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Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015

Liz Cadman
ByLiz CadmanApr 4, 2015 | 10 comments

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Box

Thanks to the wonderful suggestions from My Subscription Addiction readers, I have become obsessed with book subscription boxes! Trust Fall is a relatively new subscription box from Book People. Every quarter they send you a signed, first edition copy of a debut or break out book, plus a few extra items.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Items

The Subscription Box: Trust Fall (ships once a quarter)

The Cost: $39.95 per quarter (or $35 a quarter if you pay the $140 annual cost up front).

The Products: “We’ll send you four debut or break-out books throughout the year that we absolutely do not want you to miss. You’ll also receive a couple of extra goodies in your surprise package as a thank you for taking a chance with us. If you don’t like the book, you can return it for a full refund and keep the extra gifts.”

Check out all of my Trust Fall reviews!

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Letter

The box comes with a letter detailing the items included and a little background on the book selected.

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Barefoot Dogs

Barefoot Dogs: Stories by Antonio Ruiz-Camacho - Retail Value $23, (On Amazon for $17.37)

This is a signed copy, so while I'm including the value of the hardcover book, I don't think it covers the whole value for some. Here is the signature page:

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Signed

The book summary from Amazon:

An unforgettable debut of linked stories that follow the members and retinue of a wealthy Mexican family forced into exile after the patriarch is kidnapped.

On an unremarkable night, José Victoriano Arteaga—the head of a thriving Mexico City family—vanishes on his way home from work. The Arteagas find few answers; the full truth of what happened to Arteaga is lost to the shadows of Mexico’s vast and desperate underworld, a place of rampant violence and kidnappings, and government corruption. But soon packages arrive to the family house, offering horrifying clues.

Fear, guilt, and the prospect of financial ruination fracture the once-proud family and scatter them across the globe, yet delicate threads still hold them together: in a swimming pool in Palo Alto, Arteaga’s young grandson struggles to make sense of the grief that has hobbled his family; in Mexico City, Arteaga’s mistress alternates between rage and heartbreak as she waits, in growing panic, for her lover’s return; in Austin, the Arteagas’ housekeeper tries to piece together a second life in an alienating and demeaning new land; in Madrid, Arteaga’s son takes his ailing dog through the hot and unforgiving streets, in search of his father’s ghost.

Multiple award-winning author Antonio Ruiz-Camacho offers an exquisite and intimate evocation of the loneliness, love, hope, and fear that can bind a family even as unspeakable violence tears it apart. “A straight-on jab to the soul” (Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk),Barefoot Dogs is a heartfelt elegy to the stolen innocence of every family struck by tragedy. This is urgent and vital fiction.

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Q&A

The box also comes with a Q&A fold-out card with the author, Antonio Ruiz-Camacho.

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Bonus Book

War of the Encyclopaedists - Value $19?

This is an Advance Reader's Edition of the book - it isn't released until May 19th. I think this is such an awesome perk - if there was a subscription box that sent out Advanced Reader copies every month I would sign up immediately!

Here is the synopsis from Amazon:

In a superb, rare literary collaboration, two major new talents join their voices to tell the story of a generation at a crossroads, and a friendship that stretches over continents and crises—from the liberal arena of Boston academia to the military occupation of Iraq—in this ambitious and electrifying debut novel.

On a summer night, in the arty enclave of Capitol Hill, Seattle, best friends Mickey Montauk and Halifax Corderoy throw one last blowout party before their lives part ways. At twenty-three, they had planned to move together to Boston for graduate school, but global events have intervened: Montauk has just learned that his National Guard unit will deploy to Baghdad at the end of the summer. In the confusion of this altered future, Corderoy is faced with a moral dilemma: his girlfriend Mani has just been evicted and he must decide whether or not to abandon her when she needs him most. He turns to Montauk for help. His decision that night, and its harrowing outcome, sets in motion a year that will transform all three of them.

Months later, Corderoy and Montauk grapple with their new identities as each deals with his own muted disappointment. In Boston, Corderoy finds himself unable to play the game of intellectual one-upmanship with the ease and grace of his new roommate Tricia, a Harvard graduate student and budding human rights activist. Half a world away, in Baghdad, Montauk struggles to lead his platoon safely through an increasingly violent and irrational war. As their lives move further away from their shared dream, Corderoy and Montauk keep in touch with one another by editing a Wikipedia article about themselves: smart and funny updates that morph and deepen throughout the year, culminating in a document that is both devastatingly tragic and profoundly poetic.

