Bookish Gift Haul!

HAPPY NEW YEAR LITTLE BOOKWORMS! I thought I’d start 2025 off with a haul of the bookish gifts I received over the festive season. If you want to hear me yap about my favourite books of 2024 though, you can find my reading wrap up over on my booktube channel. 

So first up, one of my best friends got me this absolutely delicious edition of Maurice, Yes, I know I already have two copies. Yes, I will get more. But I’m completely obsessed with this one because it also has illustrations throughout. I’ll definitely be squeezing a reread into 2025. 

Sticking with the classics, my sister found me this gorgeous copy of Peter Pan. I fixated on this story so much when I was a kid, and as an adult I really want to write my own Peter Pan story that I’ve been planning for a few years. 

Time for some bookish candles? Of course it is. I found an All For The Game candle on Vinted just before Christmas, so I treated myself to it. It’s from a book subscription box that I couldn’t afford at the time, so I’m glad I managed to get my hands on it. 

My sister also decided to go with an All For The Game candle as a gift because I’m very predictable. She got me an Andrew Minyard one from Etsy and not only does it smell lovely, but it also had the cutest packaging with a quote on the inside of the box. 

Back to books: my mum got me We Could Be Heroes by PJ Ellis because it’s on my TBR for the year. I’m so excited to delve into this one because it sounds exactly like the type of story I’d eat right up. 

Her and my sister also teamed up to get me the Japanese edition of Captive Prince because I’ve been after it for so long. I’m in love with it – LOOK AT THE ART!!! 

So my bestie found me some super cute bookish gifts this Christmas, including a Howl’s Moving Castle music box. If you don’t know, Howl is one of my favourite books and movies. I adore both versions of the story so much. 

she also got me these cute little book pins!

And to wrap it up, my sister found some gems on Vinted for me. This Emily Wilde themed planter is an item from a Fairyloot box and it looks so pretty on my shelves that I’ve decided to put my bookmarks on it instead of my plants. 

She also found me a badge inspired by A Dark and Hollow Star, which is one of my favourite series. More people need to pick these books up btw because they’re amazing. 

So, they were my bookish gifts this Christmas. I feel so known by and grateful for my loved ones. I look forward to reading and enjoying these over 2025! 

Did you receive any books this festive season?

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Bookish Gift Haul | Christmas 2019

Why are you making a post about Christmas gifts weeks after the big day, you ask? Why must you remind us of Christmas when it's January and everything's miserable again, you cry in despair! I can only say Oops for my level of procrastination. 

When it comes to gifts, I'm a super easy person to please. Just shove anything even slightly book related under my nose and I'm thrilled. My family and friends constantly ask me BUT ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE NOT BORED OF BOOK GIFTS? And I always remind them that I COULD NEVER GET BORED OF ANYTHING BOOK RELATED. So, on Christmas, I was lucky enough to receive some wonderful bookish gifts that I'm excited about. 

Let's start with the actual books I received and will most definitely be talking about on my blog in the not-so-distant future. First up is one of my most anticipated reads, Red, White and Royal Blue! My lovely friend Jasmine got me this because it was one of her favourite reads from 2019. Since I trust her bookish opinion very much (I don't think we've ever disagreed on a book), I'm excited and ready to utterly fall in love with this book! 

Next up is another book from Jasmine because she's the absolute Queen of book recommendations, and it is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I've been interested in reading this one for a while so I'm looking forward to diving in.

The third bookish gift is from my best friend and fellow blogger, Rachel, from Rachel's Really Random Reviews. She got me the beautiful art book for Spirited Away that I've been lusting over for a long time! Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore Studio Ghibli. Hayao Miyazaki is my favourite director of all time and his movies will always hold a special place in my heart.

Spirited Away was one my very first Ghibli movies, and I'm looking forward to reading all about it and crying over how gorgeous the art is. The pages above are some of my favourite animated scenery shots!

Let's move on to the section that absolutely no one is surprised to see. It wouldn't be a bookish gift haul without some Harry Potter presents! When my parents are stuck for ideas, they always revert to Harry Potter, and that's more than fine with me. And what's better than mugs and stationary?

They also got me some Hufflepuff PJs that came in this box, which I've now repurposed into a storage box because I try not to let things go to waste if I can help it! It's an excellent place to temporarily hide books I have no shelf space for.

Helping to continue my theme of showing my Hufflepuff pride, Rachel gave me this cap so I can represent my house whilst I'm out and about.

I can't not mention the gorgeous little Hogwarts statue that my parents got me from good old Waterstones. It looks so pretty on my shelf!

Next, we're moving on to the manga section! If you happened to read my wrap-up of 2019, you'll know that reading manga was a huge part of my year, and it's something I'm continuing in 2020. I was given issues 3 & 4 in my current favourite series, Bungo Stray Dogs. I cannot recommend this series enough. I also got lil figure of my fave character.

One of my most loved manga is Seraph of the End and I'm currently trying to collect the physical copies. For Christmas I was lucky enough to get the second issue in the series and a light novel.

my seraph funkos are my pride and joy

This last one is a little present I got for myself. I found this in the Oxfam store I volunteer at and immediately bought it. Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favourite stories, both the book and the Ghibli adaptation, so this one absolutely had to come home with me.

howl is the ultimate fictional boyfriend

Finally, here's a present that really isn't a book but is equally as important and is designed to look like a book so it still counts. A TEA BOOK. Two of my favourite things. I've been indulging in these glorious flavours since Christmas.

There they are, the wonderful bookish gifts I was lucky enough to receive this Christmas. I'm so excited to delve into the stories. Keep an eye out on my blog for my upcoming thoughts on them!

Did you get any bookish gifts this Christmas?

BONUS: I wasn't going to make it through this post without mentioning KPOP, so here we are. Shoutout to my parents and sister for supplying my with these glorious albums from some of my fave artists.

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Bookish Birthday Haul

Ah, the ageing process. Not something I actively enjoy celebrating, but it can't be avoided. What makes it just that tiny bit easier is the only thing I ever ask for when my birthday rolls around: bookish gifts! This year, I was gifted some absolutely gorgeous book-related things, so I figured I'd do a mini haul. (Basically, I'm writing up absolutely anything I can for the blog this month because I'm taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo and don't have much time to read, hence the lack of reviews. Oops.) Here are the lovely things I got for my birthday last month!

First up is the absolutely gorgeous book of Your Name that I got from my wonderful bestie Rachel from Rachel's Really Random Reviews. When I tell you I nearly CRIED. It might be one of my favourite presents ever. In case you don't follow my Twitter and have managed to avoid me repeatedly talking about Your Name, I adore the anime. It's one of my favourite films because it's just so damn clever. I'm beyond excited to relive the story on the page! 

The second book to enter my new life as a 27yo is this ridiculously pretty edition of Fangirl from my gorgeous friend Jasmine! Fangirl is one of my all time favourite books and I already own two different versions of it, but I've always wanted to get my hands on the pink hardback because LOOK AT IT. Jasmine is an absolute darling for bringing this edition into my life. A Fangirl reread is on the horizon!

In news that will surprise absolutely no one, the rest of my bookish gifts were Harry Potter related. I'm a simple person to please. Throw anything Harry Potter at me and I'll be forever happy. My first HP goodie is a hardback edition of Chamber of Secrets that I actually persuaded Rachel to pick up for me at the charity shop she volunteers in. Let me explain: the copies of Harry Potter that I have are the same battered copies I've had since I started reading them as child. I only have hardbacks from Order of the Phoenix onwards, so I've been trying to rebuy them in hardback via charity shops. My old edition of CoS is quite literally falling apart (pages have fallen out, it's very tragic). She also got me some socks because I live for socks.

Thanking the Primark Gods (and my parents) for this cute pot with the Hogwarts crest! The succulent is fake because I have enough real ones to take care of. Really, I don't have any space left on my windowsill. Showing my Hufflepuff pride, I also got this cute pin!

Another gift from Jasmine is this absolutely gorgeous Hogwarts notebook. There's nothing I love more than a fresh notebook, especially ones this pretty. Look at the gold edges. I'm in LOVE.

My last two presents are sleep related. For those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with insomnia last year and my quality of sleep is generally terrible, to say the least. I actively seek out anything to make nighttime a little easier on my poor self. Here's to hoping the nightshirt and Hedwig help me get some sleep!

I'm so in love with the bookish gifts I received this year! They certainly help the ageing process feel a little less daunting. I have plenty of book and blog related goals for the next year of my life. I just hope I can tick a few of them off my list.

What bookish gifts are on your wishlist?

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