Is a Blind Date with a Book worth it?

 

So, I made a YouTube video, probably years ago where I went on a blind date with a book from a seller on Etsy, and to be honest, I don’t think I ended up reading the book that came in the box. I think I just ate the stuff that came with, put the bookmark in a drawer, and went on with my life after making the video. But I wanted to try going on another blind date with a book but actually go off queen with the idea.

When I say I want to go off queen with the idea, I’ve thought of how to make it something. If you can’t tell from the title, I will be trying to answer this question through two different blind dates with books. Last time I just bought one online and that was it. This time, I wanted to do it twice. My plan was to buy another one online, do some research to either see if there was one that I’d be more interested in – something more akin to what I’d go for normally, similar to the stuff I already enjoy reading – and then aside from the one online, when I’ve been to London in the past, there’s a shop that I’ve passed by a bunch of times in the Brunswick Centre that has a stand, specifically with a blind date with a book on. My goal is just going to see what my experience is with these blind dates with books and whether I think I’d be willing to do it again. This isn’t book review content, although I will mention which books I got in both of my blind dates, it’s more talking about the experience I had with them.

I got the physical one before the online one, but that’s simply because the place that I knew about that did them, literally called the Brunswick Bookshop, I was going to end up around as I was going to be in London for a couple of concerts so figured I’d pick a book up before I forgot. So, the Brunswick Bookshop’s blind date with a book was on a stand outside of the shop with all of your choices just there. The first immediate clear distinction is obviously that this one had selling points on the wrapping, so you at least knew the vibes of what you were getting. I suppose this is the physical answer to all of these online ones letting you choose the genre of book you get. I did notice that there were a few repeats on the stand. The photo I took was only of one side, but they did have some overlap on the other side, so part of me did kind of wonder whether it’s kind of just an attempt to clear out stuff that’s not really selling, which, to be honest, it might be the case for all of these blind dates with a book. I will also say, out of all the ones on this stand, there wasn’t anything that I saw from its bullet points that I felt I immediately wanted. I ended up getting it the three choices. The first said it was a workplace romance. I love a romance book, but it didn’t mention sexuality, so I fully took that to mean it would be a straight romance, and I knew I didn’t want that. The second said it was a lesbian classic, but that it was also dialogue heavy, so I worried that might have bored me. And then the one I ended up buying had the four points that said, “Confectionary. Sensual. She’s a Witch! Bittersweet.” The vibe I got was that maybe it wouldn’t be anything too grand, but also quite romantic at the same time. It ended up being Chocolat by Joanne Harris.

Since I got my last online one from Etsy, that’s where I ventured back to for this one. I did have a quick Google, literally just of, “Blind date with a book”, and there were a few other places I saw just on the first page of results that did them as well. But I went to Etsy and literally just searched, “blind date with a book”, trying to avoid the ones listed as an ad. Additionally, when I was looking at the listings, I wanted to find ones that specifically said you could send them your Goodreads account, just so that I wouldn’t get a book I’d already read, especially since I knew I was going to choose a genre I knew I liked – I also really wanted to find one that specifically listed LGBTQ+/queer books. I got it down to two options, both of which I tried to keep towards a similar price point to the physical one, by which I mean I refused to spend more than £20. I ended up going with one sold by “gardenofgraceuk” and it cost me £14.99. I wasn’t particularly upset by the price since it had free delivery, and some of the ones that were cheaper were charging shipping, so the prices ended up being more or less the same anyway. I chose romance as my genre as in the personalisation box that Etsy has, I put a link to my Goodreads account and a little note that said I prefer LGBTQ+ to straight romance since I have zero interest in reading about straight people falling in love. I was well aware that by choosing someone that didn’t have a specific LGBTQ+ option, there was always the risk of getting straight romance, but that was my choice. But the book that showed up was Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harms, and it did end up being queer.

