The Ladies Who Lit ultimate holiday gift guide for the bookish girlies in your life (including you)
Need to buy a gift for a book lover this Christmas? Take it from the Ladies Who Lit team - these gifts will get them to put their book down (temporarily.)
There are two kinds of festive season shoppers: the ones who have everything wrapped by mid-November, and the ones standing in front of a bookshelf on the 22nd of December, wondering whether their best friend or partner has already read Fourth Wing (she has - twice.) So if you’re worried about a repeat read or you want to treat them to a next-level reading experience, we've rounded up the gifts that go beyond "just a book", from cosy reading-nook upgrades to the kind of present that gets an actual gasp.
And yes, the "including you" in the title is intentional. If nobody else is getting you the Kindle, babe, get yourself the Kindle.
(A quick heads up, ladies: this post contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you.)
Gifts for reading as self-care sessions
For the woman whose idea of a perfect evening is a blanket, a hot drink and absolutely no plans except her TBR pile;.
Candles to match her reading mood
Every great reading session deserves a little ambience. Our candles are made for the hour you carve out to read (and the three extra hours you ‘accidentally’ spend too.) Choose by mood, including:
- Smells like just one more chapter (coconut and orange) for the can't-put-it-down girlies
- Smells like reading time (white tea and jasmine) for a slow Sunday
- Smells like Chapter 55 (mimosa and pineapple) for the ACOMAF fans
They also make the perfect Secret Santa present for your book club.
A cosy, chic cuppa to unwind with
A good book and a good brew are a match made in heaven, and our friends at Bird & Blend have the most gorgeous festive gift sets. Think Gingerbread Chai, Mulled Cider and Hazelnut Praline for warming up on cold nights, or the Moment of Calm herbal selection for winding down with a chapter before bed. Their little gift cubes are ideal stocking fillers, too.
Shop Bird & Blend Christmas gifts
Comfy bookish apparel
Reading can be solo self-care, but it can also be a team sport. If she loves to meet other bookish girlies out in the wild, we’ve got you covered. Our sweatshirts are made for sofa season or cosy vibes on your commute. Our crew socks are a stocking filler with something to say (It's Always OK To Buy More Books is simply a fact) and our dad caps let everyone know exactly where you stand. Hot Girls Read. Smut is Self Care. I'm Reading My F*cking Book. Choose your fighter.
A new writing habit
For the woman who's always saying she wants to start journalling but struggles to get past the second page. This beautiful five-year memory book asks for just one line a day, and every page shows what you wrote on the same date in previous years. It's a lovely self-care ritual, and the gold-foiled cover is so pretty it practically wraps itself. Bonus points if she uses it to log what she's reading.
Shop the Gilded One Line a Day diary
A card game to spice up book club or girls’ night
Some nights are for reading alone, and some nights are for getting the girls round, opening a bottle of something and laughing until someone snorts. Fill Me In is a cheeky, 18+ fill-in-the-blank party game made for the second kind. Someone reads out a prompt, everyone plays their funniest (or filthiest) answer card, and the reader picks a winner. The bookish prompts make it perfect for book club, a girls' night in or a festive catch-up with your besties. It's currently on pre-order, but you'll get a printable gift card to pop under the tree.
Gifts for the fangirls and the collectors
For the woman who's read her favourite book so many times the spine has given up.
A collector's edition of her all-time favourite book
Here's the secret for buying books for a book lover: don't try to find one she hasn't read. Get her a stunning new copy of the one she loves most. Collector's editions are the bookish equivalent of fine jewellery. Sprayed edges, foiled covers and the kind of design details that make you gasp when you take off the dust jacket. Pick her ride-or-die read, and it's guaranteed to take pride of place on the shelf.
