Mystery books received

Since the "Summer 2020 Release" thread is becoming rather long, with a number of different discussion topics, I'm starting a separate thread for the "free mystery book" promotion.

Initial speculation suggested that the mystery book was Sophie's World, as a couple of posters clicked the link in their basket and were taken to this title. FS has told agconnah that there are eight different mystery books.

Both Glenn (folio_books) and I received George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (labelled as "MB1 Mystery Book").

It'd be interesting (in my opinion!) to see whether any titles are more common than others. I also wonder whether the book is completely random, or whether FS tries to avoid sending a customer a mystery book that they've already purchased in the past. (I hadn't previously purchased mine, but I've only been a customer for one year.)

It's random. Last year I received 2 titles I already had, and some that I didn't.

My order has just arrived and I, too, have received mystery book #1 (Homage to Catalonia).

I'm happy with that, but quite surprised, as I was one of the people taken to the page for Sophie's World when I clicked on the Mystery Book in my basket.

I'm wondering if it's random from the beginning or if they deplete each mystery book lot before moving on to the next. Seems everyone's gotten Homage thus far.

>4 adriano77:

From past years, that's what I concluded. I would expect all the early buyers to receive Homage to Catalonia

Have ordered today, keeping my fingers crossed for 'Homage to Catalonia' and not Sophie's World otherwise it goes onto Ebay.

I placed a second order yesterday. Fingers crossed that I don’t get the same mystery book twice. My first order should be arriving this afternoon.

I’ll be happy with any fiction. My previous mystery books have been disappointing, with apologies to any fans of Brief Lives, as an example.

>7 const-char-star: Fingers crossed that I don’t get the same mystery book twice.

It's an occupational hazard with mystery books, I'm afraid. Thank goodness for eBay.

Just received my order with Homage to Catalonia. Happy to have it, as I would have bought one of the editions of it eventually. However, Sophie’s World is a book I would not pay full price for, but would be happy to have. Oh well, still quite happy!

>4 adriano77:

I'm pretty sure they go through them as if they were stacked on pallets, so essentially, one title at a time. You have to figure that if they send these books out to be wrapped in opaque white plastic wrap and have them numbered with a mystery book index, then whomever does it has to do it in an organized fashion.

My observations of past mystery book promotions noted that:

- Anyone who ordered multiple times in a relatively short time period was at very high risk for a duplicate.
- Anyone who ordered multiple times (including me) with long waits between orders received different mystery titles.
- The group's awareness of which titles were mystery books usually improved over the course of the promotion at a fairly linear rate, which suggested similar quantities for each title.
- Sometimes, when all mystery books were known (i.e., Folio says 8, and we know 8), closer to the end of the sale, new titles (i.e., #9, #10) start appearing as mystery books.

Every time they've had a mystery book promotion, I’ve gotten the same book during that promotion, even if spacing out the orders. As a result, I gave away quite a few copies of Big Chief Elizabeth and Brief Lives.

Has anyone gotten a second order with a mystery book? It didn’t show up in my basket when I placed my second order and I’ve read on here of that happening with others.

I've done a bit of experimenting, and I'm pretty sure that the theory of Sophie's World being a possible mystery book is just a red herring.

If you create a URL for a Folio Society page that doesn't actually exist by tagging on unique words from a book's description page, the site redirects you to that particular title. So, for example, if you try going to www.foliosociety.com/train-poem you'll end up at the page for The Singing Sands, because that page includes the words "train" and "poem" in the description, and this is presumably the best hit within the site for those two words. Similarly, www.foliosociety.com/enchanting-competition takes you to the page for Howl's Moving Castle, as the description includes both those words (and presumably no other book's description has both those words in it).

Likewise, the description for Sophie's World includes both the word "mystery" and the word "book", and if you try going to the URL www.foliosociety.com/mystery-book you end up at the page for Sophie's World. For those who tried clicking on the link within their order, I reckon this was only a dummy internal link using the words "mystery" and "book", hence giving the same result as typing in www.foliosociety.com/mystery-book.

>13 CLWggg:

Bravo, excellent detective work!

>11 treereader: That's good to know, thanks

Homage to Catalonia for me as well.

If I were to place an order, I would be very happy with Homage to Catalonia as my mystery book. It almost makes me consider placing an order after all!

MB1 - Homage to Catalonia. I was hoping for this title.

MB1 - Homage to Catalonia.

I have a second order on its way - I think I know what the mystery book will be.

ETA - The letter accompanying Folio’s Summer Collection catalogue states the mystery book to be “one of five recently published titles”.

Another MB1 - Homage to Catalonia here ;)

I have an order that will arrive tomorrow - but I thought I would look at the order on their website, to see if it listed which mystery book was included. I noticed the SKU was MB1 - so I’d guess that means Catalonia.

My order has just arrived, and even though the grey wrapper read MB1, inside I discovered not the Orwell, but The Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England, by Ian Mortimer.

Fine by me - I would have been perfectly happy with Homage to Catalonia and indeed was looking forward to it, but this suits me better and will certainly be read more eagerly. I enjoyed the Liza Picard Restoration London, and was disappointed that Folio didn't do the others in the same series. This looks equally interesting.

I've also recieved The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England (MB1). Deeply disappointed because not only was I really excited for Catalonia (it's on my wishlist) but I already have Time Traveller's.

Just got The Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England as well. Extremely disappointed after considering Homage to Catalonia inevitable :(

>23 Lady_Lulu:

You could list it in the mystery book trade thread and see if someone will be glad to send you the Orwell in trade.

Cubby.R.S.

Ah, is there an active separate thread for that? Sorry, I haven't used LibraryThing in years!

