The Netflix of Books
News to me: Bookswim is a subscription service that delivers hardcovers through the mail, a Netflix for readers.
Listen to an interview with the company’s director of customer service.
The regulars
Ash Bowen's poetry has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Blackbird, and Black Warrior Review, among other publications. He lives and works in Texarkana, AR.
Jennifer Jabaily's poetry has appeared in Mannequin Envy and Fickle Muses. She's a second-year MFA student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Ashley Anna McHugh is a third-year MFA student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Measure, DIAGRAM and Memorious as well as other publications.
Johnathon Williams's poetry has appeared in Best New Poets 2009, the Pebble Lake Review, and Unsplendid. He lives in Fayetteville, AR, with his wife and daughters.
the LIBRARY doesn’t deliver, but in most places you can search and reserve books from their online catalogs and pick them up within days…what if we all sent the same subscription $ we’d pay at Bookswim to our local libraries and supported access to books for everyone instead?
It’s interesting that they mention libraries in their sales pitch — I didn’t realize the wait times for new hardcovers were an issue for people. (And of course I’d hate to see anything drain support for local libraries.)
I think I’d only be interested in a subscription book service if it was able to do for books what Netflix has done for DVDs — that is, make available almost any book in print. It looks like Bookswim specializes in popular hardcovers, which I’m rarely interested in.