Shop collector’s editions at Waterstones
A fae-bulous distraction until the next ACOTAR
Waiting for the next ACOTAR book is a test of patience none of us signed up for. Something to keep her hands busy until then? Choose from two official 1,000-piece puzzles: Greetings from Velaris for a trip to the City of Starlight, or Seven Courts of the Faerie Realm for the girl who wants the whole of Prythian on her coffee table. It's a cosy winter project, and it's guaranteed to start debates about which court she'd belong to.
Shop Greetings from Velaris jigsaw puzzle
Shop Seven Courts of the Faerie Realm jigsaw puzzle
A Fourth Wing journal for her inner dragon rider
For the Xaden fangirl who has a lot of theories on the next book and nowhere pretty enough to put them. This official Shadows of Navarre journal from Paperblanks is a lined, midi-sized hardback that's perfect for copying out favourite quotes, keeping track of the details she doesn't want to forget and getting every last theory down on paper before the next book lands. (So when she turns out to be right, she has the receipts.) It's also lovely for reading notes or an ever-growing TBR. Pretty, practical and guaranteed not to sit empty for long.
Shop Shadows Of Navarre Fourth Wing Midi Lined Hardcover Journal
Show-stopping gifts for the book lover in your life
For when you want to win Christmas. Or when you've had a very good year and deserve it yourself.
A new Kindle in the cutest colour
Amazon's new Kindle lineup is here, and the little 6-inch Kindle now comes in Ube, a dreamy lilac-purple that we haven't stopped thinking about. It's pocket-sized, it fits in even the tiniest handbag, and it means no more choosing which five books make it into the suitcase. If you want to gift the ultimate e-reader and full-colour fiction, there’s also the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition which comes in the chicest Fig colour. Want to compare the whole line-up before you buy? Our full guide breaks down which 2026 Kindle matches your reading style.
Shop Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition
An audiobook subscription that gives back to indie bookshops
For the girl who'd read more if she only had the time (so, all of us). Bookshop.org audiobooks puts more than 500,000 titles in her ears for the commute, the gym or the wrapping marathon, and you can cancel anytime. Even better, Bookshop.org gives over 80% of its profit margin to independent bookshops, so every listen supports your local favourite. Feel-good gifting at its finest.
Shop Bookshop.org audiobook subscription
A Ladies Who Lit Reading Retreat
And now for the ultimate bookish girlie gift. Picture it: a beautiful setting, a stack of books, long dinners with women who love reading as much as she does and absolutely nowhere to be. A Ladies Who Lit Reading Retreat is a holiday, a book club and a new group chat all in one. Whether you're treating your partner, your best friend, your mum, your sister or yourself (we'll never tell), it's the gift that she'll still be talking about long after the tinsel comes down.
Shopping for someone whose favourite type of festive trope is ‘snowed in with only one bed and ice-melting tension’? Our resident fairy smut-mother Peaches has put together a spicy holiday gift guide over on Ladies Who cLit for the girlies who like their gifts with a little more heat.
Whatever you choose, the best bookish gifts say "I know exactly who you are" - with this list, she'll know you were paying attention. Now go and treat the reader in your life (yes, that includes you.)
Photo Gallery
Your Membership, Your Way
Two ways to join, same full access to the catch-ups, the chaos, and the community. Go monthly for the slow burn or pay up-front and save a little. And don’t worry — no long-term commitment here. Stay as long as you’re loving it, cancel anytime.
Monthly Installments £10/month
Pay in Full £114/year (save 5%)
Still have questions? Here are the T&C's
.avif)
What our guests are saying about their stay
Pure magic! From the moment we arrived at the most breathtaking villa nestled in the rolling Tuscan hills, Meagan made sure every detail felt like it had been curated straight out of an Italian dream.
I attended the February Caribbean reading retreat and wish I could rate it higher than 5 stars! This was the best vacation I could have imagined. Not only was the resort amazing, the conversation and the ladies could not have been better.
I had such a lovely time on my retreat to Sicily. Megan is an amazing host who really looked after all of the group and made the trip feel like a fab holiday with friends. I went alone and everyone was lovely - I will happily book again next year. Book! You won't regret it.