Gifts for book lovers in Australia

Gift cards beat guesses

A serious reader has often read the book you are thinking of. A Readings gift card lets them choose, arrives by email, and spends at a Melbourne bookshop that posts anywhere. It can land in spam, so tell them to look. It is not refundable.

Two publisher cards suit narrower readers. Magabala Books in Broome publishes First Nations writers and illustrators, with picture books through to poetry. Fair Play Publishing is for the football fan who reads about the Matildas and the A-League.

If you want to give a novel

Summer is the best reading season of the year in Australia, so a novel for the beach makes sense. Buy for a reader whose taste you know. Candice Fox writes fast Australian crime. R.F. Kuang's Katabasis is long, dark academic fantasy for a reader who liked Babel. Jodi Picoult's Hollow Bones is a family drama with heavy themes.

For a teen or adult who has only seen the films, The Hobbit in paperback is cheap. The one-volume Lord of the Rings is the gift for someone who wants the whole story on the shelf.

E-reader or paper

The Kobo Clara BW is the plain choice for someone who reads every day, travels or is short of space. The Libra Colour adds colour and takes a stylus, sold separately. Kobo devices do not read Kindle-store books, so ask first if they have a big Kindle library. An Audible credit suits a road-tripper or commuter who likes a book in their ears.

Skip the e-reader for a reader who loves the object: the spine, the cover, the shelf. For them a Readings card or a good paperback is the better gift, and they can lend it to a friend afterwards, which no e-reader allows.

Timing

Readings and Audible arrive by email, so they work on Christmas Eve. Paperbacks from Booktopia and HarperCollins travel by post and slow down in December. Order them by early December if they need to arrive in time.

Questions people ask

What is a good last-minute gift for an Australian reader?

A Readings digital gift card or an Audible credit. Both arrive by email the same day. Tell the recipient to check their spam folder for the Readings card. A Magabala Books gift card also comes by email, though the books it buys are posted from Broome, so they will arrive after the holidays.