OK, first things first, before we get into the main body of this bad boy, would really love to address the whole title situation. Not that anyone really cares but I’m going to stop doing the whole ‘Sophie does this’, ‘Sophie does that’ structure for my article titles now. To put it honestly, it comes across a bit arrogant and that’s really not the one, is it? Also, the whole ‘yours in…’ is a bit much I feel so we’re just going to take it down a few notches. All good? Nice. Let’s proceed.

I was looking around my room earlier and I realised that I have a lot of book-themed merchandise. Like, A LOT. And it has very much accumulated without me noticing. With Christmas fast approaching (not really, but I’m trying to add a bit of cohesion to this introduction and why I’m writing this article so bear with me), this is the perfect time to start thinking about the gifts we’re going to give to our loved ones this year. So, today, I thought I would write a short little wish list for the bibliophiles, or, if we’re using the scientific terminology, ‘book lickers’, in your life. Enjoy.

1. Bookishly

Bookishly is a fab subscription service where, every month, you get sent a book, a cute little notebook/other satisfyingly adorable stationary item and some tea!! Ideal, I know. Go forth and purchase this starter pack for the wildest Saturday night of your life.

2. Any book with a cover illustrated by Coralie Bickford-Smith

I swear the woman is an actual magician. The covers she draws are literally STUNNING and you know, you really just can’t beat a beautifully illustrated book cover. OK, you can beat it. But book covers, still great, go for it, shove that in your basket.

3. ‘The Book Lover’s Cup of Tea’ tea infuser

I know what you’re thinking. Can it be? And my answer is, yes it can. This is a tea infuser shaped like a book. And like, not to be dramatic, but it’s amazing.

4. Pin badges from Foyle’s

I mean, as soon as I go into Foyle’s, I pretty much just give them my money because all the stuff in there is just so nice. I have this really cute pin badge that says ‘books turn muggles into wizards’. To summarise – cute, book-themed, worth it. Go spend that coin.

5. Go to Waterstones and try and find a signed copy of literally any book

Last summer, I literally had the best day of my life and found a signed copy of a Caitlin Moran book in Waterstones. I didn’t buy it when I first saw it because I’m #dumb so my wonderful mum went and bought it for me. But you might not be as fortunate as I was for it to still be there the next day. These chances don’t come around very often you know.

6. 100 Best Books Poster

OK, I don’t know if that’s actually the name of it but ANYWAY, I’ve seen this poster where there’s the 100 must-read books or books to read before you die, something along those lines, where you scratch off the book once you’ve read it. I’m not explaining this well. Like, on a Lottery ticket or on the scratch and sniff things in the Summer Reading Challenge booklets. I don’t think the poster is scratch and sniff though – they’ve really missed a trick there.

7. Necklace shaped like a book with first name initial on it

I have not made that title catchy at all, wow. This was a gift from my wonderful friends and it’s this adorable necklace in the shape of a book with a little S on it. Cute, classy, can’t think of another adjective beginning with C to finish the alliteration.

And that’s my surprisingly short list of book paraphernalia – normally, I can wax lyrical for at least a couple hundred more words but we’re going to keep it short today. Any gift on this list is statistically guaranteed to make any recipient scream with excitement, so you can’t really beat that can you? Thanks for reading, I’m now off for a cup of tea. With my book shaped tea infuser. Oh yes, ladies and gents, that is the kind of wild life I lead.