Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question about The Mysterious Bookcase, our packages or your order? On this page, you will find a list of frequently asked questions. If your question is not here, please feel free to reach out to us directly on the contact page, or via social media.

Blind Date With A Book

The concept of a blind date with a book is to not judge a book by its cover! When purchasing one of our packages, we will carefully select a book for you, and you will not know the title or author until opening the package. The surprise paperback will be carefully wrapped in recyclable brown paper and twine, and will be decorated in cottagecore and dark academia style stickers and stamps. Our book packages all come with a luxury chocolate bar, a premium teabag and a bookmark with a reading checklist on the back.

Of course! We currently have more than 15 genres you can choose from, including mystery, thriller, fantasy, romance, contemporary and historical fiction. Or you can leave it is a complete surprise and let us select the genre for you.

We use Goodreads to help us choose all the books in our collection. We only select books that get a rating of 3.5/5 or higher on Goodreads, with a large number of reviews from other readers.

If you have chosen a preloved book, it will be gently used, sometimes with minor wear and tear, but no major damage or missing pages. We handpick each of the books in our collection to ensure they are in good condition.

Yes, we recently started offering new books, and this refers to the condition of the book. These books will be brand new and unread, but could be published or written from any year.

We have a personalisation section at checkout where you can leave us a note about your order! After selecting your preferred book condition and genre, you can leave us a note to let us know if there are authors or titles we should avoid sending. Also, if you use Goodreads, StoryGraph of Fable, you can send a direct link to your profile, and we will pick a different title from what you have read.

Books that are part of a series will either be the first book, or are part of a series that can be read in any order.

Yes! When checking out, use the personalisation section to leave your gift note. Please note, we will write it exactly as you have sent it.

When creating our blind date with a book packages, we wanted to make it as cosy and luxurious as possible for our readers. We include a luxury chocolate bar and an English Breakfast teabag. Every book package also contains a 'The Mysterious Bookcase' bookmark, which has a 'to be read' checklist on the back to help you keep track of your reading list. We also have season 'blind date with a book' packages, but as the name suggests, they are available throughout different times of the year.

Yes! We include a Galaxy Smooth Milk chocolate bar and a Clipper English Breakfast teabag with each package. This bar of chocolate is naturally gluten free. We have vegan options available, as well as a selection of fruit/herbal teas and coffee sachets. Please leave a note with your request when checking out if you require something specific.

We offer subscriptions for our blind date with a book package. You can choose the monthly rolling subscription, or purchase 3, 6 or 12 months up-front! You choose a specific genre, or get a mixed subscription, which will include a variety of genres through your subscription. For more information about our subscriptions, please click here.

Special Editions and Pre-Orders

Special edition books are unique or limited-release versions of popular titles, often featuring premium designs, exclusive artwork, or collectible elements that set them apart from standard editions, making them highly sought after by collectors.

"Indie exclusive books" are special editions of books, often with unique features or limited availability, that are only available for purchase at independent bookshops. This means you will not find indie editions at large chains or online retailers, such as Waterstones or Amazon.

Every special edition book we have at The Mysterious Bookcase is unique. Some books may be exclusive to independent bookshops, while others may be 'collector's editions', available at TMB and other retailers. The features can include redesigned covers, author signatures, exclusive endpapers, bonus material, sprayed edges, etc. If a book has any special features, it will be highlighted in our listings.

When ordering a special edition from The Mysterious Bookcase, you are ordering just the book. Our 'blind date with a book' packages are the ones that come with extras.

Sometimes the publisher gives us items for customers, which can include bookmarks, stickers, tote bags, etc. In this case, we give these items to the first people who ordered the book, until the items have all been given out.

Some books are listed for sale before publication date, allowing you to pre-order a copy. We take payment immediately when you place your order. The listing will very clearly state when publication date is.

Yes, you are welcome to order other items, or additional pre-orders at the same time. However, please note that if you order multiple items, we will hold the entire order until the last pre-order title is available, and send everything all out together.

Therefore, we highly recommend that you place all pre-orders separately, so you can receive the items as soon as possible.

Shipping and order enquiries

Yes! We currently ship to the UK, Canada, United States, Australia and New Zealand on our website, and are working on expanding globally. If you see that your country is not currently available for shipping, please send us a message and we will get you a shipping quote. Alternatively, head to our Etsy store where we have more options available for international shipping. www.mysteriousbookcase.etsy.com

Unfortunately, we do not currently ship to Europe, EU or Northern Ireland, due to the change in GPSR. We hope to one day ship there again.

If you need to make a change to your order, like updating your shipping address or adding a gift note, please get in touch as soon as possible, as we will often start processing your order the same working day. You can use the website chat feature or email us. It always helps to include your order number and a description of the changes needed.

If you wish to cancel your order, please get in touch as soon as possible, as we aim to have your order sent out the next working day. If we have already sent your parcel, we kindly ask that you ‘return to sender’ unopened, and we will then issue you a refund.

You have 30 days from item delivery to dispatch the item(s) back to us. Items should be unopened and unused. If you are making a return, please get in touch as soon as possible.

We aim to send your parcel out within two business days of your order. You can choose between 1st class or 2nd class postage, and it will be tracked. The vast majority of our packages arrive within this time frame, but occasionally there will be delays that are out of our control. If your order has not arrived within 30 days, please let us know and we will issue you a full refund, or send out a replacement package.