Watch out ladies - you've been Mango-ed! (Mango)

Member Name: julietta

Product:	Mango
Date:	09/09/01 (946 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some fun stuff, Fair variety, Can be cheaper

Disadvantages: You have to wait for delivery, Some books are 'very' trivial, Favours the current trend in women's writing

If I had to describe myself in any context, one thing that would surely come up would be the fact that I am a book-sinner. This simply meaning that I spend far too much of my time reading books to the detriment of all other meaningful life tasks, household chores, personal hygiene (only kidding) etc.

Saying this, the day was bound to come when I would assign myself to a bookclub (cheap books even if JUST part of introductory offers are too good to miss) and Mango was the first one I joined.

Talking currently, the opening deal with Mango (as going right to press) is that you can take advantage of 5 books for just 50p each (you also get a free book – again currently this is The Boy Next Door by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees), from then on, as part of your membership entitlement, you are obligated to buy a further 5 books in your first year of membership (all books are up to 40% discounted).

Although I am not a die-hard fan of the flirty, twenty/thirty-something fiction that continues to be ultra-fashionable in the present publishing climate, I was still able to choose a mix of books ranging from light to heavy fiction to biography. So, even if Mango IS, by intention, strongly geared to the young and female market (and takes advantage of the fact that the books it sells are stalwart singleton-classics); a periphery of other books means there is still a background range to pick from. For the record books are categorised in the following ‘genres’ (for all you intellectuals out there, don’t be too put off now!):

Everybody’s Talking
Between The Covers
Thrills
Deep and Meaningful
(and finally) Girls On The Pull

If anything, this category list gives you a real feel of what to expect from a club whose featured authors include Marian Keyes, Helen Fielding, Jill Mansell, Candace Bushnell (to name but a few) et al.

In terms of keeping you up-to-date with books available, Ma
ngo send you a brochure every four weeks as a back-up to their fairly comprehensive website, then ordering can be done either online or over the telephone. In terms of personal experience with the service, my introductory offer included the wrong book (which was a little disappointing) but a quick phone call sorted this out (the correct book arrived in three days and a sticky label was sent was the free return of the offending article).

As a top note, I would recommend Mango to anyone who has wide-reaching and open-minded reading tastes and someone who likes a bit of a cheapie when they see one. After all, if you read more than a few books a year and you like following current trends you’re not going to complain about getting 5 books for £2.50, are you? If you are more of a connoisseur, prefer Charles Dickens to Marian Keyes and don’t appreciate a quick, cheap thrill – then there’s always another bookclub or the library to join instead!

Happy reading!

Summary: