A Guide to Choosing Book Gifts That Land

The best book gift creates a tiny, glorious moment of recognition: you noticed what I like. The worst says, with the confidence of a supermarket three-for-two, this had a nice cover. This guide to choosing book gifts is here to help you avoid the latter - and become the person whose presents get immediately photographed, posted and raved about.

Buying a book for someone can feel oddly high stakes. Books are personal. They are taste, comfort, escapism, emotional damage and, occasionally, a very specific need for fictional men to make terrible decisions. But you do not need to know their entire StoryGraph history to choose well. You just need a few smart clues.