I Ordered a Surprise Book Box and Here’s What Happened

Hello my lovelies, so I got to open the surprise book box that I’ve ordered from indie and second hand bookstore Word on the Water. I really liked the selection and wanted to show you guys!

I wrote about Word on the Water bookstore in a previous post. They’re one of the most unique indie bookstores and I always enjoy paying them a visit now and then. Now I saw their book box offer: “Pre-Loved Book Box” on their site and thought: “What is that?”

Open to both UK shipping and international shipping, the box contains curated collection of 8-10 books handpicked by the booksellers themselves. What’s lovely is that you can customize the collection if you wish to include or disinclude specific genres or other preferences.

Not a fan of horror so I indicated it to them and they replied swiftly and were very cordial with me. (Shout out to Oliver for handling my order! 😊❤️)

The Books!

I must say I was right to select this bookstore to widen my reading material because most of these books I never heard of and I loved the vintage feel of them. I got 10 books in total:

▪️Night at the Circus by Angela Carter

▪️Millennium People by JG Ballard

▪️Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

▪️The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss

▪️The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

▪️The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

▪️A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

▪️Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

▪️The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

▪️Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

First book that caught my eye? The Midwich Cuckoos has a gripping cover, I was instantly drawn to the graphics and that bold pop of pink. I also love the swirly writing and typography. I was bit surprised to know it’s alien sci-fi because it looks like a contemporary coming age book and absolutely nothing like sci-fi.

It comes close to Night at the Circus because I love the image drawn on the cover. I love the contrast between the black/white and the fuchsia title color.

Big Hit Predictions? Night at the Circus I think just by reading the synopsis I would be enamoured by it. It has magic, mystery, and hello!? A circus!

I quite like dry British sarcastic humor so I might like The Vesuvius Club, I’m familiar with Mark Gatiss and if Stephen Fry finds it hilarious I have a feeling this would be my cup of tea.

Brighton Rock is another book on my TBR, as much as I love the glitz and glamour I also love gritty reads that are a bit edgy and dark. So I’m excited for this one.

Not Hit Predictions? The rest seem like up my alley or might end up average okay reads but only one book I feel I won’t like and that is Heart of Darkness. I just didn’t get the story from the synopsis and the writing was too flowery for my taste. I just feel its not the book for me.

Final Verdict? Worth it. Go for it, I promise you most likely you’ll end up with a book you’ve never heard of before. Click here to go to their page 😊

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