I too have just received Time Traveller's Guide after being certain (until reading the posts above this morning) that I'd be getting Homage to Catalonia since the MB1 code showed up on my online order details after processing. My mystery book wrapping was also labelled MB1. Somewhat disappointed as I was really looking forward to Catalonia and it was one I really wanted anyway, and Time Traveller is probably not one I would have chosen to buy and so must consider whether I can afford the space to keep it. I haven't had an opportunity to sit down with it yet due to work so that's a decision for later. But I can't complain as it was free after all and I'm delighted with the book I did order (De Profundis). My disappointment is more to do with my own raised expectations. And it probably makes good business sense for Folio since I've bought Orwell from them before but never any Elizabethan history! (Though I know the books are random.)

I almost bought Catalonia when it was added to the New Year sale in the 'second wave' of sale books but decided against as it wasn't a huge discount (around 20% I seem to recall), and so I held out in the hope that it would turn up in the Summer sale with a deeper discount. Given that it's been chosen as one of the mystery books I'm hoping that this will increase its chances of a Summer sale appearance.

To those that received Time Traveller's Guide, I imagine you placed your orders only after the first few days of the sale? The weekend perhaps?

I put mine in on Sunday, so I'm now expecting this. Would be disappointing as I have no interest and was looking forward to Homage.

adriano77
I placed my order on Monday and it was dispatched the same day. Wish I had ordered last week!

>29 Lady_Lulu:

Same - ordered was processed and shipped Monday and is due tomorrow.

I suppose it will become this cycle's Big Chief Elizabeth.

It's my fault for getting my hopes up over social media posts! I can't complain for getting a free book, even if it's one I already own. Fingers crossed someone wants to trade but if not I'm sure I'll find a use for it somehow.

>28 adriano77:

I too placed my order on Sunday afternoon and it was despatched on Monday.

>28 adriano77: Friday (a bank holiday in the UK, right?), despatched Monday

My order arrived today and it held Catalonia. Out of curiosity, for the people who received Time Travelers Guide, does your order list MB1 or MB2?

I’d be happy with Catalonia or Time Traveller’s Guide. They’ll probably surprise me with another copy of Brief Lives.

>34 kevking: MB1

>35 Mr.Fox: it reminded me how luck bestowed upon me three copies of Big Chief Elizabeth in an earlier mystery book raffle.

MB1

>37 F.Trier:

Hehe, you can’t have too many Big Chief Elizabeth's guarding the library or Year Around Things To Do

Placed order on Sunday from Ontario, Canada. Received package Thursday complete with "Homage to Catalonia" as the mystery book.

So my order just arrived with MB1 and it was 'Time Traveller’s Guide' so very disappointed, was really hoping for Homage. Hopefully it will be in the sale and I will pick it up then.

So it's looking like all the mystery books are labeled MB1.

Yes... I’ve just placed another order - hoping for something new.

>42 kdweber: "So it's looking like all the mystery books are labeled MB1."

So far...

MB1 might be the label, but is there a correlation to region?

>45 Cubby.R.S.: I wondered that also. UK here, and got The Time Traveller's.

I just received my second order - no mystery book. That’s one way to solve duplicates. I got Homage on the first shipment.

>47 Chemren:

Check your order's itemized list. If they listed a mystery book, they're obligated to send you one.

>48 treereader: They didn’t. I’d be curious to know if anyone has received a mystery book with a second order.

>49 Chemren:

There seems to be occasions when, for reasons unknown, the mystery book doesn’t automatically add to the shopping basket, neither does it show at checkout or on the order confirmation email. It happened when I placed my second order. I emailed Folio who despatched one separately. I’ve just now tried a dummy order to find it still isn’t adding the mystery book.

ETA - I checked with Folio and there is a free mystery book with every order, so a second order is entitled to have one.

Does anyone know how long this mystery book offer will last?

My parcel just arrived:

MB1 - The Secret Agent.

Nice surprise.

Best Wishes,
David

>51 Mujaddadi: Does anyone know how long this mystery book offer will last?

Offer valid until midnight Thursday 18 June 2020.

My second mystery book arrived today. Also The Secret Agent (MB1)

That might be hint that the summer sale starts shortly after. There have in previous years been an overlap, but usually there are not.

I still feel like I got the short end of the mystery stick :P

>55 gmacaree: Agreed

Thanks! I saw a comment from Folio Society that summer sale will be in June or July.

Makes sense to send out the best mystery book first - so all you money grubbers trying to cash in on a free book get your comeuppance!

Hehe I jest, Everyman gets what he deserves

I'm amazed at how poorly FS advertises their promotions. When I go to the website I see absolutely no mention of a free mystery book or a discount with a minimum purchase anywhere on the front page. I only found out about it because I saw it here, so they can thank you guys for the order I just made!

I too thank this forum for keeping me up to date on the non-advertised promotions from FS. And I also share my frustration with you all for aiding my lower my bank account balance more often then a wise person should. lol

Just completed my order for this sale ... only new release i picked up was 'A Clash of Kings' ... almost finished reading the previous release of A Game of Thrones ... thoroughly enjoying it!!!

Also added to my order ...

Kav & Clay (my current version is the leather bound EP which I love ... but I love this book so much i look forward to reading this FS version with illustrations ... have been jonesing this one for a while).

Rounded out my order with ...

Fahrenheit 451

Lord of the Flies

Get Shorty

Now for the long wait shipping to the US

$30 off (which pays for shipping ... so essentially free shipping)

and mystery book ... hope it's a fun one!

Hope you all are staying healthy and safe and enjoying your reading time.

Now stop enabling me!!!

:)

I've been told by Andrew that the summer sale should begin the third week of June

I wonder what mystery book one would receive if they added Homage, Time Traveller’s and Secret Agent to their basket? ;-)

>62 LondonLawyer:

It doesn't work like that. The shipping department just grabs whatever's next in queue. It could be any of those three or whatever comes next.

>63 treereader:

That certainly seems to be how it normally works, but I wouldn’t be surprised if an order containing one of the mystery books were automatically flagged in some way and treated differently, in order to prevent someone being sent two of the same book.

My enthusiasm for having received The Secret Agent as my mystery book has been slightly tempered by the fact that it is virtually impossible to 'release' the book from the slipcase. First time of trying, it was several minutes before I could get the book to 'escape' the case.

Any one else have this issue or have I just got a one-off oddity?

Best Wishes,
David

>64 PeterFitzGerald:
If you go back to the old threads discussing prior sales with mystery books, you'll find countless cases of people receiving duplicate mystery books from multiple orders during the sale and duplicates due to prior orders of books now turned mystery. We all wish that they would be more careful about avoiding mystery duplicates.

>65 Boschfan:

It happens occasionally. Some years ago, I received a Thomas Hardy volume from Folio which also had a ridiculously tight slipcase. It took ages to free the book. Funnily enough, it was also included in a mystery package.

>65 Boschfan: When I first received my copy of The Wizard of Oz last year, it was also ridiculously tight in its slipcase. I found that the answer was to sit down and hold the slipcased book over my lap (book spine facing down), then give the whole thing a sharp downwards jerk which released enough of the book to pull it out easily. After replacing the book in its slipcase and repeating the process a couple of times, it was then easy enough to remove normally.

Of course, if you'd paid hundreds of pounds for a LE, I wouldn't recommend this, as any tight-fitting slipcase would rub against the book covers when removing and replacing it. But doing so didn't damage my book (despite it having paper covered-boards), and presumably wouldn't be an issue for a free mystery book. Others may think this is a terrible idea due to the potential rubbing, so please bear that in mind before doing so!

>50 bookfair_e: Thanks. I sent them an e-mail and they have despatched one for my second order (have to love their customer service). Curious to see what I will get this time.

Placed my order on the 13th and received my mystery book today. The Secret Agent - also in a very tight slipcase.

MB1 - The Secret Agent

If anyone in the US who receives a copy of The Secret Agent or Reach for the Sky as their mystery book doesn’t want it, I would be happy to buy it from you.

Order processed and sent out on 11th May. Ended up being Homage to Catalonia, thankfully. Marked "MB1" as seems usual.

Express delivery to Australia took ten days, and Homage to Catalonia was my mystery book (very pleased as Secret Agent was a book I purchased in this order).
In the "good old days", express delivery took four days and standard delivery about 3 weeks at most.
Now, standard delivery does not arrive - books ordered from UK ten weeks ago are still "in transit".

Express delivery to USA: ordered on May 11 (very late afternoon my time, a bit before midnight UK time), got the shipping notification on Tue morning my time (afternoon UK time), arrived in Arizona on Friday (5/15).

MB1 here: The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England, by Ian Mortimer (which I had been thinking of picking up since it came out so I am happy).

Express delivery to Australia, purchased 14/05 and arrived today (20/05). MB1 - Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. Happy with this, as I already own The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England.

It seems that the mystery book stock is now depleted. Didn't take long.

>77 foldout_chair: That would be very disappointed given that the promotion is supposed to run for four more weeks. Thought I might put in an extra order myself, but without the mystery book I would rather wait until the summer sale.

It seems to have been a problem with their website/shop. Was just able to place a new order with a mystery book in it.

>79 foldout_chair: Yes sent them a message via twitter this morning as had same problem and was fixed very quick. Can confirm a mystery book was added to order.

I ordered on the 9th with standard shipping and received my order today. Previously standard shipping would take a month, but I've generally seen that shipping between the UK and Germany is currently much faster than usual.

I received Homage to Catalonia as my mystery book, which is a bit of a disappointment, but then I never got a mystery book I would have actually considered buying. The Conrad would have been more welcome, and I already bought The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England.

here in canada, express shipping, MB1

"The Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England" was hoping for Homage but quite impressed with the surprise and will read it! If they weren't forcing the $80 express shipping I would order again to see if I get a different one

Just received Paul Brickhill's Reach For The Sky as my mystery book (to go with a full price order of the The Snow Leopard, to get in before the rapidly diminishing stock disappears altogether). Not one that I would have bought myself unless heavily discounted, but a book I enjoyed when read many moons ago, and am very happy to receive as a mystery book.

I have also received Reach For The Sky, which is pretty good for a mystery book I think, and goes with The Great Escape which I already own.
my order consisted of Snow Leopard, Clash of Kings and Something Wicked This Way Comes

Well, I recently purchased Reach for the Sky at full price to complete my Brickhill set, so I’d be pretty disappointed with that. I’d be very happy with Catalonia or Secret Agent and actually have Time Traveller’s Guide on my wish list, so that would be even better.

My previous luck with mystery books tells me that I’ll be getting a second copy of the Brickhill.

Purchased 11/05, arrived 19/05: Mystery book MB1 - "The Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England"

Ordered last Friday, received yesterday Secret Agent. Was hoping for Time Travelers Guide.

I ordered two books last Friday and I have received Reach for the Sky as my mystery book.

Ordered Last Friday and got Reach for the Sky. Very pleased

Ordered on Monday, hoping for Reach for the Sky, but received The House at Pooh Corner somewhat disappointingly.

>90 pse1: that's the first mention. Apparently we reached a new batch of books again.

Gosh, I wish I'd got The House at Pooh Corner! I actually received Reach for the Sky, which is of very little interest to me at all.

