A Simple Gift Idea for You and Yours This Christmas

Perhaps you’re a little like me in that you love to give gifts, but are sometimes at a loss as to which gifts to get and for whom to get them. This dilemma seems only to grow more difficult with each passing year as one’s circle of family and friends widens. Couple this with the record-high cost of nearly everything from gas to groceries to a gym membership—and then throw into the equation a little one, or little ones—and in no time at all you’ll also begin investigating affordable Christmas gift ideas. That being said, here is a simple, affordable, and, best of all, meaningful gift idea from me and mine for you and yours this Christmas.

My wife and I stumbled onto this idea earlier this summer. The two of us have been on something of a reading streak this year—only, new books are, like everything else, quite expensive, and only increasingly so. In an effort to remedy this, we started a weekly tradition over the summer of grabbing coffee at local shops and visiting the nearest bookstore where we perused their used titles. This, however, presented another wrinkle: we swiftly ran out of space for our new (old) books. For every dollar saved by purchasing used books as opposed to new ones, another line in the budget had to be drawn for more bookshelves—and, coincidentally, for more coffee.

That’s when my wife suggested what would become our Christmas gift theme for this year (and perhaps for you and yours as well; there’s still plenty of time left in the year before Christmas!). The idea was this: starting from that point onwards, we weren’t to buy any more books for ourselves, but only for each other—six books to be exact. Six for me, six for her. Additionally, and you don’t have to do it this way, we both agreed that the books had to be thrifted or otherwise used to ensure the total cost stayed under our desired budget.

Once all the books are purchased (in progress), our plan is to wrap them individually and then write which month(s) of the year we want the other to read that specific book in (Read between January and February 2027, for example). In this way, the book can be meaningfully paired with the appropriate season and time of year, much like the right wine with a complementary dish. This also means that we’ll be giving and receiving Christmas gifts all through the year as my wife and I unwrap and begin each new book.

For us, we settled on just six books so as to give a wide berth for our other reading in the coming year—that, and the perilous space issue I aforementioned. But should you adopt this suggestion, or some variation of it, any number of books is suitable, whether it be an even twelve to round out a book a month, or more, or less.

The most important thing is that you settle on a number of books and a budget, and perhaps even a theme, and then stick to it. When we first began our book hunt, my wife and I exchanged a list of books we wanted to read should the other stumble upon them (or simply if they needed a list of books to springboard off of as they got started). We could buy off that list exclusively, somewhat, or not at all; it served as more of a reference than anything else, thus maintaining the element of surprise while also being mindful of what books the other actually wanted to read at some point in the coming year.

There’s something intimate about not only buying someone you love a meaningful gift, but doing so within a particularly rigid set of conditions that forces you to be both economical as well as creative. And more than that, there’s something particularly intimate about books and sharing stories you love with those whom you love. It is an act of saying, “I really enjoyed this book, and I think I know you well enough—your likes and dislikes, your tastes, your sense of humor, what you value—to venture a guess that you will also enjoy it.” Maybe they’ll appreciate the same elements of the book as you, or others you may have missed, or perhaps not like it at all—that’s part of the joyous adventure of ongoing conversation that makes books and stories such an enduring presence in our lives. Though, of course, there’s no need to gift a book you’ve already read.

In an article from earlier this year, I made the point that reading is much like having a conversation with the book’s author, one which is truly unique to him and you. I believe the same can be said of sharing in that conversation with not only the author, but in the act of drawing up a chair for another to join in. “Let us enjoy this together,” goes the invitation, almost as though the fullest enjoyment of a thing cannot be rightly experienced on your own. If it is truly good, true, and beautiful, shouldn’t others appreciate it as well?

So there you have it, that’s my suggestion for a Christmas gift idea this year should you be in dire need of one. As I already said, it’s only mid-November, and there remains plenty of time to accomplish this task. In my experience, a well-timed visit to the right thrift store could yield more than half the books you are looking for. I assure you, you have all the time you need to do this gift well, as we only started to hunt for books ourselves a few short months ago. And besides, we all know most gift shopping is left for the week before Christmas anyways.

Additionally, this gift idea has a couple of other benefits that extend far beyond Christmas. For one, it is a gift that keeps on giving throughout the upcoming year, with a new and surprising book to be experienced every month or so. Second, it will provide fodder for all sorts of interesting conversations between you and your loved one that may have otherwise gone unspoken—whether that’s your spouse, a child, a parent, or a close friend. And even if they aren’t necessarily a reader, this might be just the thing to mold them into one. And lastly, if you’re anything like my wife and me, there is the added gift of simply spending time together as you drive around visiting dusty little bookstores on the hunt for books, hand-in-hand, with a coffee in the other.

Again, just because something is affordable doesn’t mean it’s without value. The right gift for the right person, no matter the cost, can be immeasurably valuable. A gift can be flashy and expensive yet useless and soulless, just as something affordable can be filled with love and care.

And in our ongoing pursuit to give and gift well, let us remember our God who gave us His beloved Son, the greatest gift of all—“remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).

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Photo by Mel Poole, Unsplash

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