Christmas Book Guide!

Ah, Christmas time! The streets are packed with people, there’s a bite of frost in the air, everything smells a bit like cinnamon and if you’re lucky, there might just be some lovely book-shaped parcels under the tree. Christmas is a brilliant time for book-lovers everywhere! The bookshops are stocked with all sorts of wonderful Christmas releases and if you have a family that listens quite closely you can replenish your entire to-be-read pile with the fantastic new titles you’ve been lusting over for ages!

   

         However, if you happen to buying for a book-lover and they are not entirely explicit about exactly which book it is they would like to receive from Santa, then having a successful Book-Christmas can be a tad tricky! But don’t you worry; I am here to help you through this difficult time of year! This is a book-lovers guide to Christmas!

    

    

    1.     I am going to get this out of the way first because I love you all and I don’t want you to waste your money. If you don’t know almost exactly what titles a person may want, don’t guess. Seriously, either just ask them what they want or avoid the bookshop entirely, it isn’t worth it. If your loved one is quite an intense book-lover then chances are that they will have read quite a lot of what Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and WH Smith have to offer. Unless you happen to be a crazy stalker or know their exact reading tastes and experiences inside-out then I really wouldn’t bother. Play it safe and don’t be tempted by that gorgeous new John Green box set, if you don't know for sure, it’s much too dangerous!

    2.     Okay, so you’ve read tip number one and you’re thinking, but if I can’t get a book-lover books, what the hell do I buy?! No fear, my dears! This is where your trusty friend, the book token, swoops in to save the day. It may seem impersonal and a bit weak but trust me, stick even just a £10 book token inside a card and you will be able to watch the sheer delight on your loved one’s face as it falls out onto their lap! Physically, a book token is just a small rectangle of plastic, but emotionally it is so much more. Book tokens are exciting, they hold all sorts of possibilities, and they give book-lovers an excuse to go for another thrilling adventure through the shelves at the local bookshop!

3.     Now obviously, we don’t all have obese wallets of cash to spend on festivities but buying books really doesn’t have to be expensive. It is so easy to get cheap books if you buy second hand. You’d be surprised the amount of good-quality, well-known books hidden inside your local charity shop. I’m lucky enough to have two different Barnardos bookshops near me and an Oxfam one as well, but if you don’t have access to these shops specifically, any old charity shop will do! I once found the entire Hunger Games series in almost brand-new condition for only about £3.50 in a random Hospice Care on holiday. I really don’t think your loved one will care if the books are second-hand or brand new, if it’s a good story they’ll thank you profusely and stick their teeth in right away. After all, it is the thought that counts!

    4.     But when shopping for Book-Christmas you are not solely limited to the bookshops only. Book-related merchandise is a fantastic gift for any passionate fan girl or boy! If your friend happens to be a massive potterhead then the possibilities are endless! Replica Marauders Map? I do think so. Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans? Yes please! Magical heat transforming ‘Mischief Managed’ mug? Well, I don’t mind if I do!  Simply search your loved-one’s favourite book or series along with the word ‘merch’ into your favourite search engine and I guarantee you’ll get hundreds of gift ideas in mere seconds! Personally, when I want to find cool and interesting merchandise I hop on over to Etsy.co.uk, there’s thousands of people on there, hand-crafting and creating merch every single day! Just a few quick clicks and Christmas is sorted.

   5.     If you really are strapped for cash, but you still want a love-filled, heart-felt gift to give for book-Christmas, well, why not get a little arty? Sure, it takes a bit more time and effort, but, even if it doesn’t turn out quite the way you want it to, the finished product can still be something quite awesome and special. It doesn’t have to be all that complex – if you have art skills and some coloured card you can make cool book themed cards like this one – and if you can’t think of any ideas there’s tons of guides and templates on the internet. It’ll cost you one day, some knitting needles and a couple balls of wool to make a long cosy Gryffindor scarf, or if you want to get really fancy you could even have a go at crocheting yourself a woolly Potter dolly!  Just, have a go. It’s fun and a great way to get the expensive book merchandise you really want.

