Blind Date with a Book: Review/Giveaway

It has been many decades since I last went on a blind date - remember those?  A friend decides to set you up with someone they know, and sells you on the whole idea by listing a few qualities they hope might appeal to you.

"He's tall." "He is a great conversationalist."  "He comes from a big family and loves to cook!"

Sometimes the description gives you a reasonable idea of how you'll like him - often it leaves out a few key qualities ("He picks his nose and wipes it off on his shirt!"), and of course in the end there is no way to ensure that elusive quality of chemistry between the two of you.

If you didn't pour a whole lot of expectation into the experience, and planned a reasonable escape if need be, it could be fun.  Even if nothing came of it, you likely at least wound up with a good story to tell.

I pretty much only ever came away with good stories with an odd blend of slapstick humor and horror so I was quite happy to leave that whole game behind me - but now I've found a much better way to guarantee a good story through a blind date, and no possibility of having to say an awkward goodbye if things go awry!

Blind Date with a Book is a brilliant idea from Elizabeth's Bookstore in Australia that has spread to Waitrose stores in England, and around the world online via blinddatewithabook.com.

The details are as simple as they are brilliant - playing the part of that old good friend, Blind Date with a Book curates a few titles in various genres, describes them with a few key descriptions and wraps them up neatly in a plain brown wrapper, for the customer to purchase without knowing exactly what the book is.

On the website, there are always at least a dozen or so blind dates to choose from, divided between New & Quite New.  It took a little while for my American brain to sort out  that "Quite New" is older than "New" - sort of like we'd say "Pretty  New".

I'm glad the selection wasn't much larger because I had a very hard time choosing between things that sounded a little familiar and comfortable and things totally outside my normal wheelhouse, because why not live a little?!

Ultimately I chose one in a genre I enjoy that I could think of a few titles it might be.  I figured, if it's one I've read, I'd be happy to read any of these again - and if it was a new one in my old favorite genre, then jackpot!

The checkout process was simple - you just select the book or books you'd like, along with your payment method (Paypal is one option). Each book is listed at £7.99 but they are available for purchase worldwide. Then select your shipping method, and check out.  To where I live in the DC region, the estimated shipping time was 8 days, and that was accurate to what happened.

As soon as you've checked out, you'll get an email confirmation number and I found the staff to be very responsive as needed.

With just a bit over a week to anticipate I was very excited the day my package arrived!

I loved the packaging - and that tag makes for a great bookmark, too!  I slowly started to open it and just before I got it opened my husband triumphantly declared,

"I think I know what it is!!"  And then he guessed RIGHT!

Yes, I've read it - except not, because this was a newer edition than the one I've read and includes a rather extensive additional forward.

Mystery Date!

No, I don't own it.

Yes, I'm thrilled to read it again - and it was pretty coincidental because I just recently rewatched the movie based on it.

Yes - happy blind date!  And yes, I will be happy to send for another at some point, because the entire process was great fun.

So.... do you know what it is?  Because I'm not going to tell you, at least not today!  This selection is still available on Blind Date with a Book, and I don't want to spoil anyone's surprise.

Instead - how about a Giveaway??  Blind Date with a Book will send a Blind Date selection of the winners' choice to TWO of our readers worldwide!

Let me know in comments what book you think this is - and check out their website and tell us which book you'd be willing to give a spin?  Alternatively - how would you describe your favorite book if you were trying to set up your best friend with it?

Read on for further details on how to enter - and I'll post a review (and reveal!) of my Blind Date when the Giveaway is over.

https://blinddatewithabook.com
https://www.facebook.com/blindddatewithabook
https://twitter.com/ablinddatebook
https://www.pinterest.com/blinddatebooks/blind-date-with-a-book/
https://www.instagram.com/ablinddatewithabook

Two winner will each receive a Blind Date book of their choice from among those available online at the end of the giveaway.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Giveaway Tools Entry Form below. This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning. (If you don't leave a comment, any additional entries will be void.)

This giveaway is open WORLD-WIDE and will end just before midnight ET on 8/2. 

The winner will be notified by email 24 to 48 hours after the end of the giveaway by email. In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck!

Entry-Form