…is more books! The best present I have ever received was a book subscription. Over the years I have had every kind of subscription there is: Magazines to Baby gift boxes, food to Lootcrates and a wide variety in between. Living on the periphery of civilisation it’s a great way to get your hands on products that you don’t always have access to, but it’s also a great way to fill up your house with tat very very quickly. I found that, on average, I used or wanted only about half of what I received in boxes and so each eventually fell by the wayside. But then I discovered the book subscription. A book gift every month? Yes please! I will never run out of space for books. (Husband disagrees, but what does he know?) It’s the one subscription service I can see myself keeping long term. But it’s so hard to pick from the variety of products that are out there and unless you’re a multi-millionaire a choice has to be made (Still haven’t won the lottery for those keeping track).
So in the lead up to Christmas, here is my round up of book subscription services available to bibliophiles in the UK. If your nearest and dearest love books and haven’t yet discovered the wonder of book subscriptions then this is what you need to get for them. Immediately.
There are two types of Book Subscription; the mystery subscription and the curated subscription and some companies offer both. Here is a small selection of some of the best ones I’ve found.
Book and a Brew
This is a gross generalisation, but one I’m reasonably confident in making: If you like reading and you live in the UK, chances are high that you probably like curling up with a cup of tea as well; so I think Book and a Brew is fairly ingenious. Every month you receive a fantastic Book (for a pot luck subscription service Book and a Brew has one of the best general book selections I’ve seen) and a packet of intriguing and often unusual tea to tantalise your taste buds. It’s £12.99 a month, but you can also buy older boxes (with the ability to choose from available texts) as a one off for £9.99 which is a nice way to either test if it’s for you or give a single month gift. Check it out at www.bookandabrew.com
The Willoughby Book Club
The Willoughby Book Club has been going since 2012 and is partnered with Book Aid International, so for every subscription sold a book is donated, allowing you to share your love of reading with partner libraries across Africa. Willoughby Book Club has one of the largest selection of different subscription options available, including babies, toddlers and young adults, Contemporary fiction and cookery book subscriptions and all come with the options of 3, 6 or 12 month subscriptions. Their most popular club is the Bespoke club where the team picks books based on recipients personal reading tastes. If you can’t find what you want here you even have the option of tailoring your own themed package under the Anything Else category. It really is a one stop shop for your book subscription needs! Prices start at £29.99 for a 3 month subscription. Check out www.willoughbybookclub.co.uk for more information.
Big Green Bookshop
The Big Green Bookshop is an independent bookshop based in London which offers either a children’s or adult’s bespoke book subscription. The owners have a brilliant sense of humour (this was the bunch that invested in tweeting the whole of Harry Potter to Piers Morgan when he made a snarky comment about it.) and fantastic customer service. A survey asking about your top 3 books and anything you’ve struggled to read is sent out for either you or your gift recipient to complete and as soon as you’ve returned it your choices will begin being sent to you. This service offers different options for length of subscription as well which makes it a great option for smaller gifts, short term affordability and simply just testing if a book subscription is for you. I have bought a 3 month subscription from here for a friend before and it went down a treat. Find them at www.biggreenbookshop.com Prices start at £30 for a 3 month children’s subscription.
Heywood Hill
I’ve been very spoilt and was lucky enough to receive the Heywood Hill ‘A Year in Books’ subscription for my birthday this year. It is one of the more expensive on the list, but luxury oozes out of every molecule of it; unwrapping each beautifully wrapped book is a gift in itself. Based in Mayfair, Heywood Hill is an independent bookshop where booksellers are some of the best in the business, and have been offering this service for longer than most others. On selecting a Book Subscription, choosing from Paperback or Hardback alternatives and whether you want them monthly or bi-monthly (there’s also an option for children’s books), you are sent a beautiful voucher inviting the recipient to complete a questionnaire, either online or over the phone. You are then assigned your own personal bookseller who selects your books for you, and mine has yet to put a foot wrong. I have been sent books which I would never have picked up myself and at least two out of the 6 have set me on a frantic reading frenzy of previously undiscovered series (If Heywood Hill are reading this and they can track down a copy of the second in the St Mary’s Chronicles series I’d be very grateful!)
and the monthly book marks have allowed me to finally ditch my hodgepodge of receipts and post its that I used previously. And if you already have the book you can arrange a certain number of swaps each year. This is the epitome of a Bibliophile’s dream gift. Prices start at £125 for a 6 book children’s subscription. You can find out more at www.heywoodhill.com
The Abominable Book Club
If Horror is your thing then the Abominable Book Blub sends out crates with three reads in each, including a new book and a second hand classic. On alternate months a bi-monthly magazine subscription is included and on the months without a magazine, they include an ebook from an independent author. Based in Wales the company also includes locally sourced treats and bonuses. This is a reasonably new venture compared to others, but the horror community is a supportive one and horror is a seriously underserved genre in book subscription land, so I hope it will go from strength to strength. The Club can be found at https://theabominablebookclub.cratejoy.com and prices start at £22.
Chocolate and a Book
Need I say more than the title of this subscription? The genre choices on this site are what really sell it to me, with the ability to pick between Romance and Sci-fi/fantasy (which is a rare genre subscription to come across) among others. Books are selected from the last 12 months and are carefully matched with chocolate and a hot beverage. Vegetarian and Vegan options are available and they try to cater for any allergies you may have. Prices start at £14.99 a month and more information can be found at http://www.chocolateandbook.com
Whatever your taste in books, there is a subscription service available out there for you and most offer additional perks. It’s completely worth it: they will have to wrench my subscription from my cold dead hands!
I have not been paid or asked to write this.
hebrideanreader.com 