December is officially upon us, and with that comes gift-giving season. Whether you’re looking for the perfect Secret Santa item for a fellow editor, a thoughtful gift for a bookwork friend or even a treat for yourself to celebrate the end of a year of hard work, the following items should put a smile on any word nerd’s face this holiday season.
Gourmet grammarian plates, from $8.99
These plates printed with essential grammar rules are perfect for serving up hors d’oeuvres at holiday parties while gently reminding guests that any incorrect usage of pronouns will not go unnoticed.
Wordie Wars game, $29.95
With the full name of “Wordie Wars: The Ultimate Showdown for Superior Spellers, Leaping Linguists, and Genius Grammarians,” this game sounds like it was made with editors in mind. Players collect a letter by identifying synonyms, proofreading or solving word puzzles, and the first to arrange their letters into a five-letter word wins the game. Add a couple of editors and a few bottles of wine, and it could make for a fun night!
Literary scarves and writing gloves, from $26
Storiarts offers all sorts of handmade fashions inspired by literature, but their scarves and writing gloves are perfect for this chilly season. Words and images from classic literature — Romeo and Juliet, A Tale of Two Cities and Sherlock Holmes, just to name a few — are printed on 100%-cotton writing gloves or infinity scarves.
Grammar posters from The Oatmeal, from $15
Perfect for cheering up the home office, these posters from popular web comic The Oatmeal remind us when it’s appropriate to use whom and how to use a semicolon with quirky examples featuring high-fiving dinosaurs and koalas that need to have their fur washed. The posters cost US$20 each (on sale for $15 each at the time of writing), but after you check out a few of the comics you’ll probably want to buy the set of all six for $45.
Subscription to Scribd, from $8.99
A subscription to Scribd — essentially Netflix for books — is the perfect gift for someone who never puts down their e-reader. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to e-books, audio books and even some comics, so it’s ideal for discovering new authors and genres. Scribd is also really easy to give as a gift — you can choose to give a three-month, six-month or one-year subscription along with a personalized message.
Decorative bookends, from $20.50
Give a gift that will inspire someone to finally organize that growing stack of books on their desk — a snazzy new set of bookends. I’m partial to these dramatic bookends from Fred and Friends, though Amazon has designs for all tastes, from old-school British phone books to a katana that appears to be slicing through one’s library.
More Badder Grammar!, $10.99
Inspired by the Facebook group “I judge you when you use poor grammar,” this photo book by Sharon Eliza Nichols captures some of the most egregious writing errors from around the world. Signs like “Shoplifters will be prostituted” will make you laugh — then facepalm that they didn’t hire an editor.
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Have you encountered any clever gifts to give fellow editors and book lovers this holiday season? What’s on your holiday wish list?
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Tanya Procyshyn
Tanya Procyshyn is a freelance editor and graduate student in the biological sciences based in Burnaby, B.C. She specializes in academic and scientific writing.