I just placed an order yesterday, and if I get The House at Pooh Corner, I'll be beyond thrilled. It was actually in my cart at one point as I was putting my order together.

Ordered in 17 May - Reach for the Sky and would also have preferred Pooh Corner OR Catalonia....

My order below, am I going to get 2 mystery books?

The Spy Who Loved Me

1
A Clash of Kings

1
FREE - Mystery Folio Book

1
Mr Rabbit’s Symphony of Nature and Other Tails

1
Alice in Wonderland

1
Mystery Folio Book

1
Something Wicked This Way Comes

1

>95 fp13:

One free Mystery Book per order only (excludes Limited edition orders).

No cash alternatives or substitutions.

Discount excludes the cost of delivery.

Offers valid until midnight (UK Time) Thursday 18 June 2020, or while stocks last.

---------------------------------

The Current List of Mystery Books Stand At:

$61.95 (1st) Homage to Catalonia
$61.95 (2nd) Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England
$54.95 (3rd) The Secret Agent
$61.95 (4th) Reach For The Sky
$61.95 (5th) The House at Pooh Corner
$62.95 (6th) Hangman’s Holiday
$69.95 (7th) The Folio Book of Science
$42.95 (8th) Spring A Folio Anthology
$42.95 (8th) Winter A Folio Anthology

The total cost of free mystery books if someone received all titles (not counting duplicates): $478.6 USD

We are at 8 mystery book titles; we have 0 days left (since writing this post) until June 18th. If you order today you will most likely receive a Folio Anthology.

~edited June 18 (Last Day)

>96 Comatoes: Could be a good sign about the volume of orders. I’ve put in three - one for the summer sale and two motivated by FOMO over The Snow Leopard and Something Wicked This Way Comes. So far I’ve received Catalonia (yeah) and Reach for the Sky (duplicate). Missing the middle order. I wouldn’t mind The Secret Agent or Pooh Corner. I have both of those but in earlier Folio editions. Elizabethan England would be another duplicate.

Just received Paul Brickhill's Reach For The Sky as my mystery book. If anybody is interested, I will send it to you, (only shipping costs are required), Europe only. Send me a PM.

Edit: The book is not available anymore, thanks for your interest.

I received Homage to Catalonia. If anyone in the UK would like this and perhaps doesn't want A Time Traveller's Guide please let me know as I'd be very happy to swap. It won't be until we get back to some degree of normality though.

>99 HuxleyTheCat: I would be glad to swap, I have removed the wrapper to check all was ok with the printing, but would love homage. I am based in UK

>100 woollymasters: That's fine. If you'd like to send me a pm, we can sort out the details.

Equally if anyone would like a still-sealed The House at Pooh Corner I’d be happy to swap for a copy of Reach for the Sky for reciprocal postage within Europe. Please let me know!

>102 pse1: I would be interested in swapping, if no on else has taken you up on the offer. I'm in the UK.

Ivytree, that’s great. Do you want to PM me about this. I can drop the book in the post, from the UK, this week.

Ivytree, I’ve posted a private message on your comment wall about the book.

>105 pse1: Thank you very much, I have sent a reply.

Received my order today. Would have liked ‘A Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England‘ but received ‘Hangman’s Holiday’ by Dorothy L. Sayers . . which sadly, I already own.

So, two more mystery books to be revealed after that (Hangman's) then.

So many interesting options. I’m still waiting on my order from three weeks ago, but I believe that I’m most likely to be getting Catalonia based on when it shipped out.

>97 Chemren:

Yes, a very good sign. Currently, the total cost of 6 free mystery books if someone received all titles (not counting duplicates): $365.7 USD. A nice way to get some extra books. You can always trade that Reach for the Sky (duplicate) in the future.

Purchased 20/05, arrived 26/05: Mystery book MB1 - "The House at Pooh Corner"

>111 SinsenKrysset:

Ditto on all counts.

Pointless for me, as I have the three-volume set, but I suppose it'll make a nice present for a child.

Ordered late last week arrived today: The House at Pooh Corner. Quite happy about it.

Ordered May 15, received The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (in an exceedingly tight slipcase). Was hoping to get The Time Traveler's Guide, but I have read and enjoyed several other Conrad works so I'm sure I'll enjoy this one too.

Ordered May 6 and received Homage to Catalonia today.

>114 owf_117:
Secret Agent does have a ridiculously tight slipcase, almost impossible to use.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to stretch a slipcase?

MB-1 Homage to Catalonia, in U.S., ordered on release day. I think this was a true prize and the first time I've ever felt I would've paid for my mystery book.

>116 wcarter:

No idea how to stretch a slipcase but it would be nice! I've gotten a few tight slipcases from Folio Society but The Secret Agent is by far the worst. I held it upside down by the top and bottom edges and had to shake it hard several times to get the book to move. I'm pretty sure the edges of the book will get scuffed after a few more of those.

>118 owf_117:

I've had way too many slipcases like this (most recently a week ago or so, I Am Legend). It's pretty ridiculous. I don't understand why they don't simply add two millimetres to their measurements. The cost would be insignificant and they'd save on replacements and their shipping.

Hangman’s Holiday. Quite pleased!

The secret agent with the ridiculously tight slipcase. Somebody knows how to loose it a bit ?

Dispatched Tuesday, delivered Friday Ontario Canada. Timed the order right for Hangman's Holiday, which completes the set for me. Probably wouldn't have got around to buying it -- not a fan of the short stories or Paul Cox -- but the price was right.

I got reach for the sky

I just received The House at Pooh Corner as my mystery book and Time Travelers Guide to Elizabethan England

Yipee! I got Hangman's Holiday! It was the only one I had on my to-buy wishlist, very pleased.

I just received the folio spring anthology

A new one, ladies and gents: The Folio Book of Science. Very happy with this!

Purchased 25/05, arrived 02/06: Mystery book was unfortunately Hangman’s Holiday.

Purchased 5/22, received Hangman's Holiday, as I had expected based on people who placed orders around the same time I did. So sad knowing The House at Pooh Corner could have been a possibility.

>127 NYCFaddict:

What date did you place your order?

----------------------------------------

Now we have 8 mystery books... I don't know if they will reissue more or will they go back and do a recycle, or end the promotion when the eighth book is exhausted?

May 28th.

I’d be disappointed if I receive the Folio Spring Anthology as I already have two copies and recall it was given away free with orders at one point. Also, from a monetary perspective, it’s a lot less expensive than the other mystery books offered. I could live with the Folio Book of Science.

Purchased 05/28 arrived today 06/02 was Folio Book of Science. Really disappointed. At least no damage on 'The Hobbit' and 'Mort'.
I ordered one book on 05/20 and it hasn't arrived yet(standary shipping). Crossing my fingers that the mystery book would be Pooh Corner! or just not any freaking non-fiction omg

Wow, I really don’t want the Spring Anthology as my second mystery book.

>133 HamburgerHelper:

My order has not come in yet, but will gladly trade your Folio Book of Science for Pooh's Corner, I don't know if I will get this book because I placed an order on the 17th. But I'm up for trading if it's something you want or if anyone wants to trade.

If I will get Pooh's Corner or Hangman's Holiday, I will also be willing to exchange with any of the previous nonfiction titles. I placed my order on 20th, wso I am expecting it will be either of them.

Brand new member and I wanted to jump on with my mystery book. Ordered 5/29, shipped 6/1, received today (2 days shipping to the US!). Received Spring Anthology, although I was expecting the Folio Book of Science.

The House at Pooh Corner for the worth of £42.95. I would never have bought it myself, but hey ! Thanks, might come in use someday (or not), who knows ..

I got the Folio Book of Science. Ordered 6/1, received today. Would trade for Hangman’s Holiday, Secret Agent, or Reach for the Sky if anyone in the US is interested.

Received today - Spring: A Folio Anthology.

Got The Secret Agent, but I already have that one, would trade for Homage to Catalonia in the US if anyone is up for it

My second Mystery book arrived today. It was missing from the original order but they sent it after I sent them an email query. Book was House on Pooh Corner, which I am happy about. Just as well they didn’t send it with my order, as I probably would have gotten Time Traveller’s Guide, which would have been a duplicate.

Ordered on 1 June, received Folio Book of Science (which I am happy with!).

Ordered 7 June received today (UK order), received Winter: A Folio Anthology as my mystery book. Already have the whole anthology so sadly it is a duplicate.

Purchased 02/06, arrived 09/06: Mystery book was Folio Book of Science

Can someone explain to this novice how the mystery books work? Does one arrive when you order a certain number of books? Or is there a promotion listed on specific books that I have not come across?

>146 new_collector: It's a current promotion. Until 18th June (I think) you get a free mystery book with any order, even for a single book. The most recent books seems to be for the seasonal anthologies, however, which for most of us are less desirable than what they were handing out at the beginning of the promotion.

Got it – so it is unlikely to overlap with the summer sale, right?

>148 new_collector: Unlikely yes, but who knows. We'll find out next week.

>148 new_collector: In response to a similar question on Twitter, FS have said that the mystery book offer will end before the sale begins.

>150 Condor9001: agconnah Then we can expect the sale only on the 24th?

They have said third week of June previously; maybe it just won't be on a Wednesday?

>151 bookish_elf: On 4th June (ie a week ago today) they replied, on Twitter, to a question regarding the summer sale, stating: 'It will be this month, but a couple of weeks away. Not too long to wait!'

Assuming they aren't using the work 'couple' too loosely it should be next week. I would guess the 18th.

They told me that the sale will start at the end of June. Mystery book offer will end on 18th June, which is on Thursday and since it's not practical to start the sale at weekend, I think it will probably start on Monday 22nd June.

>153 Condor9001: agconnah They always have a "thing" for Wednesday. So lets see. By previous shipment which I had ordered by express shipping on 3rd May hasn't yet arrived. It might take another couple of months I guess. So not sure when I'll get whatever I order during sale. I think last year sale was during the first week of June. Wonder why its delayed this year.

Just because the sale started extra early last year doesnt mean it is delayed this year. Late June has as far as I remember been the more common starting point if you look beyond last year

The Summer Collection was a week later than last year roughly, so I would have expected maybe the summer sale to be a week later; not sure about further delay though

I received Hangman's Holiday. Was anyone else underwhelmed by the quality of the binding on this volume?

The binding, the content, and the illustrations, but it's a gift horse. The binding on mine was not quite as dingy as that on Lord Peter Views the Body, where the silver appliqué was inconsistent.

I have ordered several books since the "Mystery Book" offer came out and they are just beginning to arrive. I am in the US and they have been taking 3-4 weeks. My first two mystery books arrived and they are both THE HOUSE ON POOH CORNER, which I already own. I was hoping for something else. Still waiting. . . . .

Looking on the bright side, you can likely sell or trade Pooh Corner and come out ahead. Much better luck than if you’d received the Spring Anthology!

My mystery book arrived from my first of two 'last chance to buy' orders. It was shipped separately, a week after the books I purchased, and arrived before they did. I received the Folio Book of Science. Not a duplicate, but I'm not sure I'm interested enough in reading it to keep it. The only book on the mystery books list I don't own and want is Reach for the Sky, but I think my orders were made too late to snag that one.

