The one who reads

Giving a book to somebody who reads a lot is a bet with poor odds. They have it, or they have decided against it, and either way you do not know which.

What does work is everything around it, and that is a surprisingly large category. Reading is a position held for hours, and almost everybody does it under light coming over the wrong shoulder. A reading light that can be aimed without lighting the whole room solves a problem most readers have not noticed they have.

After that it gets practical. A case for a kindle for whoever has already made the switch and is now carrying the thing loose in a bag. A blanket because sitting still is colder than it looks.

Then the storage half, which is less dull than it sounds. Somebody with too many books does not have a space problem but an arrangement problem, and a bookshelf is exactly the kind of thing people live around for years without ever buying.

Below, from the light to the furniture. The light usually wins.