Which book box subscription is the best?
We ordered two different book subscriptions to compare and contrast, and in this review we'll discuss which is our favourite and why!
I love getting lost in a good book (or even a mediocre one) and lockdown has provided ample opportunity for that. The simple joy of sitting on the sofa with a book, blanket and cup of coffee is almost unbeatable – but I also love the idea of adding an extra layer to the reading experience. What if you could create a whole theme around the books you read?
That’s where book subscription boxes come in. I tested out Rare Birds Book Club and Books That Matter subscription boxes, to compare, contrast and see how far your monthly fee can take you depending on the box you pick.
Books That Matter - £17 a month
If you’re someone who loves to get things in the post – and let’s face it, during lockdown that is the one blip of excitement most of us can hope for during our days spent inside – you’ll love it when the Books That Matter package plops onto your doormat, filled with unique goodies!
I was excited to open my Books That Matter box, and found several exciting gifts inside. They were: a notebook with an illustrated cover, two laptop stickers, a moisturising face mask (that is that you apply to your face for cosmetic reasons, not that you wear over your mouth and nose to go to the supermarket in 2021), a pamphlet about that month’s theme (“Girl, Goddess, Other”) and the book of the month: The Emperor's Babe, by Bernadine Evaristo.
Having recently read and loved Evaristo’s book Girl, Woman, Other which controversially joint-won the Man Booker Prize in 2019, sharing with Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, I was excited to get stuck into this.
Also in the box was a themed bookmark, and a fetching purple tote bag to carry all my swag in!
At just £17 a month, I really do think this book box subscription is worth every penny for the amount of effort that goes into it, and the sheer amount of gifts that can be found inside.
As for the book, the impression I have so far of The Emperor's Babe is that it takes much the same shape as Girl, Woman, Other, the story lined out like a long romantic poem as opposed to a traditional narrative structure.
I love books that are written in an unusual or stylistic way, so I'm really looking forward to delving deeper into this tale!
Rare Birds Book Club - £14 a month
My Rare Birds Book Club order arrived at roughly the same time, a significantly smaller package with just the book and a bookmark inside. Not that size matters – it’s all about content!
Ahead of receiving my box, I had ‘blind picked’ my book of the month choosing from two blurbs, without revealing the title. I read both blurbs, and chose against the book about a student who had been groomed by her teacher – as I was fairly certain this was a book I’d already read: My Dark Vanessa. (Later I found out I was right about this, so I’m glad I decided against it!)
The second book was described as a short piece of feminist fiction following the difficult life of a woman growing up in Korea. It sounded right up my alley, so I went for this one.
When it arrived, it was wrapped in adorable ghost-patterned tissue paper and came with an illustrated bookmark themed around the 1987 novel Beloved by Toni Morrison
As for the book itself… I have to confess, I struggled through it! This wasn’t because it was written in a complex or difficult way, but more that the subject matter itself was difficult, and deliberately written in a very straightforward, matter-of-fact way that was, I have to say, not very engaging to read.
The book, Kim Jiyoung, 1982, focuses on the life of a woman growing up in South Korea. Throughout her entire life, Jiyoung is treated as a second-class citizen because of her gender; offered fewer opportunities than her male counterparts, expected to deal with inappropriate behaviour from work colleagues, and eventually suffers severe mental distress as a result of being constantly knocked down by life.
I was grateful to the book for educating me on the depth of the equality gap between men and women in Korea, and I wholeheartedly believe this is an important book that those of us ignorant on the topic should pick up and read.
That being said, I wouldn’t necessarily class this book as a piece of entertainment. Despite being a fictionalised account, it reads almost more like a textbook, even regularly citing statistics and facts with footnotes at the bottom detailing the source of the information.
And although we join Jiyoung’s life, following her along the ups and downs of her difficult existence, we (spoiler alert) never really get a satisfying resolution to the story. Of course, this is much more like real life itself – people in difficult circumstances rarely escape them – further solidifying the book’s status as more fact that fiction.
I’m not implying author Cho Nam-Joo based this book on her life wholesale. There’s an annoying trend of female authors and writers being accused of borrowing too heavily from their own life story, as if they’re not capable of creating a work of fiction without real-life circumstances to copy from. I don’t doubt that some of the events and situations in the book took place in the author’s own life, but it seems that sadly, this story is all too common amongst women born into the same circumstances as the main character.
Which is Better, Books That Matter or Rare Birds Book Club?
I have to say that Books That Matter is objectively better value for money.
It is exciting to blind-pick your book of choice, and receive a surprise in the post, but at £14 a month, Rare Birds Book Club makes it harder to see where the monthly subscription fee goes.
Books That Matter includes much more for your money, even gifts from independent sellers, and you can really see where the £17 a month goes.
I do think that the book from Rare Birds Book Club was beautifully presented and gift-wrapped, and the additional feature of interviews with the authors (or in this case, the translator) of the month's book accessible via the member's area is an attractive addition.
Overall, both made for some fun and exciting post to receive, but Books That Matter just takes it for sheer effort and volume of goodies!