Fast-moving and compulsively readable, War of the Encyclopaedists beats with the energetic pulse of idealistic youth on the threshold of adult reality. "A wise and wise-assed first novel...with sweep and heart and humor" (Mary Karr, author of Liar's Club and Lit) it is the vital, urgent, and utterly absorbing lament of a new generation searching for meaning and hope in a fractured world.

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Field Notes

Texas County Fair Field Notes notebooks - Value $9.95

I have enough Field Notes to last me years thanks to subscription boxes, but I love these colors.

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Koozy

BookPeople Coozie - Value $2?

Here is the flip side:

Book People Trust Fall Subscription Box Review – March 2015 Austin

Verdict: I paid $35 for this box and received about $48 worth of items. (That's counting the discounted price of Barefoot Dogs, and the discounted hardcover price of War of the Encyclopaedists). With this subscription I think there's much more to it than the retail value, but in this case the retail value is good too!

What do you think of the March Book People Trust Fall box?

Liz Cadman
Liz Cadman
Liz is the founder of My Subscription Addiction. She's been hooked on subscription boxes since 2011 thanks to Birchbox, and she now subscribes to over 100 boxes. Her favorites include POPSUGAR Must Have, FabFitFun, and any box that features natural beauty products!

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10 comments

Cara

I tore through The Encyclopaedists and am looking forward to starting Barefoot Dogs. The coozie, along with some local Austin beer, made a perfect gift for family that just moved to Texas! Another great TrustFall shipment that introduces me to books I’d never read on my own.

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Michelle

If you log into your Goodreads account and look to the right of the word “Explore” in the navigation bar at the top of the page you’ll see a small arrow. If you click on the arrow it brings up a menu – scroll down and click on the word “Giveaways”. The books that Goodreads offers on this page are referred to as First Reads – it is part of the Goodreads site. The books offered aren’t just ARC copies. Sometimes you can win audio books, newly published books, signed copies and other bookish goodies (recently they offered a DVD of the Outlander series on Starz along with a new tv show tie in cover of the book) that authors and publishers offer to increase awareness of their books. If you frequently review your first read winnings and you support the authors and publishers by getting their work in the hands of your friends and in your local library you can win LOTS of books you might otherwise not notice. I’ve been fortunate to win and read books by wonderful authors I would’ve never heard of were it not through the program. The LibraryThing site offers a similar giveaway section and I’ve received several books through them as well. They offer books directly from the authors and also a section of popular books that are usually given away by publishers. There is something for everyone. Also you can type “book giveaway” or “win a book” into the search function of Twitter and find lots of new books publishers have contests for. Sometimes a retweet is all it takes to win something fabulous (I got Geoffrey Zakarian’s new cookbook this way!). Don’t get discouraged if you don’t win right away. Pretty soon you’ll have quite a few books to read and you’ll want to review them on Goodreads and LibraryThing as a thank you to the authors and publishers. Good luck!

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Cassie

I just got my box today and thought the curation was fantastic! So happy I learned about this from MSA. I’m excited to read both selections and thrilled about the ARC. I may need to sign up for a yearly sub for this (and Powell’s, if I can ever catch that one open).

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Jenna

I am a member of goodreads. How do I access the first reads?

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Renee

It is a separate site from Goodreads. Search Goodreads First Reads. Login with your Goodreads user name and password.

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nana

The first book sounds amazing. I’ll have to check it out from the library

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Renee

Liz – if you are interested in ARC’s, join Goodreads First Reads. Prerelease books are listed for giveaway by publishers and authors. Winners are picked randomly, and the books are shipped free.

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Liz Cadman

Awesome – thanks for the tip!

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Yogamom67

I love Trust Fall and am so happy that I discovered it through MSA. Thank you, Liz! Thought this was an excellent box and you’re right – it’s almost impossible to assign a dollar value to this type of box, because of the overall curation, as well as the value of the signed books and the bonuses, especially the ARCs. Still waiting for a chance to sub to Powell’s Indiespensable. I was able to get a few of the books on eBay, but I’d love to be an official subscriber.

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Liz Cadman

I wish Powell’s would get a waitlist set up on their site! I’ll make sure to post as soon as I learn subscriptions are open again though. I’m so glad you enjoyed this box too! 🙂

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