Open up your favourite internet browser, type subscription box into the search bar and the results will be in their millions. There are subscription boxes for absolutely everything from arts and crafts, food and drink with lots more in-between, including adult only boxes and even ones for your pets. And yes, there are even monthly book subscription boxes for all of us book lovers out there – and there are lots to choose from.
With millions of books out there, choosing your next book to read can be a challenge and I hope that reading my book reviews on this website will be of some small help to inform your choices. If searching through online bookshops or visiting your local bookseller left you flummoxed due to so much choice, how do you decide if a subscription box is the way to go as you are sent random books selected by someone else?
Unfortunately, as I haven’t really used any type of subscription box before, and that includes a book subscription box, I can’t tell you whether receiving a random selection of books, or other items for that matter, selected by others is the way to go or not. But if I were going to have any type of subscription box, a book subscription box seems like the best idea. The books will last for years, whether that is you keeping and collecting them for yourself or passing on to others to be read and also get the enjoyment out of. Although I can see these boxes bringing their own issues with what type of box to go for, especially if you like reading a variety of genres, and are the books supplied going to suit your taste (although it is also a good way to discover new authors that you necessarily wouldn’t read).
With plenty of different types of subscriptions available with monthly, 3 monthly, 6 monthly and 12 monthly, offering a varying number of books per month, there is something for everybody, although looking at the costs, some can be quite expensive (although they do include postage). Here are ten websites that offer book subscriptions boxes (I haven’t tried any myself, so it is up to you to decide what, if any, is best for you).
- The Gently Used Book Club – from £6.50 per month for 1 to 4 books per box of quality pre-loved books, specially selected just for you to match your reading taste, delivered to your door for free.
- Hand Me Down Book Club – from £9.99 per month for 2 to 6 books per box of pre-loved books. Includes free delivery.
- A Box of Stories – from £14.99 per box of 4 new books by undiscovered authors, recommended by readers. Delivered every 1, 2, 3 or 4 months – you choose how regularly. Includes free postage.
- Rare Birds Book Club – £14 for a brand-new book per month of female fiction. Includes free delivery.
- Bumblebee – £16 per month, for children or adults, for a book per month that inspires your creativity. Includes free delivery.
- Book Box Club – from £26 per month for a new YA (Young Adult) book and selection of unique themed goodies and signed bookplate from the author. Includes free postage.
- Books That Matter – from £17 per month for an empowering read from a female author, 3-5 gifts from independent creatives, a collectable bookmark and a personalised magazine packed with interviews and activities. Includes free delivery.
- Post Book’d – £18 per month for a book chosen by you, a book chosen by Post Book’d, surprise gifts and more. Includes free delivery and donation to charity. Post Book’d is the First UK book subscription specialising in Black and Minorities Ethnic writers.
Personally, I am not entirely sure that I would subscribe to a book subscription box, purely because it would be an ongoing monthly expense with no guarantee that I would enjoy the titles being supplied and I do enjoy reading book blurbs and finding new books to read rather than just being sent a random selection. Although I do think a good book subscription box would be an excellent way to discover new authors and possibly force you to step away from your comfort zone of the familiar authors that you know and love, expanding your reading material. Whilst I am not sure a subscription service would work for me; others love it with the joy and excitement of brand-new books landing on their doorstep every month and the thrill of possibly finding something remarkable to read.
I couldn’t possibly tell you what book subscription box to go for, if any. That will take a bit of research of your part about what types are out there, offering what genres, how often you want to receive your books, value for money. Personally, if I were to subscribe to a subscription, I love the idea of a pre-loved (used) book subscription box such as The Gently Used Book Club or Hand Me Down Book Club as it saves books going to landfill (although books are paper, apparently the glue used to bind them unfortunately means millions of books are not recycled and go to landfill sites – this seems such a waste).
If you have had a book subscription box or are thinking about getting one, let us know your thoughts in the comments box below. Are they good value for money? Have you discovered new authors that you wouldn’t have necessarily tried and are now hooked on? Or do you prefer to browse online and bookshops to select your own titles?
