Waterstones Book Club

Waterstones (without an apostrophe) has launched its own Book Club!  This is one of their brand new initiatives to bring in more customers.

The promotion started in January and currently includes 12 books, and from the looks of things there will be new books added every quarter.  The books involved are discounted by as much as £3.60 and buying the books entitles Waterstones Card holders to bonus points.  The offer states, "Books you will love - or you money back."  So, if you buy a book and don't enjoy reading it, Waterstones will refund your money in full - no matter what condition it is in.

There has been a bit of a commotion over this, with people arguing that readers will take advantage of the promotion and Waterstones will find themselves losing money.  I disagree wholeheartedly.  

The books on the list are almost guaranteed to be well-written, quality books, being chosen by the staff of Waterstones.  I would definitely be more inclined to choose a book recommended by Waterstones than one recommended by, for example, the Richard and Judy Book Club.  Therefore I think it is highly unlikely that a reader would be so unsatisfied by one of these books that they would actually return it to the shop.  I have bought, on average, at least one book a week since the age of 6 or 7.  Some I have loved, some I have hated, some I have read dozens of times, some I have not even been able to finish.  But never have I even considered returning it and getting my money back.  If I have have spent time reading a book, then it has already paid for itself, whether or not I enjoyed it.  I have never felt it is in anyway the shop's fault for selling me a 'bad' book - it is my own fault for making a bad decision!  However, the main reason that I do not think many people will be returning books to Waterstones?  They can't be bothered!!!  It is simply not worth the trip to most people.

I am currently waiting for my Waterstones book club pick to arrive -"The Rules of Civility."  It looks like a somewhat light-hearted book, set in 1930's New York.  I am currently reading "The Girl who Played with Fire", so I think something light-hearted will be in order when it is finished!!

I'll let you know how I get on...