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The best book gift vouchers
Last update:27 August 2026
Few gifts feel as personal as a book, but choosing the right book for every recipient can prove to be difficult. A book gift voucher allows your recipient to choose for themselves, whether their taste runs to literary fiction, sweeping biography, or a timeless classic. At Giftvouchers.co.uk you’ll find a collection of the best book gift vouchers in the UK, from well known national bookshops to independent and specialist sellers.
In this article, we list five of the finest book gift vouchers, explaining where each can be spent, and then comparing them side-by-side so you can make a confident choice.
Five of the best book gift vouchers
These five gift vouchers cover every kind of reader, from lovers of independent bookshops, to quick commute reading, and avid listeners of modern audiobooks.
National Book Tokens Gift Voucher
The National Book Tokens Gift Voucher is the UK's most widely recognised book gift voucher and a natural first choice for dedicated readers. It can be spent at hundreds of bookshops across the country, from familiar high street names to the independent booksellers that make browsing for new books such a pleasure. As well as a large number of bookshops this voucher can also be used online with participating retailers.
The National Book Tokens Gift Voucher is available in custom values from £5 up to £150, and can be sent digitally by email or delivered as a physical voucher. For book lovers, the appeal of the National Book Tokens Gift Voucher is the fact that it’s accepted at most bookshops as well as online.
Waterstones Gift Voucher
The Waterstones Gift Voucher is for readers who look forward to a few hours browning titles in the bookshop. The Waterstones Gift Voucher is redeemable online and in the more than 280 Waterstones stores across the UK. Available in a set value of £25 voucher and delivered instantly by email as a digital gift voucher, the Waterstones Gift Voucher can be spent on everything from books to stationery.
WHSmith Gift Voucher
The WHSmith Gift Voucher is redeemable in WHSmith stores across the UK and can be spent online. It covers everything from the latest bestselling novels, important non-fiction releases, as well as notebooks, pens, magazines and everyday essentials. That large product range makes the WHSmith Gift Voucher a useful gift for students, teachers and writers. Delivered digitally, it’s a practical and unfussy present for exam season, the start of term, or a milestone that calls for a useful gift.
Amazon Gift Voucher
The Amazon Gift Voucher is the most far reaching voucher on this list. Redeemable on Amazon.co.uk and available in custom values from £5 up to £250, the Amazon Gift Voucher is one of the most popular places to buy books of all kinds. From special editions, to reprints of classic titles, Kindle editions, and audiobooks, Amazon has everything all in one place. It’s the book gift voucher for readers whose habits shift with the season, moving between a paperback on holiday and an audiobook for the commute. This gift voucher can also go towards more than books. It could be spent on a reading light, an e-reader like a Kindle or anything else whether it’s reading related or not.
Choice Gift Voucher
If you would rather let your recipient decide, the Choice Gift Voucher is the most flexible voucher available on Giftvouchers.co.uk. It can be exchanged across our full collection of 350+ UK brands and retailers, allowing your recipient to redeem it for a book voucher, or something else entirely such as an experience voucher. Values range from £10 all the way up to £500, and it’s available as a digital voucher or a physical voucher that is delivered in tasteful packaging along with a personal message. The Choice Gift Voucher is an ideal choice when you’re buying for someone who you don’t know especially well. It removes the guesswork without sacrificing any of the thought.
Book gift vouchers compared
Validity periods are where these five book gift vouchers differ most. On the more generous end of the scale, the Amazon voucher runs for 10 years and the National Book Tokens voucher runs for eight years. Both of these book gift vouchers give your recipient plenty of time to shop for what they truly want.
The Waterstones and WHSmith vouchers both run for two years, comfortable enough for any book lover who reads at a moderate pace. The Choice Gift Voucher is valid for one year from the date of purchase, so it suits a recipient who likes to get their spending done quickly.
Reach is the second consideration. National Book Tokens is the most generous where physical bookshops are concerned, as it’s accepted at hundreds of bookshops across the country as well as online. Amazon is unmatched for product range, covering print, ebook and audio in a single balance, though it is limited to Amazon.co.uk. Waterstones can be spent online and across more than 280 UK stores, while WHSmith covers its own network of shops and the website. The Choice Gift Voucher sits apart from all of them, opening up our full collection of gift vouchers across 350+ brands and retailers.
Format is another point of difference. National Book Tokens and the Choice Gift Voucher can be sent digitally or delivered as a physical voucher by post, which matters if you would like to give a physical gift in person. Waterstones, WHSmith and Amazon are digital gift vouchers and are delivered by email within moments of purchase.
Available values also vary. The Waterstones voucher is only available as a £25 voucher, the National Book Tokens runs from £5 to £150, Amazon starts at £5 up to £250, and the Choice Gift Voucher stretches all the way from £10 up to £500.
Whichever you choose, a book voucher pairs beautifully with a gift that makes reading more inviting. A soft lamp, a good armchair or a well placed shelf turns a corner of a room into somewhere worth retreating to. Our range of home gift vouchers make for a great accompaniment to a book gift voucher.