When shopping on Etsy for the online one, I noticed a lot of them all had a very similar aesthetic to them. They were all the very cosy, snuggle up in a corner with a hot drink, some self-care, plants, and a book. I also do feel like that’s very much one of the most present aesthetics when it comes to BookTube and BookTok. It’s very cottage-core, florals, flowing fabric, white linen clothing in a field of wildflowers. It’s very that. Like where are the ones for people like me who nine out of ten times just reads in bed, or on a train? For the people who will read two, maybe three books a month, and will sometimes go weeks without touching a book just because they don’t feel like it and only want to read when they want to? Where’s that?

The physical one was more often the cheaper choice, compared to a lot of the online ones. There were a few of the online ones that offered literally only the book, rather than the extras. I found that with the Brunswick Bookshop only charging £9, it meant the book I ended up getting was cheaper than a lot of books are now – physically, speaking. I don’t really have the know-how on prices for e-books since I personally just prefer a physical book in my hands. I do have an ancient Amazon Kindle that has a handful of books on, and I know quite often you can get books on Kindle for like 99p. I don’t know. Even if that £9 is still more expensive than an e-book, I like having books on my shelves, and evidence of what I’ve read. On the flip, the choice in the Brunswick Centre was limited. I feel like that’s a granted, since they wouldn’t want to dedicate too much space to this stand, but when I read through the tags on the wrapping of these books, and like I mentioned before, the risk with that was that, for me, there was nothing overwhelmingly that I felt I wanted, whereas with the online ones you just get given a genre. The physical one feels like you’re locking in more, and if you don’t like the book it’s your fault, whereas if I end up not liking the book I get from the online one, that’s not my fault, someone else picked it out for me.

The online one was obviously more expensive – but in saying that, there were options for just a book that were a similar price to the physical one – but I think it’s more often the case you’re paying for the little extras and the cute little packaging of it. You’re paying for that little experience of sitting down in your little reading area with your chocolate and hot drink to read for a bit all being packaged into one place. I figured it was the same sort of thing as going to a restaurant. Like, yes, instead of going to an Italian restaurant and ordering that pizza for like ten, fifteen pounds, or you could go to a supermarket and buy a frozen pizza for maybe like a quarter of that, but it’s the experience, and the service. You’re paying for someone to make your food and then for someone to serve it to you. With these online ones, they’re more expensive but you’re paying for the convenience and experience of having someone make up a little box for you as well as some cute little treats to go along with it. I also can’t deny that the treats and extras are cute. It all leads into a very harmless vibe. Getting yourself a hot drink and a chocolate treat is nice for when you sit down and read. I suppose for me, however, since when I read, it’s either on a train, or at the end of the day in bed – they’re the two most common times I read – it’s very unlikely that on the regular I’m going to find myself reaching to make a hot drink and chocolate when I – I, specifically – go to read. I’m not blind to the fact that there are people who, in their free time, will immediately reach for a book rather than what I do, which would be to maybe play a video game, or watch YouTube. I’m not always going to go for the book. But some people will always go for the book, so the little extras that come with these blind dates will be more of use to them than they would for me when they read specifically.

Having now read both of the books, do I think that a blind date with a book is worth it? And would I do one again? This is going to be a really annoying, but I think it depends on circumstance. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’m realistically going to get another blind date with a book if it’s listed as queer, which is ironic given that’s the majority of what I read. But I think I’d rather just find and choose my own in that scenario. Where I could see myself doing it again is if I want something in a genre I wouldn’t normally read. I’ll admit that I wouldn’t really know where to start with the crime or mystery genre, so I don’t think that would be a bad idea for me if I felt I wanted to read something like that. And I think that could transfer to any reader in any genre. If you don’t know where to start, if you feel like there are too many options to choose from, go for a blind date with a book, since it may well end up being cheaper than just picking up something new yourself. Alternatively, you could just go to a charity shop or something and get a book so much cheaper than this method – but I think it’s the fun and mystery of it, really. If you want a shorter answer, I guess I’d say that: if you want a little curated reading moment, sure, so long as you’re not spending like £20, or if you want something in a genre you don’t read. But realistically, I don’t see myself doing this again. At least, no time soon. Who knows? Maybe I’ll do another one when I get the itch in another four years like I did with this one.

Okay, bye!