For our 11th contribution to The Story Siren‘s weekly meme, In My Mailbox, I present my recent loot from a website called Science Fiction Book Club. Another accidental discovery, the Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) is not exactly a virtual book club. I learned about it through Facebook Ads. The description was truly tempting: Get 5 books for $1 each, and you get a special sign up offer of 1 more book for $5.99.
SFBC membership has no monthly or annual fee. However, you have to make sure that you mail back the reply stub containing books that you want them to send or not to send. If they don’t receive your reply by the date indicated, they would automatically send you a book and charge you for it. The setup kind of reminds me of Shoedazzle, except that SFBC does not have an actual “skip the month” option.
Because I’m barely new to this online book store, I don’t know what the outcome of my reply stub would be. I marked the “do not send” boxes for two titles that I didn’t find interesting. I hope that would be it for next month. Heh.
It all started with Neil Gaiman. One thing led to another and – voila! Seven new books added to my shelf. Here are the titles I purchased with my sign up offer:
1. The 10-Year-Anniversary Edition of American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I am a fan, yes, but I gotta admit I haven’t read this book yet. (And don’t remind me just how awesome American Gods is.) I’m glad I waited long enough to get a copy. This is a timeless edition.
2. Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Does this have a picture book edition? I don’t quite remember. Hardcover is fine by me. (By the way, most of the books sold in SFBC are hardcovers, and member edition prices are at least 40% off publisher’s prices.)
3. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by Brett Helquist. I first saw this at a thrift store. Mailed a copy to my friend for her birthday.
4. The Devil’s Rose by Brom. This will be my first venture into the dark and gothic world of Brom. I have seen his Child Thief a few times at Barnes & Noble, a gothic version of Peter Pan. I was also fascinated by his other book called Plucker. I should have grabbed these two books also, but I could not say no to the next three ones below.
5. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. My boyfriend is a huge fan of James Patterson, and he’s been bugging me to read his first book, Along Came a Spider. I’ve seen the movie and I thought it was good, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the book is better. However, his Alex Cross series can wait. I think I’ll jump to his YA fantasy for now.
6. The Gift by James Patterson. Book two of Witch and Wizard. I don’t know if it’s only a two-book series, but I know I haven’t seen a third one yet.
7. Witch and Wizard: Battle for Shadowland by James Patterson. This is the graphic novel of the series, and narrates the events that happened between the two books. I wasn’t particularly fond of the illustrations but because I got this book almost for free I don’t mind at all.
To be honest, I am not a science fiction reader. Fortunately, SFBC is not limited to science fiction novels. It has fantasy, graphic novels, horror books, comics, steampunk novels, and some children’s books, YA fiction, and non-fiction. My next target: R.A. Salvatore and Terry Brooks. =)
Gathering Books 
I’ve heard a lot about James Patterson but I’d wait for your review – may not exactly be my cup of tea, as I’m sure you know that my tastes run into the surreal, fantastical, the gothic. But since I also enjoyed Kalle Blomkvist (Millennium Trilogy) and spy novels of John Grisham when I was in my university years, who knows? But yeah, I’d see how you think about it first. Terry Brooks though, I think is more along my kinda thing, and yeah, I’ve been meaning to buy his books as well. Sigh. So many books, so little time.
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I’ve seen Along Came a Spider and, if memory serves me right, Kiss the Girls. I liked Along Came a Spider. Mikey made me read the first chapter of Cat & Mouse, which is the fourth book in Patterson’s Alex Cross series. He said that, while the books are not strictly continuous, you see the growth and development of his characters. Reminded me of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series. Because Mikey grew up with Patterson’s adult detective and mystery novels, he was reluctant to read his YA fiction. He said he was going to give it a try, though. We’ll let you know what each of us thinks. Mikey loves Terry Brooks as well, but he doesn’t have the first book in his Shannara series so maybe I’ll just borrow from the library when I get the chance.
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I haven’t read any of Neil Gaiman’s nor James Patterson’s books, though I’m sure they’re all awesome. Enjoy!
Stop by my IMM
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Thank you, Hafsah! Neil Gaiman is a genius! He is best known for American Gods, and his Sandman series. As for James Patterson, it would be interesting to read a YA fantasy novel from an adult detective-mystery writer. ;D
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Lots of great books! My cousin has also been bugging me to read James Patterson’s YA books but I haven’t quite gotten around to it. I must do that soon!
