- Time to Read
- Reading guide
- UK book subscriptions compared
Book subscriptions and book boxes in the UK: which suits how you read?
For anyone thinking about a book subscription, for themselves or as a present, who wants to know first what is out there. Posted books and digital ones, with what each provider says on its own site about who chooses, the price and how to stop.
UK book subscriptions come in three kinds. A book chosen for you personally after a questionnaire or a consultation: Mr B's Emporium, Heywood Hill and The Willoughby Book Club. The same book for every subscriber, often a special edition with extras: Bookishly, British Library Crime Classics, Goldsboro Books, FairyLoot and Illumicrate. And listening or reading on your phone, where you choose: Audible, Spotify Premium, BookBeat and Kindle Unlimited. The monthly posted plans start at £12.50. Every figure below is from the provider's own website, read on 29 October 2026.
Three kinds of book subscription
‘Book subscription’ covers three quite different things. Before you compare prices, decide which one you are after.
- A book chosen for you, personally. You fill in a questionnaire or talk to a bookseller, and a real book arrives by post that somebody picked with you in mind. This is the surprise, made to measure.
- The same book for every subscriber. The provider chooses one title a month or a quarter and everyone on that plan gets it, often in an exclusive edition with sprayed edges, a signature or extras in the box. This is about the object and the shared moment.
- A catalogue on your phone. Audiobooks or e-books, as many as your plan allows, and you choose. This is about reading or listening a lot, not about being surprised.
To be clear: Time to Read, the app this site is for, posts nothing. The subscriptions below belong to other companies.
Books chosen for you, personally
| Provider | What you get | Who chooses, in their words | Price on its own site | Postage and term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr B's Emporium, Bath | A new book at the start of each month, wrapped, with a bookmark. Paperback or hardback, prepaid for 3, 6 or 11 books (‘we always miss out January’). | A questionnaire, then one of its booksellers becomes your ‘bibliotherapist’ and will ‘hand pick’ each book. | Shown on its page by format and length. We could not confirm one figure twice, so none is printed here. | Postage not stated on the subscription page. Gift vouchers available. |
| Heywood Hill, Mayfair: A Year in Books, tailored | Twelve books over a year, sent in pairs every other month, gift-wrapped. | A reading consultation ‘so that we can choose books just for them’. | Tailored Twelve (hardbacks) £410. Children's Twelve £235. Teenage Twelve £275. | Postage ‘not included’, added at checkout. Runs for a year; can be paused for up to three months. |
| The Willoughby Book Club | A book each month, chosen for the reader. Fiction, crime, non-fiction or a bespoke mix. | ‘One of our expert book selection specialists based on the information given to us when you purchase’. | Fiction or Crime, three months: £49. | Tracked delivery to the UK mainland, Jersey and Guernsey included. Prepaid; a form to cancel within 14 days of the first book. |
Prices and terms as each provider gives them on its own website, read on 29 October 2026. They change; check with the provider before you buy. Something out of date? Email hello@timetoread.now and we will correct it.
The same book for every subscriber
Here the provider chooses one title and everybody on the plan receives it. Several of these were full on 29 October 2026, with a waiting list to join; that is noted where the provider says so.
| Provider | What you get | Price on its own site | Postage and term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookishly: Classic of the Month Club | A Wordsworth Editions classic paperback in a Bookishly dust jacket, with tea or coffee. | £15 a month, rolling. Prepaid gift from £20 for one month. | Free UK shipping. ‘Cancel anytime’ in your account. Does not ship to the EU, the EEA or Northern Ireland. |
| British Library Crime Classics | The newest Golden Age crime novel in the series each month, with extras. ‘Can I pick the titles? No.’ | £12.50 a month including UK postage, or £66 for six months prepaid. | Pause or cancel at any time; the six-month plan does not renew. |
| Goldsboro Books | Four clubs: PREM1ER, Fresh Ink (debuts), Crime Collective and Fellowship (science fiction and fantasy). Each sends one exclusive signed first edition a month. | £24.99 a month per club, plus postage. | Postage amount not stated. Six-month membership with two opt-outs per six months. |
| FairyLoot | Exclusive-edition hardcovers, young adult or adult fantasy and romantasy. The YA box adds themed items. Adult and Romantasy plans are ‘intended for 18+’. | YA Book-Only £20, YA Book + Items £27.50, Adult and Romantasy £21 each, per month. Epic Fantasy £25 and Cosy Fantasy £24 per quarter. | Postage not stated on the pages read. ‘Cancel anytime’. On 29 October 2026: ‘All of our subscription plans are currently full and on waitlist.’ |
| Illumicrate | An exclusive-edition hardback; the full box adds book-inspired merchandise. Fantasy, romance, horror, science fiction and crime plans. | Box £31 a month. Book Only and Afterlight Romance £22 a month. Evernight Horror and Starbright Science Fiction £22, Mindsight Crime £24, per quarter. | UK shipping £4.25. No refunds on prepaid three- and six-month plans. Waiting lists on most plans on 29 October 2026. |
Prices and terms as each provider gives them on its own website, read on 29 October 2026. Heywood Hill also sells themed subscriptions that are ‘not tailored to your taste, but instead to the theme’, such as New Fiction at £185 for the year, postage extra.