Thank you!
I am wondering if the next six, or eight Mystery Books, I just ordered two more books, will be the same "Pooh." Perhaps I can trade them on here if I get several more of the same. If not I will find some children who want them.

Thanks for your idea.
Frank

I've been buying Folio's only since October of the past year and when I ordered this summer and saw I was getting a mystery book, I thought it meant a mystery genre book, such as an Agatha Christie novel. When I got House on Pooh Corner, I thought "I didn't know this was a mystery."

>164 Steven.Evans: So it's a mystery why your mystery book didn't contain a mystery. All very mysterious!

I just received my order of 'Three Little Pigs' and my Mystery Book was 'The Secret Agent;' both were ordered 12 May. Other orders place a week or two before that date have still not arrived. Does anyone know the "Book Code" for that 'Secret Agent'? Folio does not include these codes on the website, only on your order receipt when paid for, but I do not wish to buy another. The good news for me is that I did not have this book and am happy with it.
In appreciation,
Frank

>166 Frank_Zwolinski:

We had seen different books emerging from under the same book code during this mystery book promotion so don't rely on that as an indicator of what book you are getting.

Perhaps I did not make myself clear, I am not talking about the Mystery Book code but the actual code for The Secret Agent. If you have purchased a copy, that code will be listed in your account list of purchases. I would like to know that code.

I hope I am more clear.

Frank

>168 Frank_Zwolinski: According the the Spring 2019 catalog (scanned in the group wiki) the three letter code for this edition of The Secret Agent is CNR. Is that the code you are referring to?

I don't whether FS reuses these codes, or if they are unique, so I'm not sure how much of a help having it will be, in terms of avoiding duplicates.

Hello all,

I have received 'The Secret Agent' and 'Hangman's Holiday' as my mystery books and I'm wondering whether anyone would be interested in swapping them for one of the other titles? I am interested in anything historical such as 'Homage to Catalonia' or 'Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England', but would also be happy to swap for 'The Folio Book of Science' or 'The House at Pooh Corner'. I live in Finland so perhaps this offer only stands for those people within Europe.
All the best,
Alex.

>170 AHub: I live In Finland too. I actually received 'The House at Pooh Corner' and 'The Folio Book of Science' as my mystery books. I was thinking to swap 'The House at Pooh Corner' with 'Homage to Catalonia' or 'Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England' but it looks quite nice. So now I am thinking to gift it. Where do you exactly live in Finland?

Hi Mujaddadi,
Congratulations on your mystery books! I live in Helsinki, how about you?
All the best,
Alex.

>172 AHub: I live in Espoo. Good to meet someone who lives in Finland and buy Folio books.

All the best to you too!

I'm in Finland too. I'm not placing an order before the sale.

> 169 wdripp:
Thank you, I stupidly did not think of looking there. Yes, Customer Service told me these codes are only used for a single book, so it is what I am looking for.

I have found several older books on EBay and the like and would like to get those codes and original selling prices and Customer Services was not able to help. Does anyone have suggestions?

Thanks,
Frank

I was thinking of placing one last order. Has anyone received a mystery book from a recent order that was anything other than a season anthology? I’m wondering if they’ve moved past those or if they’ll just go through all of them until the offer ends.

>175 Frank_Zwolinski:
All the catalogues and prospectuses with their prices and codes are available on the FSD wiki.

>175 Frank_Zwolinski:

Did you even look at our wiki? https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees#Folio_Soci...

All the prospectuses and catalogues are there. You can use the book indices from higher on the page to find the year the book is published in (if not the last few) and then hit the correct prospect/catalog for the original price. Or use https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:BOOKS_PUBLISHED_BY_THE_FOLIO_SOCI...

>177wcarter & >178 AnnieMod: AnnieMod:

Of course you are both correct! Thank you for the reminder to this new guy to the site. Juat what I needed.

In appreciation,
Frank

I have received both 'The Secret Agent' and two copies of 'House on Pooh Corner' and I still have several orders which have not arrived.

Received Pooh Corner!!! (Order from 05/20) I definitely loved it better than my Folio Book of Science. I wish my 3rd mystery book is NOT spring anthology.

>174 just_visiting: Here I thought there are very few people who order folio society books in Finland. Maybe we should create a group or something in order to easily sell or swap the books.

>175 Frank_Zwolinski: It's not straightforward to compare prices because of inflation, if you are checking prices of old books. Even, I noticed, some folio society books' prices increased in different year's catalogs.

Winter anthology (delivered to my family in the UK; order placed a few days ago). Drats, I already have it in the set. I suppose they were/are running down their stocks of these unslipcased volumes.

>184 NYCFaddict: Thanks for the update. I imagine they are clearing out all of the seasonal anthologies, and there won’t be any slipcased titles left in the mystery book promotion.

Just an update:
Today I received two orders from almost two months ago and the two Mystery Books. I am in the USA but this still seems like a LONG time and some orders prior to that time have still not arrived.
Ordered, Rendezvous with Rama. Mystery, The Folio Book of Science.
Ordered, Mr. Rabbit's Symphony of Nature. Mystery, The Secret Agent (my second mystery copy)

My May order finally arrived in California. As I feared, my mystery book was the Spring Anthology with no slipcase.

I wished I wouldn't get the Spring anthology, so I got the Winter one of course. alkdfhajfhaldkfj

Finally!

I received the mysterious The Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England today.

Today I received the Winter Anthology. Will keep it in the shrink wrap....

That makes three of us with the Winter Anthology, mine with Handmaid’s Tale. This is my second mystery book; the first was Reach for the Sky (on my wish list). I have one order to go, Mort, which was ordered before Handmaid’s Tale. I’m hoping for House on Pooh Corner, so I can return the one I ordered with my Half Price haul. Or, Secret Agent.