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Thanks Katelyn! =) I’ve never touched any James Patterson book. I find YA fiction more tolerable than adult fiction. I do think it’s interesting for a non-Patterson reader to start on the author’s less popular genre than the one he was actually known for. He did have a YA detective book that has just been recently released – Theodore Boone, I think.
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Love the Double Day Book Club and their Subsidiary clubs like this one. You can also reply to your feature selection on their website if you want. That’s what I do. I’m in the main Double Day Book Club and Rhapsody Book Club (because I’m a romance addict) What’s really cool is that most of the books in the club come in Hardcover when they’re not released in Hardcover elsewhere definitely worth the money. Oh another one you might want to check out is The Book of the Month Club 2. It’s also a subsidiary of the same company. I don’t know if they do the massive sign up, but what I do know is you set your feature selections. I’m in that one too, basically I add to the list books I want and every month I spend about $10 and they send me a hardcover copy of the next book on my list. Great way to work through your book wishlist on a budget.
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Oh wow! Thank you Jenn for the helpful information. When I signed up for SFBC, I was too distracted by the promo that I wasn’t able to browse their entire collection. Hence, I ended up buying a couple of these that are relatively cheap. I kinda regretted it because I could have gotten something expensive and only pay $1 for it. Then again, a book is a book is a book. It’s always nice to widen one’s readership.
I would definitely check out the rest of the subsidiary clubs that you mentioned. Thank you for letting me know about the option to reply to my feature selection. I have yet to explore their website. =)
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*Whispers* I’ve never read a Neil Gaiman book.
Does that make me a bad person? I’ve always wanted to though, if that counts for anything!
The Science Fiction Book Club sounds great.. I’m not really a Sci-Fi fan but it’s probably because I’ve never really read many.
I hope you enjoy these! 🙂
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Haha! Thank you! 😀
While American Gods is topnotch in his book list, I started off with his Sandman series and instantly fell in love with him. I’ve read a bunch of his other works, and I’ll have a bunch more to read.
And no! It doesn’t make you a bad person, Jo! There is always time to read about new writers and genre. *whispers* I’m not into science fiction, either. ;D
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American Gods – classic.
Our IMM
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Hello Sash and Em! I’d have to agree with both of you, even if I haven’t read it yet. It’s another book that my boyfriend has been bugging me to read, especially since I have a fondness for mythology. Thanks for sharing the link! =)
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Oh, Neil Gaiman! I have American Girls as well, but I’ve only read Neverwhere by him–which I absolutely loved! Coraline I’ve only watched but loved it too. I might have to get the book as well!
My IMM can be found here!
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Hi Rebecca! So nice to see you here. I’ve read a lot of Gaiman’s work, but not American Gods or Neverwhere. His picture books are awesome, and he and Dave McKean are a dynamic duo. Check out the following: The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, The Wolves in the Walls, Mr Punch, Mirrormask, and, if you’re into graphic novels, his Sandman series. Thanks for sharing the link! =)
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Great set! Love the Neil Gaiman books. I’ve only read The Graveyard Book but I loved it and want to read more.
My IMM
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Oh the Graveyard Book is such a wonderful read! Nobody Owens is such an adorable and lovable character. Read more! He writes beautifully, no matter what genre. Thanks for sharing the link, Alison! =)
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Nice book selections! I enjoyed reading Coraline. Happy reading 🙂
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Thank you, Lucy!! Lucky for me, each only cost $1. Haha. I’ve read Coraline at Barnes & Noble, and now I’m happy I finally have my copy. I haven’t seen the movie, though. Have you? =)
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Nice set of books this week. The book club sounds interesting. I always wonder if those things are scams though.
Happy reading,
Book Sniffers Anonymous
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Hello BSA. =) Thank you for dropping by our site! I thought about that, too. Well, I sure hope not. Haha. I haven’t touched any of the books so I don’t know what’s in store for me yet. I did scan the pages and they look fine to me. I was just curious about the jacketflaps. I guess the ones that they sell are really publisher’s editions because the books do not have the price printed on the flaps yet. So, I’ll keep my fingers crossed. ;D
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