As you know I am a massive bookworm and in any free moment I have between wrangling BookBairn, The Wee Page Turner and everything in b...

BookBairn's Christmas Gift Guide 2018 - Grown Up Bookworms

Wednesday, December 12, 2018 BookBairn 2 Comments


As you know I am a massive bookworm and in any free moment I have between wrangling BookBairn, The Wee Page Turner and everything in between, I love to sit down an read. Just sit down in a quiet space where no-one places any demands on me and disappear into a story. So it wont' surprise you that for Christmas I would like nothing more than a few bookish gifts. In fact, the thing I want most is a National Book Token so that I can go to my favourite bookshop in the whole wide world, Toppings & Co, child-free and enjoy a complimentary pot of tea and a long leisurely browse. If you know a bookworm - give them a book token and babysit. It will be the best present they get.

Here are some awesomely wonderful books for bookworms too:

Pages & Co by Anna James


This is the best book I’ve read this year. I adored every page. There were so many beautiful passages about the wonder of books, book lovers and libraries/bookshops. As well as scenes from a bookworm’s dream. Anna James has truly created a world of wonder. Tilly Pages is just discovering there’s more to books than between the covers. Her favourite characters greet her in her family’s bookshop. She book wanders inside her favourite stories. And travels to the underlibrary - the organisation that manages it all. And of course there’s a mystery to solve and a suspicious character who takes an instant dislike to Tilly. What an adventure! It might be a children's book but it's a wonderful read for a book-loving grown-up too! (So much so that despite having read a library copy I bought a copy for myself because I just needed to have it on my bookshelf!)


The Boy by Oliver Jeffers


If you know a bookworm with kids, they will undoubtedly adore this series of books, and if you know a bookworm who doesn't have kids then they just haven't discovered the magic that is Oliver Jeffers. As a long time lover of this series of books I love having a beautifully bound edition of all The Boy stories and the interspersed sketchbooks are an absolute joy. There is nothing more fascinating than seeing how your favourite stories have come to life - the alternative sketches along the way. It's like a little bit of magic! A behind the scenes, under the book-jacket treat!


The Little Library Cookbook by Kate Young


Recommending this book is actually the result of giving my mum a book token and a subsequent browse in Toppings (as I mentioned in my intro) but I'm thrilled that she got a copy because I have borrowed it and loved looking over it's beautiful pages and recipes. There are some recipes, ingredients and meals that are so synonymous with stories that it's hard for a bookworm to not disappear into another world when we eat them. And so Kate Young, a cookery writer, has collated some of the best recipes from her bookshelves. From Paddington's marmalade to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe's Turkish Delight to Chocolatl from the Dark Materials Trilogy, there are so many lovely recipes accompanied by a quotation from the books and a short memoir from the writer. It really is a delicious gift.



What a Wonderful Word by Nicola Edwards & Luisa Uribe


Book-lovers also tend to be fascinated by words. Words are magical things that can transport us, educate us, enlighten us and empower us. So to be given an anthology of untranslatable words is to be given a gift that means much more than just another book. This hand-picked collection of untranslatable words from all over the world celebrates the magic of language, with gorgeous original artwork and fascinating facts about each word and culture that it comes from. My favourite is gluggavedur (from the Icelandic) which means weather that look beautiful while you're inside, but is much too cold when you step outside. Isn't that a term that we simply need a word for? A truly beautiful gift. 


Bookworm: A Childhood Reading Memoir by Lucy Mangan


One of the lovely things about being a bookworm is that some of your best friends can be found (and re-found) in the pages of a book. 'Bookworm' is a lovely celebration of just that, of the books that profoundly shape who we are. I thoroughly enjoyed being reminded of some of my favourite reads and equally found it fascinating to hear about (I listened to the audiobook) some that I have missed out on. It makes me want to write down my own memoir of books!



I hope you have found something that your grown-up bookworms would love and if in doubt pick up a book token and let them have the joy of choosing something for themselves. Please keep a look-out for my next list of recommendations which should be up as soon as possible.

And if you want any specific recommendations please feel free to get in touch! All our social media links are in the header at the top of the blog - or you can just search 'bookbairn' to find us!

I've also just added a grown-ups section to my amazon shop with some of the best books for bookworms and I'll also create a list of the best books I've read this year.


You can find it here: BookBairn's Amazon Shop.


Happy Christmas Shopping,
Kim and the elves xx



Disclaimer: these are all my choices. Some were sent from publishers but they were not sent in connection with this post. Their inclusion here is my choice. Because I really do think they are great. Please read our review policy if you want to know more. If you click on the title or image of the book you will be sent to Amazon.co.uk using an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase on Amazon.co.uk, I will receive a small sum (around 20-90p per book) from amazon at no extra cost to you. I understand that you may not want to use an affiliate link, but if you like reading our blog please just think of it as a small tip for a tip-off to an awesome book. And know that your support means I can buy more books! For more information check out our 'For Our Readers' section.

2 comments:

  1. Great selection of books for bookworms. I hope you get your book token and babysitter. Have you been good?

    ReplyDelete