10 Holiday Gifts for the Booklover

Cover to Pride & Prejudice (Borders Classic edition). Image courtesy of C. Wassenaar / personal collection.

7. A Classy Version of a Book They Love

Does your bibliophile have a particularly well-loved classic author or novel? Is their copy of that well-loved book looking a bit raggedy these days? Have they had to replace it already? The answer is probably yes to at least one of these questions.

Even if you can’t say how many editions of Dracula your reader has had over the years, why not consider picking up a collectible edition? Here, Barnes & Noble will almost certainly be your best bet. The store has a huge collection of beautiful hardcovers of everything from Grey’s Anatomy to Asimov’s The Foundation Trilogy. These editions go for $25 or under, making them a pretty affordable gift all-in-all.

Alternatively, search for “deluxe editions,” like this one for The Lord of the Rings, which includes an updated index, the fiftieth anniversary corrected text, and a seriously pretty (and soft!) suede binding. This edition is slightly costlier than a hardcover collectible, but it’s nice. We speak from experience on this one.

You can also search on AbeBooks for rare and otherwise collectible books, but be wary: you may want to double- and triple-check the shipping times. Independent sellers don’t necessarily ship on Amazon’s schedule.