My favorite part of Christmas is stockings. (Other than time spent with loved ones and The Muppet Christmas Carol.) I love hunting down small but thoughtful gifts for the person on my list, and I am always so interested to see what everyone pulls out of their stocking on Christmas morning. Plus, it’s a guaranteed source of my favorite chocolate every December!
If you’re putting together a stocking for a reader this year, I have the gift guide for you. Consider this not just a list of ten items you should get, but ten categories of gifts for readers. For example, maybe your reader doesn’t want the Rainy Day Reading candle, but they’d love a Lord of the Rings candle. Take these as a jumping off point, and customize for your reader.
image from Insight Editions on AmazonLet’s get the obvious out of the way first: there are books you can fit in a stocking, and what better gift for a reader? You can go with a mass market paperback or something even smaller, like this Tiny Book of Jane Austen ($10). Who can resist a miniature version of one of their favorite books? Bookshop also has a list of stocking stuffer books to peruse, mostly in the humor and gift book categories.
image from KreatePaperCo on EtsyA huge category to choose from is bookmarks. There are beautiful metal bookmarks, handmade wooden bookmarks, reading tracker bookmarks, cute cartoony bookmarks, and funny bookmarks to choose from. I like this magnetic bookmark ($5) that marks the exact line where you left off.
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image from SprinklesStudios on EtsyAn inexpensive way to add personalization to a stocking is a sticker with their interests. You could look up their fandoms, the genres they love, or even their preferred format (there are plenty of audiobook- or ereader-specific stuckers). A great choice for me, for example, would be this Keep Libraries Free & Gay sticker. $5
image from BigSkyArtistry on EtsyIf your reader likes a challenge in their reading life, a) point them towards the 2026 Read Harder Challenge, and b) slip a deck of TBR cards in their stocking. There are several different options on Etsy, but make sure the prompts match their preferred genres. The example I’ve chosen isn’t specific to any one genre and has a minimalist design. $25
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