I went on a blind date with a book!

 

So, I originally saw this concept on TikTok. And that concept is “I went on a blind date with a book”. I did have a quick look up on YouTube, and this isn’t a new concept by any means, there are literally YouTube videos with this sort of title from seven years ago, so me having done this isn’t revolutionary, but… I can’t lie, I saw it on TikTok and wanted to try it for myself.

I know that mystery books also aren’t anything new. I’ve seen it so romanticised on the internet and in other books that I’ve read where people will go to the place where the books are being sold, and the books, I don’t know why, are always wrapped in plain brown paper. Why is it always plain brown paper? I don’t know, but I love it. And then when someone, or the character, buys the book, it will always have a little something on it suggesting what the book might be – like a genre, or maybe a little description. I don’t know what it is, maybe it is because it’s been so romanticised, but that’s why I ended up trying it out.

My brain immediately told me to go to Etsy, because with where I currently live, I wouldn’t even know where to go to find something like this in person. I think there might be a bookshop or two in some semi-nearby cities to me that would do this, but it was the case of why would I go outside in the hopes of maybe finding one of these mystery books when I could just go online, maybe spend a little more money, but just get the whole thing delivered to me?

So that’s what I did.

I just searched “blind date with a book” into Etsy, and there were a bunch of options that came up. Some of them were literally just mystery books, like a singular book, and that’s all you get. But there were some where you get different options, like more books, or little extras. One I considered buying had added options for like a “standard” version, or a “deluxe” version, and I think the deluxe version had like a chocolate bar, a hot chocolate sachet and a couple of tea bags. And a few others had other different extras as well.

But the one I went with was from WordsnQuills. It came out to £14, or £24 if I decided to add the tote bag, with free UK delivery. I got the £14 one, opting to not get the tote bag, because the reality is, I have a few tote bags and should probably sort of the ones I’ve got before I consider getting any more. But included in that £14 is, as the listing says: A book, a bookmark, stickers, mini chocolate bar, instant coffee and hot chocolate. One thing I’ll immediately say, when I looked at photos from reviews, most of them had a little box or bag of sweets as well. So, even though it’s just one little thing, it’s another little thing that’s included in the box, but not on the listing, like a little extra.

When you’re on the listing, you get the option to pick the genre of book that you want as well, which I really liked. So, I ended up choosing YA. For the choices, there are: Fiction, Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Young Adult (YA), Psych Fiction, Thriller/Mystery, Romance, Bildungsroman, Dystopian, Horror and Historical Fiction. So, there was a bunch to choose from, which was another thing which I enjoyed, because there were some of the listings that were just like “mystery book”, and just gave no indication of what kind of book you’d end up with.

One thing I wasn’t expecting, however, was that maybe five minutes or so after I had paid for the product, I got a message from the seller asking whether I was okay to share either my Goodreads account or Amazon wishlist with them for reference. Now, I don’t have a Goodreads account, which I feel like is sacrilege in the reading sphere, but I’ve always just recorded what books I’ve read on the Notes app on my phone – I also make YouTube videos talking about pretty much every book I read now anyway, so I have that record as well. But then when I looked up the listing description, I saw that the seller asks for that so you can avoid getting a book you’ve already got. So what I ended up doing was taking screenshots of my Notes app of what I read in 2021, and my Amazon books wishlist (which, I can’t lie, I just use to keep a record of what books are coming out that I want) and sent them in response to the seller. I did, in the notes section of the purchase, say that my first choice would have been a WLW book – as I am trying to read more of those this year, but that I wasn’t going to complain if I didn’t get one, since I know it’s a mystery book and what you get is random anyway.

In terms of delivery, I’ve ordered things from Etsy, and I’m well aware that delivery with Etsy stuff can widely vary. Usually what I do is that I’ll order something and just be like, “It’ll get here when it gets here.” On the listing, since this one was from the UK, and I’m in the UK, it said it’d be about a week. I ordered mine the afternoon of Monday January 24^th. I got a dispatch email on the morning of Thursday January 27^th, and it arrived on Saturday January 29^th. The listing never said whether it was going to be posted first or second class, just that the product is usually ready to dispatch in 1-3 days. But I mean, five days for the whole thing, I can’t complain about that – especially when shipping was free for me.

The book I ended up getting in my box was Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez (released in 2020). The Amazon listing for the book calls it an “intersectional coming-of-age story, following nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of a Jehovah’s Witness upbringing and the legacies of the Windrush generation.” But it does go on to talk about how there’s a second character in this book, and it tells their story at a different point in time. It reminded me a little bit of London Triptych by Jonathan Kemp. Now, from reading the listing of Rainbow Milk, I don’t exactly know whether I’d call it YA, which was the genre I chose from, but it’s still a book that I’d read. So, a positive point for the fact it’s something I’d read, and in my sphere, but a negative point for the fact it’s not the genre I chose when I bought the box.

And then, in terms of pricing, the book I got has an RRP of £8.99, about what I was expecting, given that the box was £14. For the little extras I got, I did get everything that was listed on the product page, including the little box of sweets. Do I think the little extras would add up to that other £5? I don’t know. For the sweets and instant hot chocolate, they were obviously from a multipack – as were the stickers. The bookmark is nice. I reckon it’s probably one of those that you could see sold in a stationary shop for a few pounds. But whether I literally got £14 worth of stuff, I can’t really say. But I feel like that’s beside the point, since part of what you’re paying for is the experience itself. You’re paying for that cute little box that comes. The box that has the book and all those little extras so that you can have that moment of self-care.

So, ultimately, despite the book I got not being the genre I picked, it still is something I’d be likely to read. That’s probably down to the fact that the seller does ask for your wishlist/Goodreads, so they can get a reference, which I appreciated. I don’t think I paid too much for what was offered, and I think buying another blind date with a book is something I could see myself doing in the future.

Okay, bye!