Join the club......... (Ancient and Medieval Bookclub)

Member Name: eleanorofnaboo

Product:	Ancient and Medieval Bookclub
Date:	06/03/02 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: discounted titles, easy ordering/cancelling, nice website

Disadvantages: sometimes hard to pick a good title

I joined this book club when I first bought my house and felt like I needed some interesting books to put on the shelf so that visitors wouldn't just come in the door and see all our mystery/thriller/crime/horror books. I wanted people to think we were educated and intelligent. (If that is not the best reason to join a book club then what is?).

To put you in the picture, my mum has been a member of World Books for over twenty years and because of that I knew how a book club worked and how reliable they usually were. When a flyer for the Ancient and Medieval Book Club came in one day I looked through the sheet and picked five titles easily. I didn't just pick at random, I chose things that seemed interesting (for anyone sad enough to want to have a look and therefore see what sort of books they sell I have noted my selections and the bottom of the op!). I can't remember what the offer was at the time but usually it is things like 5 books at 50p each or each one has a separate price ranging from 10p to £1 - whatever the cost it is always far cheaper than going to a shop and buying the books.

The types of books they had were always history and mainly things like Ancient Egypt/Ancient Greece/Stone Henge/Life in Anglo Saxon Times and things like that.

The books arrived with the friendly White Arrow delivery man (who also deliver GUS and Argos orders) well packaged and all for a nominal delivery fee - I can't remember what it was but it is usually something like £2.50 or £2.95 per order, so it doesn't matter how many books you order it is the same delivery price.

Each month you receive a catalogue full of discounted books which are usually the book club's own print/publication of that particular title. There is always an Editor's Choice marked, and this is usually the most current release. You are not obliged to accept the Editor's Choice but you have to remember to cancel it before the set date. It
is easy to cancel it, you either phone up their automated line, put a cross on the form and post it back, or you can now use their website to reject as well. Even with all these easy ways to cancel I usually forgot to do it and nearly always ended up getting the book anyway! Not to worry though, they expect things like that to happen and have a handy returns service. You phone up, or use the website, and tell them you have a book to return. They send you out a slip and arrange the carrier to pick up the book. Of course, carriers always come during the day when you are not in, but White Arrow are pretty organised and instead of leaving one of those annoying "Sorry we missed you" cards, they have an envelope which they leave for you to pop your parcel into and send it by post to them. They then forward the returns to the book club for you. Only downside is that all this costs you £2, but then again it is still cheaper than paying Royal Mail to take it away.

Although you are not expected to keep the Editor's Choice, you are expected to make a certain amount of purchases within a set time. If I remember correctly I had to make five within two years. That is not bad actually if you are someone who reads a lot. Orders are easy to make and can be done in exactly the same way as rejecting the Editor's Choice. Each book has a code which you use to order via post, website or phone. Delivery is usually reasonably quick but not as quick as you expect from most online shops.

Another good thing about this book club is that it is part of the particularly large Book Club Association who are also responsible for World Books, History Guild, and a few others that I forget the names of. With your club magazine/catalogue each month you always get leaflets for the other book clubs and you can order their books as part of your commitment. Nice and handy if there is no more books you fancy in your book club but you have a young cousin to b
uy a present for or something!!!

Although I have written a good aspects on being a member of the club, I quit it after my commitment was up. I decided that if you add up the price you pay for all your books and the postage each time (plus the odd return because you forgot to cancel the Editor's Choice) you could probably have chosen the same amount of books from Amazon and had a far wider range to chose from. This is just my own feelings as I am quite choosy about what I read.... Others who have a larger spectrum of interests wouldn't have the same problem. (Also - I was sick of constantly having to pay £2 for books I didn't want!!)

Back to the books I bought.... They are great and people must think "wow, Eleanor & Robert have some really interesting books there" but to be honest I have only read half of one of them and not touched the rest. Reading a fiction book is one thing but trying to follow the ins and outs of dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) whilst lying in bed is something else!!! Maybe one day I will get back to them though! :0)

WHAT I BOUGHT:
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Atlantis Enigma
Scotland's Hidden History
Riddles of the Sphinx
Millennium Eyewitness
Illustrated guide to Egyptian Mythology
Tut's Tomb
Exodus to Arthur (that was the dendrochronology one!)

Oh - and I also got a free Ordnance Survey Map : Roman Britain

Their website address for thos who are interested is www.ancienthistory.co.uk

Summary: