Pride and Prejudice Mint Boxes

Look at these lovely mint boxes featuring Pride and Prejudice! I almost had a heart attack when I saw the $14.95 price tag for a box of mints, but then I realized that the boxes are laquered and plastic (I'm not quite sure how that works together) and are meant to be kept. The two choices are a box featuring a book cover image from Pride and Prejudice and a box with Mr. Bingley telling Darcy, "Come, Darcy, I must have you dance." Aren't they charming?

Great item for a Jane Austen-themed stocking.... just sayin'.

What: Pride and Prejudice Mint Boxes
Where: Bas Bleu website
How much (as of today's post): $14.95 (plus shipping)

Shakespeare Fortune Cookies (Buy or DIY)

If you know someone who loves everything Shakespeare, here's a cute food gift idea for their stockings: Shakespeare Fortune Cookies. I'm sure it goes without saying that each one features a quote from the man himself! The pint-sized red "carry out" container has six cookies and costs $5.95, and a quart-size with ten cookies is also available for $7.95.

I've also listed this as a possible DIY stocking stuffer since I know people do make their own fortune cookies. Here's a link to instructions on WikiHow.com, or you can just google "make your own fortune cookies" and find the instructions you like best.

What: Shakespeare Fortune Cookies
Where: Folger Library website
How much (as of today's post): $5.95 (plus shipping) or DIY

Shakespearean Tea Hearts

This is something I had never heard of until recently -- tea hearts, or tea pressed into shapes over which you pour the boiling water. This particular tin has 24 "Antony and Cleopatra" black tea hearts, or you can choose 24 "Romeo and Juliet" green tea hearts instead. Each heart makes an 8-10 ounce serving of tea.

The product description further states that "The tradition of pressing black teas into various forms and shapes dates back to the early Song Dynasty, 960 – 1279 BC. Sculptors and artisans would work with tea the way others worked with clay or textiles to form and mold delicate works of art."

Wow, you learn something new every day! Great stocking stuffer for a tea lover or a Shakespeare lover, don't you think?

What: Shakespearean Tea Hearts
Where: Folger Shakespeare Library website
How much (as of today's post): $6.95 (plus shipping)

"Books to Check Out" Journal

Here's the perfect stocking stuffer for a book lover: the "Books to Check Out" journal from Chronicle Books. I first came across these a few years ago and gave some as gifts to my library co-workers, and they must be fairly popular because the publisher is still selling them directly from its website as well as on Amazon (and in other bookstores, I imagine). The actual list price is $10.95, but Amazon sells it for $9.31.

It's been a long time since the days of those little "due date" cards in the back of the library books, but this journal brings it all back to me! It's a blank book to take notes in bookstores or libraries for the books you want to buy or borrow, although of course you can use it for any kind of notes. It measures 6.7 x 4.7 inches. Isn't it cute?

What: "Books to Check Out" Journal
Where: Amazon or elsewhere
How much (as of today's post): $9.31 (plus shipping)

L'il William Shakespeare

I'm feeling literary today... I just submitted two book reviews in the past few days (I review for a couple of places) and have one more to send later today. Then I'll be caught up for now!

In any case, I think this L'il William Shakespeare is funny, especially because he comes with "a collectible, twelve page, mini color comic book chronicling William's crazy adventures!" Hmm, what kind of crazy adventures did William have? The plastic figure itself is 2.75 inches tall and can be posed -- you know, so you can recreate those crazy adventures! Wouldn't he make a cute gift for a book lover or an English teacher? I admit that it took me until adulthood to appreciate Shakespeare, but now that I do, I think he's the man!

As a bonus, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles is a non-profit, so your purchase supports lots of book lovers, plus others who benefit from the community services that libraries provide.

