Build A Quaint Library: LEGO® GWP Books Are My Passion Set 40698

This incredibly small and aesthetically designed LEGO® Gift With Purchase Set, 40698: Books Are My Passion, could help you ring in the New Year in style. This 285-piece set brings a special flare of tranquility to any LEGO® collection, matching similar vibes to the botanical collection. Personally, I feel like this set brings a dash of serenity and a bit of inception by bringing a small bookcase to your bookcase right in your living room.

Let’s explore the key aspects of this set:

The Build

The Design

The Minifigure(s)

The Cost (or how to get this unique GWP)

With these key elements, you can decide if it’s worth hunting for and buying on third-party platforms.

With 285 pieces, you are looking at a build that will take the average LEGO® builder a maximum of 1.5 hours. Most beginner to advanced builders take roughly 1-1.5 hours to build a few hundred pieces.

The build itself is not complicated, and the multi-colored gold/silver bar bricks used to copy the appearance of book bindings are an exceptional touch. This is a LEGO® bookshelf building technique I don’t see very often—it comes out marvelously. Nothing is difficult about the build, and you should have a lot of fun modifying it or making your own MOC (My Own Creation) by surrounding it with your collections LEGO® structures.

I love the design of Books Are My Passion, and you will, too! It is quite small, with dimensions of 12 cm (5 in.) high, 9 cm (3.5 in.) wide, and 9 cm (3.5 in) deep—but these dimensions add to the allure.

A few really unique callouts:

The minifigure head on top of the bookcase is a world map printed on a LEGO® head that appears to be one-of-a-kind to this set.

Using 1×1 brown studs to make ornaments on top of the bookcase is an insanely simple yet beautiful design.

Also, the design of the blue reading chair and library ladder are two elegant pieces that complement the bookcase’s brown-hue well.

Honestly, this set has such an artsy and authentic feel to it. It’s a wonderful design.

Unfortunately, the minifigure is the worst part of this set. It is a very simple female minifigure with only a finely printed LEGO® sweater for the torso. The hairpiece, head, and legs are nothing to write home about. Still, I think this simple minifigure does contribute to the overall aesthetic of set 40698. This set lives by two watchwords: Simple and elegant.