Accessorizing the Reader On Your Gift List

Reading in bed is a delight unless someone who is trying to sleep is also occupying the bed. Help is here in the form of the Lightwedge, a cleverly designed book light made of clear optical-grade acrylic in the size and shape of a printed page.

The Lightwedge sits on the page you are reading. Illumination comes from one vertical side of the light where four AAA batteries are housed. To move it from the left page to the right, simply flip it over. Its assets: light weight, even illumination across the page, two brightness levels and two sizes. The Lightwedge comes in standard, pictured below, paperback and night vision versions and can be ordered through any local bookstore or at www.lightwedge.com.

Eating and reading are natural companions, but reading while eating can prove inconvenient when the pages need help staying open. Not any more. A simple invention — lightweight, indestructible — has arrived. The Page Tamer is a small, colorful plastic tube with thin arms that reach out and hold your pages in place.

Designed for paperbacks no larger than 5x7, it is an ingenious solution to the seemingly contradictory problem of keeping your place during hands-free reading. The Page Tamer can be ordered through bookstores or directly from Lander Enterprises at (714) 377-8989 or www.pagetamer.com.

Biederlack’s Book Pillows are just what they sound like — pillows in the shape of books that make wonderful decorations for a sofa, chair or bed. The “covers” come in rich colors, and the “pages” are white. A gold print border surrounds the title, author’s name and an illustration. The “spine” is also decorated with the title and author’s name.

Eight “books” are available — Romeo and Juliet, Great Expectations, Tom Sawyer, War and Peace, The Raven, Little Women, Love Poems and A Christmas Carol. Book Pillows can be ordered through their outlet store by calling (800) 521-6270, through Good Fibes at (888) 836-4663 or at www.goodfibes.com.

Amanda Crawford Designs offers several reading accessories. The Book Buddy, Book Buddy II and Paperback Book Buddy are decorative pillows specially designed to hold any book — paperbacks to art volumes — comfortably.

The company’s Elastic Bookmark (for hardcover books) and Ribbon Bookmark (for paperbacks) are particularly good for those who need to mark more than one place at a time. Both come in a wide range of colors and designs. And to assist in keeping pages open while reading, the Bookweight — a fabric-covered, sand-filled weight — is elegant and practical. All Amanda Crawford Designs’ products can be ordered through any local bookstore or by calling (818) 879-9978.

Book Jewelry makes bookmarks so attractive they have earned the right to call themselves jewelry. The bookmarks are composed of a folded silk ribbon with an accessory at one end, and beads and stones at the other. One side of the ribbon stays on the outside spine, the other in the gutter inside the book; you slide the beads and stones up to the book’s bottom to keep it snug. Choose a pre-made one or design your own. Book Jewelry can be reached at (360) 829-5297 or at www.bookjewelry.com.

– Lauren Roberts