is amazing! Great recommendation
So good isn't it!
Thank you for the very thoughtful gift recommendations. Happiest of holidays!
You're very welcome - thanks for watching, and Merry Christmas to you too!
I put my pins on my dungas!! Love a pin. These are all fab suggestions Ben❤
Oooh I do not have dungarees... but I do have a denim jacket 👀
First off … where did you get your sweatshirt? My son would love that.❤
It’s actually from an Irish institution: Primark!
Yes! I'm with you on everything you said about hardbacks and charity shops. I buy brand new hardbacks from Oxfam here in Didsbury, Manchester. Untouched. Some of them have pages still stuck together from cutting(is that what the process is called?). Clearly unwanted presents. £3.99 each! January hunt shall soon commence! 🕵♂
Such bargains! Funny that the gift givers don't realise they're actually giving *you* a present 😅
Love it. Haha ‘The Anna Karenina’ should become a universal measurement.
I would be very happy with just a candle tbh.
We can start the petition for AKs to be a standard shelf measurement 😂
@@benreadsgood Sign me up!
I like your suggestion of a book buying trip. You could take your friend out for tea and cake, for example, followed by a visit to an indie bookstore where they can purchase something of their choice.
Absolutely! I would love for a friend to do that for me. Just to catch up and geek out on books ♥️
I quite enjoyed Juice by Tim Winton, have thought about it quite a bit since reading it. I think it's the Australian novel, I would recommend over Dusk, after reading both.
Oh Truckers, is hilarious. Still have the first edition copy and the other two. So good!
Oh Claire North, so so good! I loved it too.
Definitely want to read Juice! But it has been published in the UK so no need to import. I do love the Aus cover way more though. Dusk sadly isn’t heading to these shores until August next year 😢
Ahhh thank you for the honourable mention Ben!! We must find the perfect design for you next year! 😂♥
I need to be quicker off the mark! There have been a few I’ve loved (particularly space-themed ones) but they’re always sold out by the time I notice them 😂
Thank you for your recommendations. Can you think of a good heist thriller? Because that's the favourite genre of my sis, which I'm still looking to buy a book for.
Oooh I can't say I read too many thrillers to be honest. I know Colson Whitehead's last few books have been heist novels, starting with Harlem Shuffle. And I've heard a lot of people rave about Portrait of a Thief.
Ben, my library book club is reading Oye by Melissa Mogollon to be discussed early January. They give us the books. I'd be willing to send it to you after I've read it if you don't get it for Christmas.
Ahhh that's so very generous of you! The international shipping will probably be eye-watering though, so I couldn't ask you to do that. I will just hang on and hope it gets a UK publisher at some point (and to be honest it's not like I don't have an endless stack of books to get through in the meantime 😅).
@benreadsgood I know exactly what you mean.
This video is a really interesting insight into your likes and dislikes. And what NOT to buy you for Christmas 😅
I'm not saying Matt should definitely watch this video, but he might want to 😂
@benreadsgood he DEFINITELY should 😅
If your bookish friends also like perfumes you can buy them l'eau de papier by diptyque or biblioteque by byredo
Who knew that there were so many book-themed fragrances!
❤❤❤
Great suggestions but one question… a hamper? I’m a dumb American who thinks a hamper is something you keep in the bathroom for your dirty laundry 🤷🏻♀️😬
Thank you
Haha I always forget some things can get lost in translation! It's basically a gift basket. To be fair we tend to use 'hamper' over here more to mean a basket of food stuffs, but it can apply to any basket. And oddly, while I think 'laundry hamper' is not an unusual term in the UK, I would much more commonly use 'laundry basket'!