It’s less than a week since Ahmed got in touch from A Box of Stories to see if I might be interested in featuring this super book box initiative on Linda’s Book Bag. Now, although I’m not really accepting new blog material I thought it sounded intriguing so I asked him to explain more.

This is what he told me:

At A Box of Stories, our surprise book boxes introduce readers to amazing new authors and stories. Over 70 million books are destroyed each year, resulting in many never making it into the hands of people that might otherwise love them. By scanning thousands of titles and using real reader recommendations, each box saves four books and allows our community to discover titles beyond the obvious bestsellers.

Well I could hardly resist finding out more so I agreed to take one of A Box of Stories boxes to see what I thought. I have to say, I’m very impressed.

There are there several book boxes to choose from and you can click on each one to discover more:

Surprise box of 4 fiction books

Surprise box of 4 mixed books

Crime, Mystery and Thriller box of 4 surprise books

Young Adult box of 4 surprise books

Latest Releases: Fiction box of 4 books

Light Reads box of 4 surprise books

Historical Fiction box of 4 surprise books

Books are chosen for the boxes using algorithms that are simply beyond me, but that allow meaningful book boxes to be created.

You can choose a one off box or, with a discount, you can take out a subscription. There’s also a special first time subscription purchase discount of 30% for Linda’s Book Bag readers so read on for more information.

My Surprise Box of 4 Fiction Books

I ordered my box of mixed fiction on Thursday evening after 8PM, had an order confirmation and tracking number first thing on Friday and the box arrived within the 48 hour Royal Mail Tracked window on Monday lunchtime.

The box that arrived was excellent in robustness, so that even though it had suffered slightly at the hands of postie the books inside were in pristine condition. I think that’s a really important aspect of this book box, as A Box of Stories ships not only to the UK, but to Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France Germany, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland.

What could be better in these uncertain Covid times than being able to send a wonderful surprise of books to family and friends you might not be able to see? Prices start from £14.99 and there is even a gift card you could send so that recipients can choose their own box.

With a percentage of profits going to charity too, this sounds like a fantastic idea.

It was lovely to discover recyclable brown paper keeping the books snug as well as a cheerful postcard that makes an excellent bookmark.

My box included two hard backed and two paperback books, all in absolutely perfect condition, all for £14.99 delivered.

I looked up the current prices on a well known online store for the editions I had received and discovered The Illuminations by Andrew O’Hagan is selling for £17.99, and £7.15 in paperback. Plume by Will Wiles is currently £13.46 in hardback and £7.18 in paperback, the edition of Bev Thomas’ A Good Enough Mother is £12.15 although a different edition is £7.29 and finally, a paperback of Camilla Grebe’s The Ice Beneath Her is £5.71. Even at the lowest prices these four books would have cost me £27.33 and the editions I actually received come to £49.31. Either way, this represents superb value for four books in my A Box of Stories box, especially as there is free shipping in the UK.

I really am incredibly impressed by A Box of Stories. I like the concept of ‘saving’ books that have been ‘quiet books’ that readers would love, but that might not have had huge marketing budgets behind them so that they have been missed. I like the idea of getting a bargain – who doesn’t? And I love the idea that charities working for literacy will benefit from sales too.

If others are interested, A Box of Stories offers bloggers an affiliate programme. Any blog readers who fancy one of the book boxes can have 30% off their first subscription using the code LindasBookBag. although as I’ve only just taken part, it might take a couple of days for the code above to become active. I don’t think you can go wrong really! Visit the A Box of Stories website, follow them on Twitter @aboxofstories or find them on Facebook for more information.