Book subscription boxes

I've recently jumped on the bandwagon and have started trying out an assortment of subscription boxes. I've been finding a whole bunch of lovely subscriptions for books. I've tried a couple and have found out about some great authors because of them. I've also found a whole slew of boxes I want to try once I get the funds. I figured I'd share some of the boxes on my list with you all.

• The Wordy Traveler - They choose a specific region each quarter and send you 1-3 travel books about that region, locally sourced tea, a custom art print, and then some random goodies that vary from box to box. They give money from each sale to help educate women around the globe. I haven't tried this one yet because travel books aren't always my thing, but I think I'm going to give it a try next quarter.
  
• OwlCrate - This is a YA subscription box. It includes one hardcover book with an exclusive cover along with 3-5 other book goodies. I tried this one out in December and received The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano. She's a New York Times Bestselling Author and it looks like a lot of the authors of the books in previous boxes are as well. So if that's not what you're looking for, I wouldn't go for this one. The extra things, like a GoT lip balm and Elven bread soap, weren't really for me, but they did send a really cute notebook.
  
• Once Upon a Book Club - The day I start a book club is the day I'm going to subscribe to this (and I hope that happens very soon). They send you a book with 3-5 individually wrapped gifts. Each gift has a number on it. You aren't supposed to open them until you get to the page number that matches the number on the gift because the item will be something that is described in the book. How cool is that? They also include a quote print and discussion questions. Obviously, you don't have to have a book club to enjoy this box, but they have an online community where you can discuss the book with other subscribers if you want to be part of a club. They have an adult and YA box.
  
• Indie Book Connect- They send out two autographed books written by two different independent authors. I just found this one and I'm planning on subscribing to it next month.

Has anyone tried any of these boxes? Are there other boxes you've tried or want to try? Do you think this is a fun way to discover new authors or would you rather pick things out yourself?

 

I've done paperbackswap, and bookcrossing but never one of these. Indie Book Connect sounds as though it might be my kind of thing, although I have a few too manyt unread paperbacks right now. Ebooks take up less space!

Do these run in the UK or are they US only?

 

I haven't tried either of those. Did you enjoy them? Ah, I totally understand the "too many unread paperbacks" problem. It's so much easier to talk yourself into buying ebooks because of that. However, I just love having my bookshelves full of books. It's becoming a problem. (Okay, it's been a problem for years.)

Yup! I made sure all of those shipped to both the UK and US.

 

Our local cafe that did Bookswapping shut down, so there's no bookcrossing shelves here anymore. I did like it, and it was fun to see where books I "released" ended up, but a lot of people didn't seem to take part in the reporting and there were a few people who broke it for everyone (according to the cafe owner some guy turned up with a carrier bag and swiped the entire shelf contents to see if there was anything he could sell, then dumped the rest).

Paperswap wasn't so good, because a lot of people seemed to use it to dump rubbish rather than swap books. I got some real tat that way, water damage, torn out endings, etc.

 

That's a bummer that your cafe shut down Bookswapping. That sounds like fun! It's sad how people have to take advantage of a good thing and ruin it for everyone else. I'll have to steer clear of Paperswap. That doesn't sound like anything I need in my life. (Seeing damaged books just makes me sad.)

 

Oh, these sound like fun! I didn't know these were a thing. Do you want to give links? I don't mind being a referral if it gets you books!

 

They are really fun! There are a lot more of them out there, too. I don't have any referral links since the ones I'm currently using don't offer them - as far as I can tell at least. I appreciate the offer though! You'll have to let me know how they are if you end up trying one.

 

These suggestions are awesome! I should have known there were some great subscription boxes for books out there. I've tried a couple others, but the books were super mainstream. They weren't anything I couldn't have easily found on my own. The Once Upon a Book Club subscription sounds enchanting! I'll have to see what kind of books they've given out in the past before I sign up though.