>177wcarter: & >178AnnieMod:
Thank you both, however, in this list I have only found one catalogue in US Dollars, most are in Aus Dollars or British pounds. All these could be converted, but I was hoping to save myself the trouble and in addition a direct translation is not accurate. I am in the USA and was hoping for the information in US dollars.

If there are other sources, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you,
Frank

>193 Frank_Zwolinski:
Prices of FS books vary from area to area of the planet. The FS has five areas - UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Rest of World.
Prices cannot be directly converted as exchange rates vary with time, and prices in areas outside the UK tend to be higher when converted at contemporary exchange rates.
Catalogue prices are current at that time, but prices vary from time to time, generally slowly increasing over the years, and decreasing with sales, so the catalogue prices are an unreliable guide to what a purchaser actually paid for a book.
The catalogues and prospectuses on the wiki are there for information about the book, with prices being of only secondary interest as most FSD members understand what I have just explained.
I am not aware of any other sources for historic FS book prices.

>194 wcarter: The only thing I can think of is using the Way Back Machine website and hoping that there is a snapshot of the site in the correct region that includes the new collection. Having gone through that to find LE statistics, I do not envy the person having to go through that for all books they own or are interested in.

>194wcarter: Thank you! My only reason for trying to get a good estimate of the published cost is to determine what the books value would be for my insurance purposes.

>196 Frank_Zwolinski:
No worries.
Insurance value is usually replacement cost, not initial cost. Some FS books will now be more valuable than when first purchased, but most will depreciate, although secondary prices seem to have risen significantly in the past few months. Is everyone buying nice books to se them through lockdowns?

I received both Spring and Winter Anthologies. They are just not for me. Would anyone in the US be willing to trade both for one of either Homage to Catalonia or The Secret Agent?

o>197wcarter: Would you make a suggestion on how I might list each book purchased from Ebay in my inventory for my insurance company? I am sure they are more valuable than what I paid. I am thinking there must be a way to at lease estimate/guestimate.

>199 Frank_Zwolinski:
If you know the prices you paid for them, you could catalogue your books on LT and enter the price paid in the Comments field. You could then access your own book catalogue at any time or place on tablet or phone.
Otherwise an Excel spreadsheet would achieve the same result.
I would not be so sure they are more valuable than what you paid, but you could check Ebay sold listings to see what others have paid for the same book recently.

>199 Frank_Zwolinski:
I have 400 plus FS editions , many purchased second hand on eBay or Abe or in local bookshops. Practically every one of these I bought for a fraction of the original FS price. Of the one or two notable exceptions were those of the Folio Fine Press editions which is probably because of the low limitation numbers.

For those that I bought new from FS ,with very few exceptions the vast majority are available second hand for less than I paid. This is true even for those I bought during the sales.

I have seen FS editions in pristine condition in Charity shops in the UK for 5 or 6 pounds.

It's extremely difficult to nail down the (real) price of a FS book. Firstly there is the catalogue list price, then there is the sales price (often 40% less than catalogue price). Then there are those books given free as joining offers in the past.

Of course a particular book is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it, but I'm not sure an insurance accessor would look at it that way.

>196 Frank_Zwolinski:
Ask your insurance company. Most policies will pay a flat amount, 5 or 10K, for collections of jewellery, stamps, books etc., without much proof being required. That's total amount, not per individual collection. Beyond that, you have to pay an extra premium for each collection, and you'd better itemise everything. I don't know why you wouldn't use LT for that, but in any case it's easy to keep and update a photographic record of your shelves. It's customary for collectors to overstate value. Watch Antiques Roadshow give a genuine valuation followed by a higher one for insurance purposes. It's equally customary for insurance companies to be sceptical. If you're getting replacement value, that might be lower than you think for books no longer in print. Run of the mill FS books fetch about the same price secondhand as general publishers'. Not much. LEs are a different story.

>202 Jayked: Do they? Fetch the same price second hand as any other book? Is what I keep bumping into on ebay and online shops unique then? Bad timing? Because so far most regular FS books out of print from recent years I've been looking up online (second hand booksellers) seem to be priced at more than what they were originally sold for. Which I can see thanks to the efforts of people here, uploading the old catalogues. Also, a lot of the old titles clearly made it to FS sales so people might have bought them for £10 or £15 from FS. Yet they seem to mostly sell for roughly £30 upwards which I thought wasn't a regular book price in the UK for other publishers' (maybe I'm wrong, my guess would be about £10-12).

So I wonder if the best course of action is to be patient, look offline in obscure second hand stores or online for sellers who aren't necessarily trying to make a living out of selling. Or whether FS is getting progressively more popular, maybe thanks to including more novels that have been adapted into popular movies and shows, which would mean more demand than offer for the out of print titles and, inevitably, also higher prices.

I think there's some muddling of objectives going on here.

For insurance purposes, any insurance company will be obligated to try and value your stuff as low as possible so as to pay out on a claim as little as possible. They won't be buying or helping you buy back any lost books - at best, assuming your claim gets paid, you'll get a limp sum in a check to do with as you please. You aren't even obligated to use that money to buy replacement books.

As for insuring books, I've asked my insurance company on three separate occasions over the course of 15-20 years about it. Even as it has grown, let's say to 1000 books, which may be a little high, it's still not valuable enough to warrant a separate policy beyond my standard home owner's policy. Even if I argue that each book would cost me, on average, $40 to replace in same-condition replacements, that $40,000 expenditure is still easily covered (by theft or fire or whatever my policy covers (not currently flooding or water damage)).

