Powell’s Books Indiespensable is a book subscription box that ships every 6 weeks. So many readers recommended this box that I had to sign up!
FYI – this subscription is currently sold out, but they open it up every month or so. (If you want an email alert when the waitlist opens, you can sign up for theMSA Powell’s Indiespensable waitlist email).
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Powell’s Books Indiespensable
The Cost: $39.95 a shipment (every 6 weeks)
The Products: Exclusive books and extras
Ships to: Worldwide
Check out all of my Powell’s Indiespensable reviews!
The box comes with a little booklet that details the items in the box, why they were chosen, and includes additional exclusives, like an interview with author Vendela Vida:
The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida - (Retail Value of Hardcover book $25.99)
I listed the retail value of the hard cover copy, but since this book includes a book sleeve and is a signed first copy, I think it is safe to say the value is higher. (Since this is an exclusive for subscribers, I don't have a completely accurate price to list).
Book Summary from Amazon:
From the acclaimed author of Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and The Lovers comes a taut, spellbinding literary thriller that probes the essence and malleability of identity.
In Vendela Vida’s taut and mesmerizing novel of ideas, a woman travels to Casablanca, Morocco, on mysterious business. While checking into her hotel, the woman is robbed of her wallet and passport—all of her money and identification. Though the police investigate, the woman senses an undercurrent of complicity between the hotel staff and the authorities—she knows she’ll never recover her possessions. Stripped of her identity, she feels burdened by the crime yet strangely liberated by her sudden freedom to be anyone she chooses.
A chance encounter with a movie producer leads to a job posing as a stand-in for a well-known film star. The star reels her in deeper, though, and soon she’s inhabiting the actress’s skin off set, too—going deeper into the Casablancan night and further from herself. And so continues a strange and breathtaking journey full of unexpected turns, an adventure in which the woman finds herself moving further and further away from the person she once was.
Told with vibrant, lush detail and a wicked sense of humor, The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty is part literary mystery, part psychological thriller—an unforgettable novel that explores free will, power, and a woman’s right to choose not her past, perhaps not her present, but certainly her future. This is Vendela Vida’s most assured and ambitious novel yet.
Here is the signature page:
Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash - Value ?
This book isn't released until September 8th - Yay for advance reader copies! (I love these kind of perks in book subscription boxes).
Book Summary from Amazon:
In this poetic and haunting tale set in contemporary Appalachia, New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash illuminates lives shaped by violence and a powerful connection to the land.
Les, a long-time sheriff just three-weeks from retirement, contends with the ravages of crystal meth and his own duplicity in his small Appalachian town.
Becky, a park ranger with a harrowing past, finds solace amid the lyrical beauty of this patch of North Carolina.
Enduring the mistakes and tragedies that have indelibly marked them, they are drawn together by a reverence for the natural world. When an irascible elderly local is accused of poisoning a trout stream, Les and Becky are plunged into deep and dangerous waters, forced to navigate currents of disillusionment and betrayal that will force them to question themselves and test their tentative bond—and threaten to carry them over the edge.
Echoing the heartbreaking beauty of William Faulkner and the spiritual isolation of Carson McCullers, Above the Waterfall demonstrates once again the prodigious talent of “a gorgeous, brutal writer” (Richard Price) hailed as “one of the great American authors at work today” (Janet Maslin, New York Times)
Fuller Foods Serious Cheesy Puffs in Sriracha and Cheddar - Value $5
The box size was bigger for this shipment, and as soon as I opened it I knew why - the needed the extra room for the cheesy puffs! I have a feeling my husband will love these!
Verdict: I always enjoy this subscription box! I think if you love getting exclusive books, this is a great subscription. And I think the value is there too if you factor in the extras. I have a question though for book collectors (or just book lovers like me) - do you care if there is a "Signed First Edition" sticker on the cover of your book? (Part of me wishes they wouldn't apply those stickers directly on the cover, but I'm wondering if it is actually preferred?)
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