   6.     Lastly, don’t be afraid to write inside the books. I know some people might crucify me for saying this, but there’s something so fantastically gorgeous about opening up a book someone has given you, ready to start reading, and finding that they’ve left you a little message. It’s so sweet and cute and very personal! It adds a lovely little touch to an otherwise fairly usual present. If you want to leave a message but are a bit scared to commit so fully to leaving a permanent mark on the gift, just write it lightly in pencil, then it can be rubbed out at the reader’ own discretion. It’s counter-intuitive but it is an undeniably romantic, I’ve wanted someone to do this for me ever since I first read ‘The Fault In Our Stars’. So go on, be a bit cheeky!

So there we have it! Six great tips on how to have an absolutely blurbtastic Book-Christmas! 

Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Orange - Selected Poems

 This is the Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Where I review a different one of my favourite books each week! Second on our list we have an orange book with an orange cover:

Selected Poems by Simon Armitage  

  At the beginning of last year I did not really understand poetry. Having only ever been exposed to the poems I was forced to study in English class – the colder, harder works of Carol Ann Duffy – I saw poetry as the indulgence of the thoughts of the more miserable, bitter beings among us. I just couldn’t connect with it. The fact that I was made to write critical essays on such texts probably didn’t help open my mind to the world of poetry. 

   

         On National Poetry Day last year my English teacher decided that before we would continue work on our prose essays that she would read us some poetry from a few of her favourite books. There was a low groan across the class as she opened a dull-looking book with the word ‘Duffy’ distinctly printed across the front. Just as expected, the poem my teacher proceeded to read was as cold and inappropriately self-righteous as all the ones before. I sank a little in my seat.

            When the poem was done my teacher put the book down and pulled a second out of her handbag. This book was bright and inviting and we all sat up a little straighter as she opened it on the middle page and began to read.

           What she read next was the most deliciously beautiful combination of words I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. It didn’t rhyme - I didn’t know poems could do that – and it wasn’t as self-aware as everything else I had heard. My teacher had a soft voice that was well-suited to reading aloud but I knew this poem would have sounded graceful on anyone’s tongue.

    

        That night, when I got home, I was unable to remember the title of the poem. I typed a few of the more distinctive lines into google and after a few quick clicks I had found it. ‘You’re Beautiful’ By Simon Armitage. I wrote it down in my notebook and read it again before I fell asleep.

That poem is what kindled my passionate love affair with poetry. For my birthday that year I asked my mum for anything she could find in Waterstones by Simon Armitage. ‘Selected Poems’ is what she bought me. With a bright orange cover, it is a hand-picked collection of a few poems from each of his books. I was elated to find that almost every poem in that book was a gorgeous as ‘You’re Beautiful’ – if not more. ‘To His Lost Lover’ is my favourite.

            Since then I have treated ‘Selected Poems’ as my comfort food of books. When I’m feeling particularly teenage and emotional I open it up and read them quietly to myself. I feel very deep when I do that.

     

       But now, Simon Armitage is not the only poet to take place on my bookshelves. Maya Angelou and Tanya Shirley now sit warmly on either side of him. I love ‘Selected Poems’ not only because it was the most beautiful book I had ever read, but also because it sent me venturing into a thick new jungle of similes and metaphors.

            I still hate to study poetry in class, but only because I think that’s not how poetry should be enjoyed. It was never really meant to be torn apart and scoured for symbolism, but instead read and (please forgive the cliché) felt. I will never like Carol Ann Duffy because I never got to read her on my own – I was forced to.

           Without ‘Selected Poems’ I never would have known all of this. And that is why it deserves the orange spot on my rainbow list of must-reads.

You can find out more about Simon Armitage here!
And you can read the other parts to this series here: Red! Orange! Yellow!