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The shops are shouting buy more, but we’re making a different case: skip the shiny book junk and choose stories that actually get read. Come with me and walk through the holiday aisles together and call out the biggest traps - gimmicky bundles, flimsy movie tie-ins, lazy age-badged anthologies and swap them for books with staying power and more meaningful bookish gifts.

If you’re craving ease over excess, you’re in good company here.

A few things we touch on today: 

• skipping gimmicky bundles that add plastic, not story
• steering clear of movie tie-ins and lazy anthologies
• smarter alternatives for middle grade and seasonal reads
• age-appropriate comics and graphic novels that land
• choosing engaging, well-designed nonfiction over coffee-table tomes
• why annuals and activity books are risky gifts unless you know the child
• ditching weak booklights for practical, lasting accessories
• tech picks that stretch budgets: subscriptions, audiobooks, headphones
• how to gift adults without awkward self-help misfires
• choosing a slower, calmer Christmas that puts people before purchases

Feel free to DM me on Instagram for recommendations because recommending books to you will be like giving me a gift this Christmas. 

Find us on Instagram @teatalesandtomes and don't forget to join us next time for more bookish wonder.

Podcast music by Lundstroem (Episode 1 onwards) and Audionautix (TTAT Trailer). Podcast edited by Timothy Wiggill.