Holiday life gets busy fast, and if you’re not careful, both your books and your reading time can disappear under the chaos. This quick guide shares simple, real-world tips from years of estate-sale hunting, road-trip reading, and protecting vintage books from spills, suitcases, and everything in between.

If you want to keep your favorite books safe — and carve out a few peaceful minutes to actually read them — these easy habits will help you do both without adding stress to your season.

A good vintage wishlist isn’t about rarity. It’s about recognition—the moment you see a cookbook that lived in your grandmother’s kitchen, a mid-century mystery with the cover you remember, or a magazine from the year you circled puzzles on the living-room floor.

In this guide, we explore how to build a vintage wishlist that reflects your memories, your identity, and the joy of collecting books that already have a story.