Much as I wish our local library had every science fiction book, they do not and neither does yours. Where can we find the books we want to read? Here is one idea: Join a book club.
Science Fiction Book Club
Way back when I was a kid you could join this for a dime, get Asimov’s Foundation series and all you had to do was buy four more books over the year. The book club has gotten easier to work with – no more unwanted books in the mail unless you completely forget to respond online or by paper – but the basic premise is the same.
You sign up, get a few books for free (or close to free), buy a few books over the next year or two. The club sends emails or paper offers every four to six weeks. You can buy or not as you want. I’ve been a member for 20+ years and buy anywhere from none to a dozen or more books a year.
I found several favorite authors through the club, notably Lois McMaster Bujold and Jack McDevitt. The main downside I’ve found to the club is they offer many books I don’t want. They have tons of Star Wars novels and tend to offer books from the same authors like Mercedes Lackey or Anne McCaffery. On the good side most months they add a new author or an interesting sounding book to the mix.
The club mailings can come via email or hard copy and are fun to browse. If they offer a book I want but can’t afford, then I’ll check the library. Or I keep the mailing until I can buy it. Some books are full of sex or violence but the club does a reasonable job of noting these. The mailings themselves may have indecent illustrations.
The editors are experts in writing blurbs that make you want to buy the book, sometimes to the point where you almost wonder whether they read the same lousy book you did. Members can review books and rate them too. I don’t take these too seriously. You have the option to read excerpts online and I recommend this. Reading an excerpt is a good way to check the author’s style and avoid the boring ones.
The club offers hard cover books, no E books or paperbacks (except for some graphic novels). The quality of the binding varies from good to mediocre. Fonts are a good size with enough white space to make reading easy on the eyes. Based on the dust jacket illustrations the club wants to appeal to teenaged boys. If the jacket is obnoxious I simply remove it and read the book by itself.
Leave a Reply