Audiobooks and e-books on your phone
Here nobody chooses for you. You get access to a catalogue and pick what you like, within your plan's hours or credits.
| Service | What you get | Price on its own site |
|---|---|---|
| Audible | Standard: one audiobook a month to listen to while you are a member. Premium: one credit a month, and titles bought with it are yours to keep. | Standard £5.99 a month, Premium £8.99 a month, each after a 30-day trial. |
| Spotify Premium | Music, plus 15 hours a month of listening from its audiobook catalogue. Unused hours do not carry over. | Individual £12.99 a month. |
| BookBeat | Audiobooks and e-books by the hour. | Basic £7.99 (20 hours), Standard £12.99 (40 hours), Premium £19.99 (100 hours), per month. 30 days free. |
| Kindle Unlimited | Amazon's e-book subscription. Its UK page now leads with the name Kindle+. | We could not read the price on its page on 29 October 2026. |
Prices as each service gives them on its own UK website, read on 29 October 2026. Your library lends e-books and audiobooks free through apps such as Libby and BorrowBox; ask which one your library service uses.
How to choose between them
- Who should choose? If the point is a book you would never have found yourself, go for one that chooses for you personally. If the point is the edition and reading what everyone else is reading that month, a box. If you already know what you want, a catalogue.
- How often do you finish a book? A book a month sounds modest until the fourth one is still in its wrapping. If you read one every six weeks, a quarterly plan or an every-other-month subscription fits better.
- Is postage included? At Heywood Hill, Goldsboro Books and Illumicrate it is added on top, and FairyLoot's pages did not state it. At British Library Crime Classics, The Willoughby Book Club and Bookishly it was included in the UK.
- How do you stop? Rolling monthly plans can be cancelled; prepaid ones simply run out, which is why they make the easiest presents. Some special-edition boxes do not refund prepaid months.
- Do you mind owning it? A box gives you a book for the shelf. A catalogue gives you nothing to keep, unless you buy with a credit.
The parcel is lovely. The book inside is the part you live with.
An app, with nothing in the post
Part of the pleasure of a subscription is the parcel itself: the wrapping, the edition, the moment on the doormat. Time to Read does none of that. Nothing is posted.
The other part is being handed a book you would not have found yourself, and the app does that. In Ask you write one sentence about what you are in the mood for, and readers whose shelves overlap with yours each choose one book, with a reason, usually within the hour. The monthly pick is one book a month, chosen for you and signed by the Time to Read team, with the reason it was chosen. And Today's books are ten books a day, each with a line saying why. You get the book itself wherever you like: a bookshop, the library, your e-reader.
Time to Read is made by It's Time To Read, a Dutch sole trader. Seven days free, then a subscription you can cancel any time; the price is shown in the app before anything is charged. If your pile is already tall, read what a TBR is first.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a book subscription cost in the UK?
There is no single figure, because providers charge in different units. On 29 October 2026 the monthly ones started at £12.50 a month including UK postage (British Library Crime Classics) and £15 a month (Bookishly), and the single-book plans of the special-edition boxes ran from £20 to £31 a month, with postage extra at Illumicrate and Goldsboro Books. Prepaid tailored subscriptions were from £49 for three months (The Willoughby Book Club) to £410 for twelve hardbacks (Heywood Hill). Check whether postage is included, because at several it is not.
Which book subscription chooses books for me personally?
According to their own sites, Mr B's Emporium, Heywood Hill's tailored subscriptions and The Willoughby Book Club choose for the individual reader, from a questionnaire, a reading consultation or the details you give when you buy. Bookishly, British Library Crime Classics, Goldsboro Books, FairyLoot, Illumicrate and Heywood Hill's themed subscriptions send every subscriber the same title.
What is the difference between a book box and a book subscription?
A book box is a parcel: usually an exclusive edition of one book, with themed extras such as prints or a candle, and the same for everyone on that plan. A book subscription can be just the book, chosen for you, or access to an audiobook or e-book catalogue you pick from yourself. The words overlap, and several providers sell both a box and a book-only plan.
What is a good book subscription to give as a present?
A prepaid one with a fixed end, so nobody has to remember to cancel. Mr B's Emporium, Heywood Hill and The Willoughby Book Club are built around gifting, Bookishly sells prepaid bundles of four, eight or twelve months, and British Library Crime Classics offers six months prepaid for £66 that does not renew. Figures checked on 29 October 2026.
Can I cancel a book subscription any time?
It depends on the provider. Bookishly's rolling plan and British Library Crime Classics say you can cancel at any time, and FairyLoot says ‘Cancel anytime’. Goldsboro Books runs six-month memberships, Heywood Hill's run for a year, and Illumicrate does not refund prepaid three- or six-month plans. Read the terms before you pay.