What: L'il William Shakespeare
Where: Library Foundation of Los Angeles
How much (as of today's post): $3.50 (plus shipping)

E-Books that Don't Need Readers

There's lots in the news about e-book readers these days -- Barnes & Noble is having trouble delivering their Nook on time, Amazon has had some problems with Kindle content, and so on. But if you're caught today without a stocking stuffer for someone, how about some e-books that don't need readers? Several e-book suppliers offer PDF formatted e-books, which can be read on any computer with the free Acrobat reader -- which means they can be read on almost any computer. Here are two sources for e-books that you can load onto a flash drive for one last stocking stuffers:

• Fictionwise has a handy advanced search screen that lets you limit by format, including PDF. Plus you can use the pull-down menus to limit by genre/category and publisher, and you can even fill in a price range. There are even issues of fiction magazines such as Asimov's, Analog, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Prices vary, but many are cheaper than buying a paperback.
  
  
• I've mentioned Girlebooks once before -- this is a wonderful website that both sells e-books, and offers many for free, including lots of classics by women writers (think Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and so on). And it's a little thing, but I love that they give each e-book it's own unique "cover". I have gotten tons of free e-books from this site and I've even bought one or two. They're available in many format, including PDF.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!



What: E-Books that Don't Need Readers
Where: various websites
How much (as of today's post): some free, other prices vary

Emily Dickinson Silk Scarf

Some time ago I posted about a silk Shakespeare sonnets scarf from the Museum Company Store website. Since then, I've come across this lovely silk scarf featuring the poetry of Emily Dickinson and though it would make a nice post for a "luxury Friday". Ironically, I found the Dickinson scarf at the Shakespeare's Den website! I wish I had a way to enlarge the image to show the detail, but on the other hand, this way you can see the lovely overall pattern as well as the vibrant colors.

As a silly aside, have you ever heard the claim that any Emily Dickinson poem can be set to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas"? Try it! Oh, "Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for meeeeeee....." (Too bad I can't insert little music symbols into the text here!)

In any case, this is a lovely scarf, sure to be appreciated by any Emily Dickinson lover, poetry lover, or even just a silk scarf lover. The scarf measures 11 by 60.5 inches, and comes in a gift box. If you wanted to use it as a stocking stuffer and the box was too big, you could probably re-wrap it in a smaller box (or find a bigger stocking!)

What: Emily Dickinson Silk Scarf
Where: Shakespeare's Den website
How much (as of today's post): $33.95 (plus shipping)

Shakespeare Lapel Pin

This is such a small thing, but somehow I find it very pleasing -- which is really what stocking stuffers are all about! Perhaps I like this so well because Shakespeare in Love is my favorite movie, or maybe I just have Shakespeare on my mind because I read a short book over the weekend that touched on the ongoing debate about his identity and the authorship of the plays attributed to him.

In any event, I know I would love to have this little Shakespeare lapel pin, and it would be a great stocking stuffer for anyone who loves the Bard. If you do have such a person in your life, be sure and look all around the Shakespeare's Den website for all sorts of appropriate gifts and stocking stuffers.

If Shakespeare is too specific, there's also a comedy & tragedy masks lapel pin -- perfect for your high school or college student if they're involved in school plays. And you certainly can't beat the price!

What: Shakespeare Lapel Pin
Where: Shakespeare's Den website
How much (as of today's post): $3.95 (plus shipping)

Free E-book Downloads from Girlebooks

Can you believe it's already August? Wow, this year is flying by!

Today's stocking stuffer is almost free, it's do-it-yourself, and it's something you can do at the very last minute if you get caught short. All you need is a flash drive, which is the part that isn't quite free. But maybe you have one on hand anyway -- I have at least six or seven of them that I've picked up various places.

Have you heard of Girlebooks? It's a website with the tagline "ebooks by the gals". Their stated goal is "to make classic and lesser-known works by female writers available to a large audience through the ebook medium." They provide many free downloads of ebooks that contain works that have entered into the public domain, and also provide links to ebooks by women that are for sale. If you're not familiar with the term "public domain," it means books for which the copyright has expired, meaning that anyone can reprint the book and sell it without having to pay the author or the author's estate. In other words, these are generally older books, but don't let that fool you into thinking they're uninteresting! Here's a sample of authors for whom Girlebooks offers selected free downloads:

• Louisa May Alcott
  
• Jane Austen
  
• Anne Brontë
  
• Charlotte Brontë
  
• Emily Brontë
  
• Willa Cather
  
• Agatha Christie
  
• Helen Keller
  
• L.M. Montgomery
  
• Dorothy Sayers
  
• Edith Wharton
  

The books are offered in multiple formats, including Adobe Reader PDF, eReader PDB, Microsoft Reader LIT, Mobipocket/Kindle PRC, and plain text. Unless you have a dedicated e-book reader, which I don't, PDFs are probably the best choice because just about every computer has a free PDF software, and if you don't already have it you can download it for free. I still generally prefer books in the printed form, but I have read a few books on the computer, especially at lunchtime at work, and found it easier and more pleasant than I thought it would be.

So back to the stocking stuffer aspect: all you have to do is take a flashdrive and download several books to it to have a great stocking stuffer for the book lover in your life. For instance, you could put all of Jane Austen's books on the flash drive: Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, and the lesser known Sandition and Other Stories. (Sandition is actually an unfinished novel, so they've collected some short stories into the same volume.) You can also take a shortcut by simply downloading Girlebooks' The Complete Works of Jane Austen as one file, but I actually like the idea of downloading them separately because Girlebooks has gone to the trouble of creating lovely covers for each of them. A flash drive filled with these books would make a lovely addition to a Jane Austen themed stocking (don't forget the Jane Austen action figure!), but it also stands on its own very nicely.

You could also do the same with L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books, although unfortunately copyright restrictions prevent Girlebooks from providing one of the books in the series, Anne of Windy Poplars. It seems odd, but copyright law is extremely complicated and these kinds of oddities do occur. For Agatha Christie, only two of her dozens of books are available so far (The Secret Adversary and The Mysterious Affair at Styles), but you could combine them with the two Dorothy Sayers mysteries featuring her Lord Peter Wimsey character for a mystery-themed stocking stuffer. Or you could put all of Louisa May Alcott's books on the drive, or simply some combination of books by different authors. This would even work for a teen or tween girl, because you can get the classics Heidi, The Secret Garden, Little Women, What Katy Did, and at least the first three Anne of Green Gables books. I loved each of these books as a kid, and it's clear that they're enduring classics that each generation can discover anew.

You can conveniently browse the Girlebooks catalog by title, author, American literature, British literature, young adult, and new releases. And Girlebooks is constantly adding new free e-books to its catalog, so be sure to check back there, or subscribe to their updates so you don't miss anything!

Cameo and Speech Bubble Geek Pendants

Here I go with the geekiness again! But I can't help it -- when I saw this cameo pendant of my favorite Muppet Beaker in the Ursula and Olive Etsy shop, and then noticed the "Hobbits are Hot" pendant, and then the "Muggle" pendant... well, I had to post about these, didn't I?! Let's face it, any Etsy shop that carries original and adorable merchandise covering Star Trek, Star Wars, general Sci Fi and Fantasy, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, and 80s and pop culture, well, that's going to be one of my favorite shops!

And yes, just in case your teen or tween is among the Twilight addicted, there's even something for her: the "Twerd" (or Twilight Nerd) pendant, complete with the iconic apple. It's the perfect stocking stuffer for the Twilight fan! There's also an "Alice Cullen groupie" pendant. Each pendant in the shop comes with a chain or necklace as described in the individual listing, and they can also be made into keychains for the same price.

I know I say every time I do a Sunday Etsy post that I have trouble picking which items to show, but wow, it was really true this time. I can't tell you how many of these pendants spoke to my inner geek and my love of books and movies. There's even one with a vintage-style image that says "Librarians are Hot"! Make sure to explore the entire shop, or you might miss something that would be perfect for your loved ones' stockings.

What: Cameo and Speech Bubble Pendants
Where: Ursula and Olive (an Etsy shop)
How much (as of today's post): $15-20 (plus shipping)

Custom Scrabble Blank Journal

Although I've featured handmade journals from Etsy artists before, this one has a new twist that I just couldn't resist: it's a custom-made journal fashioned from vintage Scrabble boards, and you specify what the Scrabble tiles will spell out! Sara of the Re:Paper Etsy shop refers to herself as a "hackbooker", or to quote Sara herself, one who indulges in the "craft of guerrilla bookbinding, using found objects and fine papers to create mixed-media books, albums, and folding frames." Since I love both books and recycling, it doesn't get much better than this for me!

This particular custom Scrabble journal measures 4.5 x 5.75 inches, which should just work as a stocking stuffer. There's also a taller version available, as well as many other lovely journals, including a custom wedding journal, a journal made from a vintage Chutes and Ladders board game, and even one made from beer boxes! It's definitely an eclectic collection. I'm drawn to many of the designs, but I admit I keep coming back to that Scrabble journal.

So what would yours say? I'm thinking "Book Lover", "Cat Lady", or one of Sara's own concoctions, which was "Word Nerd" (that one has since been sold, but she tells me she'll be putting another up for sale in the near future). If someone you know is a real Scrabble aficionado, "Scrabble Ninja" might be funny. That's what I love about Etsy; so many of its artists allow you to be part of the creative process too!

What: Custom Scrabble Blank Journal
Where: Re:Paper (an Etsy shop)
How much (as of today's post): $25 (plus shipping)

Nancy Drew and Literary / Mystery Art Pins

Having been an avid Nancy Drew reader in my childhood -- and I still own my books, by the way, including my favorites The Secret of Shadow Ranch and The Clue in the Broken Locket -- I was thrilled to stumble across Etsy seller ptierneydesigns' Nancy Drew Girl Detective Mystery Art Pin. It cleverly combines a charm of Nancy in her original incarnation with other danglies, including miniature book cover reproductions, pewter charms of a police car and a notepad, and skull bead dangles, to create a unique piece of wearable art that pays tribute to the Girl Sleuth.

If Nancy wasn't your thing, don't worry -- there's also an adorable Trixie Belden art pin (including a magnifying glass, a police badge, and a mysterious key). Or you can just click on the "literary art pins" section of the shop to find Perry Mason, Charlie Chan, Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot, and even our friend J.B. Fletcher of Murder She Wrote! Or you can go with something a little more general: one of my personal favorites, the Cozy Cats and Crimes pin pictured below. I love the fish charm labeled "red herring"! Any of these pins would make a wonderful -- and very unique -- stocking stuffer for the mystery book lover in your life. And don't forget to look at the rest of the shop to see what other mysteries you might uncover!

What: Nancy Drew and Literary / Mystery Art Pins
Where: Pattie Tierney Designs Wearable Literary Art (ptierneydesigns) (an Etsy shop)
How much (as of today's post): $16.00 (plus shipping)

James Thurber Reading Dog Pin

Current count shows I have listed seven stocking stuffers for cat lovers, but only two for dog lovers. Time to even up the score, say the canine enthusiasts! So here it is. At this price, it's definitely a Friday luxury item, but oh! I love this James Thurber reading dog pin from The Library Shop at the New York Public Library. It conveys both affection and humor with a few simple lines, and for me it combines two of my own loves: dogs and books.

The web page says it can worn as a pin or a pendant, and it has been cast in sterling silver via the lost-wax method (whatever that is). At approximately one inch in diameter, it's just the right size for an extra special stocking stuffer.

What: James Thurber Reading Dog Pin
Where: The Library Shop website
How much (as of today's post): $50.00 ($45.00 for members) (plus shipping)

Library Photo Album

Last Saturday, I posted about giving Mom the gift of a professional photographer's portrait of you and your siblings. But if you just couldn't bring yourself to play supermodel for the day, surely your mom will appreciate a nice photo album for 4x6" prints, pre-filled by you with family photos, and small enough for her to carry in her bag to show off to friends.

I chose these adorable "book" photo albums from Bas Bleu in particular because I'm a book lover. These albums each have a different title, including "Friends and Family", "Travels Near and Far", "Memories", "Our Grandkids", "Top Dog", "What Was I Thinking", and "I Can't Remember". I'd probably be inclined to go with "Friends and Family" or "Memories", myself. However, since today is Friday and Mother's Day is only two days away, it might be a little late to order these specifically! But you should be able to find a decent quality small photo album at Aaron Brothers, Michael's, A.C. Moore, or even the corner drugstore. And you can most likely get a perfectly nice album for a lot less than this one sells for (although I still want these because they're so bookish!).

What: Library Photo Album
Where: Bas Bleu website or elsewhere
How much (as of today's post): $25.00 (plus shipping)

Recycled Vinyl Record "Stack of Books" Necklace

Today's Etsy item appeals to me on so many different levels. First, it's eco-friendly, because it's made from a reclaimed vinyl record. Second, it's a stack of books; I'm a librarian and a book lover. And third, it's gorgeous. I love the way it appears to be abstract, but at the same time you can instantly recognize it as a stack of books. And I love that the negative space (although I'm not sure if I'm using that art phrase/concept correctly) is as much a part of the piece as the actual physical portion.

This "stack of books" necklace, as well as several other intricate and geometric designs, all made from reclaimed vinyl records, comes from Etsy seller Aroha Silhouettes. The chains are sterling silver, and each listing tells the piece's specific dimensions, which I always find useful when it comes to jewelry. The book stack pictured above, for instance, is actually a "mini" version that measures about 2 x 2.4 inches at its widest points. There are larger book stack pieces as well. The stunning geometric design shown here to the right is a bold 3 x 3 inches.

And finally, each necklace comes in a reusable tin, which makes this wearable art even more perfect for gift giving and stocking stuffing....

What: Recycled Vinyl Record "Stack of Books" Necklace
Where: Aroha Silhouettes (an Etsy shop)
How much (as of today's post): varies from $30-50 (plus shipping)

Library Thing Membership with CueCat Scanner

Here is a stocking-stuffer-appropriate gift for the book lover in your life. Are you familiar with Library Thing? It's a social book-cataloging website where people enter the books in their personal collections, usually by the ISBN (a unique number that identifies the book in question). You can catalog with as much or as little detail as you like, and the really fun part is that you can tag books with any word or phrase you can think of, such as "to be read" (which a lot of folks abbreviate as "TBR"), "mystery", "romance", "favorite covers", "storage box 1", or anything else you can think of. You can then click on your tag to find all of your books with that tag assigned.

LT still calls itself a "beta" website, but it's been around since August 2005 and now boasts more than 600,000 members. To date, more than 35 million books have been cataloged. There are also group chat topics where people can discuss books or other areas of interest, and a Common Knowledge wiki feature that allows users to enter character and other information (so you can theoretically find every book that features William Shakespeare as a character, for example). Perhaps more importantly, it's an awful lot of fun. You can even make a photomosaic of your own photos, made up of your book covers! And depending on how into tech you are, you can view your LT book collection over your iPhone or other Internet-ready device. That means if you're in a bookstore and can't remember if you already have a book, all you have to do is check, instantly. Your LT collection can also serve as an insurance inventory, and since the information is stored on the LT server, it will still be there if your house burns down. (You can make your library private instead of public, if you're so inclined.)

How does this all fit into a stocking stuffer blog? Well, there are free Library Thing memberships available that allow the user to catalog up to 200 books. But a lifetime membership -- which you can give as a gift -- is only $25. That lets the user catalog as many books as he/she wants, forever. And here's the icing on the cake: you can buy a CueCat scanner for only $15 plus shipping. This is a little scanner that's actually shaped like a cat, which reads in the books' ISBNs, making cataloging a book collection even quicker and easier. (I still think it's funny that it's shaped like a cat -- and so fitting, since book lovers and cat lovers have so much overlap.) Inexpensive CueCat scanners on ebay.

All in all, I think a CueCat in the stocking, accompanied by a Library Thing membership, is one of the nicest gifts you can give to a book lover.

Gorey Cat on Books Pin

I'm hereby declaring Fridays to be Luxury Day on the Stocking-Stuffer-a-Day blog. Obviously, one doesn't want to spend this much on the average stocking stuffer. But if a special gift is small, it will be even more of a surprise if it shows up in a stocking. This brooch is based on artwork by the wonderfully quirky Edward Gorey, and is perfect for the cat-loving readaholic in your life. This is from The Library Shop at the New York Public Library, although it may also be available elsewhere.

What: Gorey Cat on Books pin
Where: The Library Shop (and elsewhere?)
How much (as of today's post): $55.00 ($49.50 for members)