So, you'd need to have a substantially larger collection or a willingness to demand a separate policy just for your library. If did pursue that route, guestimating values and averages won't suffice. You'll have to hire an unbiased estimator to establish individual values for every book. Some insurance companies can do this (also for a fee) but then, wouldn't that just produce a biased valuation?

I can't say I've met anyone with a large enough library to have been able to justify pushing beyond a standard home owner's insurance policy. Just adding to your current policy some flood or water damage insurance, tornado insurance, or whatever is geographically appropriate to you, might be the smartest play.

>203 santiamen:
I don't buy really recent FS books secondhand -- I already own those I want. I buy to fill in gaps. Here are some of the most recent, all in excellent condition, in Canadian dollars. Divide by 2 to get pounds sterling. Bought from 2 local booksellers, one very large, one small. Both are well aware of what they're selling.
English Eccentrics 10
1066 10
Kon Tiki 10
Greengage Summer 10
Secret History 15
Psmith 10
Voyage to Sun...(1991) 35
Shooting Party 10
Woodbrook 15
Between Acts 10
Hero of our time 10
Fathers and sons 10
Russian Gent 10
Le Grand Meaulnes 15
No Man Island 10
Ancient Mariner 15 (red silk, unfaded)
Boxsets are usually priced higher, but the 6 vol Forster was 50
Books from other publishers (Proulx, Johnston, etc first editions), are $10, $15 if signed. Some rarities are much higher, a Murdoch Under the Net in 4 figures. If you're prepared to dedicate some time to poking around bookshops in centres outside of a metropolis, you can find prices like these. If you live in a place like Toronto where there are those who boast about how much they spent, not so easy. Ebay is all about competition, and you're bound to pay more. Were I an insurance adjuster, I'd be looking at local bookseller prices.

>205 Jayked:

And a wonderful collection too. I picked up Kon Tiki, the shooting party and hero of our time too very recently. Fantastic books and paid more-or-less the same as you, couldn’t be happier with them. Kon Tiki is especially well designed and they hold up to, and often surpass, any modern FS edition.

>203 santiamen: Most of older Folios could be purchased at a bargain. But if you're looking for titles that went OOP fairly recently and weren't in print for long, then naturally the secondary market supply is just too low at the moment. Some of the recent editions are also quite popular (particularly the sci-fi stuff).

The best course of action would be to set up automatic searches on ebay and abe for books you're interested in, and wait until something within your acceptable price range shows up. You can also use automatic searches to monitor the market for a while without buying anything to get a feel for market prices.

Second-hand book shops are good for finding an occasional bargain, but don't expect to find many very recent Folios there. Also check charity shops, you can find some really outstanding bargains there (I remember getting a Trollope volume in fine condition for 2 quid).

I just received my order of Mort with another copy of the Winter Anthology. Anyone interested in exchanging a copy of Spring for Winter? I live in the USA.

>205 Jayked:
>207 elladan0891:

Thanks for the reply. There are some older books I'd like but obviously having discovered FS too late there are also a lot of titles that must have sold out within the last couple of years, frustratingly. I suppose it's a waiting game.

I wish FS made it clear which books might get reprinted eventually, it seems strange reading the discussions here where the same titles keep popping up as ones people missed out on that any company would prefer to just keep adding new titles instead of reprinting those that are still sought after and would clearly make them more money.

Looking at the older catalogues, I can see some books (e.g. science ones) must have been reprinted regularly unless it actually took that long to sell them.

If anyone's curious as to why they haven't reprinted some of their slightly older editions (like the fairy books), they told someone on Twitter, "The software that we once used to send designs to the printers has been phased out, so all the artwork for older books would need to be recreated from scratch in different design software. Unfortunately this is quite a job for some of the intricate artwork!".

>209 santiamen: I think the reason they don’t keep reprinting the books, which are in demand, is the same reason which makes people buy books faster. If they keep reprinting, people will keep waiting on the books because they know they will be reprinted. There will be no incentive for people to buy books faster which are readily available. They can make money quickly by printing new books then by keep printing older books with slightly higher demand. There is no collection value of thing which are easily available.

Furthermore, If you want to buy any book and you see it on sale in a reasonable price range and if the price is in your budget, you should buy it. Instead of waiting to get it at the same price people bought it on sale or listing price. You have no way of knowing whether the seller bought it on sale or not.

>210 reticular:

That just sounds insane. Rule number one: never let the computer win. This includes not letting an old piece of software hold your data hostage. Perhaps the solution is simply beyond Folio's fiscal will power?

Disclaimer: I'm not even in the market for the fairy books, and I don't have any other older books on my current acquisition agenda.

Just got my last mystery book shipment. I was holding out hope for one of the nicer slipcased mystery books, but I was prepared for disappointment after getting the spring anthology in my previous order. The only thing worse than getting a copy of the winter anthology to go along with it would be getting a second copy of spring, which is exactly what happened. I don’t think I’ll try my luck with a mystery book ever again.

I also received a copy of Spring with my 2nd mystery order, which went via standard shipping and just arrived after more than a month in transit. I think I'm sold on express shipping, at least for larger orders. I was lucky enough to get the Folio Book of Science with my 1st mystery order. I'm not sure I'll keep it, but it seems a much better prize.

Late to the thread, but received the Folio Book of Science. And a quite dinged copy of "Planet of the Apes" which I will contact FS about.Slightly Dinged 'Killing Floor' which I think I can live with. First time in a long time I have received dinged books.

I finally received my order from the 5th of June. Held out hope for The Folio Book Of Science, but alas I was served the Winter Anthology. If anyone is missing this one, I live in the Netherlands and except for postage the booklet can be yours.

>132 pse1: Now selling delivered at an eye watering £65 to Australia.