I spotted it out of the corner of my eye- 'Great Book Bundles'; Smiths will put together a random selection of 10 books of a particular genre and deliver them to your house. Now you might be thinking that you'd rather pick your books yourself but these ones cost £12.99 FOR 10 BOOKS. That's £1.29 per book. Heaven. But what are they going to send me?
There are bundles for children, bundles of specific authors such as Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson, non-fiction bundles on cookery, travel writing and advice, fiction genres like histories, mysteries, classics, romances and fantasy. As a crime and thriller lover i passed over this option, figuring i probably owned many of the books they might send. I went for the bestselling fiction because i thought they would probably be from the last few years and therefore the things i've missed whilst studying the classics at University.
Inevitably the package arrived whilst i was out (i love you smiths but most delivery services do estimate delivery times and i definitely could have been there had i known) so i ran off to collect it from the depo this morning. Carrying it home was desperately annoying since i wanted to know what was inside but needed to take a picture of it before i opened it. Oh the perils of blogging. Anyway, i was really pleased with the results, i had heard of a few, new most of the authors and even got some very expensive books i'd missed out on last year...
My Favourite Wife by Tony Parsons, RRP £6.99
Parsons is a best selling author and this particular book, published in 2008, was intended to be much the same. Although it doesn't have rave reviews online and it's not one of the ones i've heard of it does have a few of the themes that i personally like in my reading. Parsons tells the story of the ups and downs of a family from London living and leaving Shanghai and dealing with having to find work in another city. An issue many of us traveller types consider, i might be getting some advice here that will help me if i find myself in a similar situation.
Jail Bird by Jessie Keane, £7.99
Keane is the author of the bestselling series featuring fictional Annie Bailey, and this particular novel sees Keane move away from this character and into a new story. I'm pleased not to have been sent a Bailey story, since i haven't read the others, and if i like Keane's writing style i'll definitely be exploring her most popular writes.
The Job by Douglas Kennedy, £8.99
The blurb of this novel intrigues me! 'His wife is threatening to leave him and his new job description includes fraud, embezzlement and murder'. Juicy. Seems i may have a hint of my favourite crime genre in this romance filled thriller.
This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes, £7.99
A bit of an ambitious title to start with, this might actually be the first book in the pack i read. Homes' protagonist Novak's life is saved when his boring healthy lifestyle is infiltrated by a doughnut-shop owner. Blending my love of books and baking Homes won't have to convince me that baked goods can save someones life, but i'll have to make sure the biscuits are stocked while i read it.
The First Casualty by Ben Elton, £7.99
Someone in my family definitely owns this bestseller, but fortunately i haven't read it. Elton is a prolific crime writer and i have a particular love of war fiction since studying some at Uni. As his 10th novel, it's sometimes scary to let yourself fall in love with a writer who you know is going to take up a LOT of your time.
Factotum by Charles Bukowski, £8.99
Peppered with black humour this novel strikes me as a bit depressing. I'm not such a fan of books without action but with little over 150 pages it's not such a problem here. An unknown writer i thought fiction like this would come into the bundle, but i'm glad it's just the one and i'll definitely still read it.
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, £7.99
I just laughed when i saw this book. It's pretty much the reason i didn't go for the crime and thriller bundle. Although i'm not surprised, since its beyond bestseller fiction, if you check the banner at the top of my blog you'll see i already own the hardback and paperback of this book! Neverthheless, it is impressive that it's included in the bundle- only out last year, one of the top books of that year, and in my opinion totally excellent, i didn't think i could buy it so early for such a cheap price. I suppose i could read it again!
Restless by William Boyd, £7.99
A spy novel! This book sounds delicious. Women spies, secret service ops and one final assignment. Why haven't i already read this book?
The Final Testament by James Frey, £8.99
The blurb here leaves the story a bit of an enigma but a quick internet search reveals great reviews. The imagining of modern Jesus Christ i'm sure many readers would find the content controversial, but i had a taste of blasphemous fiction when i read Paradise Lost. Intrigued by the prospect of the story i'll try to keep my Miltonic expectations to a minimum.
A Week In December by Sebastian Faulks, £7.99
The number one bestseller this book is a another steal for me from the bundle! Piecing together the lives of several characters in London i can see this might really speak to me as a Londoner all my life. I love it when writers manage to interweave stories and i'm interested to see how Faulks does this and how many of the characters i can empathise with in modern urban life.
Well, i think that's pretty impressive. With authors like Dan Brown, Ben Elton, Jessie Keane and Douglas Kennedy, some novels being published as recently as 2011 and at £1.29 a pop the bundle really is brilliant. Bringing to my attention several books i'm really excited to read and might not have found searching around shops i'd also say that this has provided the much needed inspiration that fulfils my fiction urge from earlier in the week. A brilliant idea from Smiths at an even better price. Next time i'm getting the travel-writing bundle.
No comments:
Post a Comment