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 collection’s 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.
• 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.