Gift guides

Presents that get used, not stored

There is a particular kind of present that gets opened, admired, and never touched again. These guides are about the other kind. Every list here is built the same way the book is: the dull, specific, non-obvious things that turn out to matter, written by someone who has spent a long time finding out what nobody bothers to explain.

  • Gifts for someone going to uni

    Ten things that survive first year, seven that end up in a drawer by November, and the one present nobody ever thinks to give.

  • Housewarming gifts people actually keep

    For a first flat or a first house share. No candles. Mostly the things that answer a problem the new place is about to create.

  • Secret Santa under a tenner

    The office one. Coming in November, when it becomes relevant and not a moment before.

  • Stocking fillers for grown adults

    Flat, book-shaped, fits a stocking. Also coming in November.

Cover of The Stuff Nobody Tells You by Jakob de Villiers III

The book behind the guides

The Stuff Nobody Tells You is seventy-five short, dry, genuinely useful entries on the grown-up things nobody sat you down and explained. Which drawer the softener goes in, how to bleed a radiator, what your tax code actually means.

It makes a good present for the same reason it makes a good book. It is useful enough to keep by the kettle and funny enough that somebody will actually read it.

Buy on Amazon

Paperback £7.99 · Kindle £2.24

Last checked 2026-08-10.