How we choose your book each month

Our reading service sends one book a month, chosen for you, for ₹650 including delivery. People sometimes ask how we actually decide, so here is the process from the inside.

When you sign up, we ask for three books you loved and, if you are willing, one you did not finish. The unfinished one is often the most useful. Someone who loved a long family saga but abandoned a sharp, short novel tells us something different from someone who did the opposite. We also ask whether you read in Bengali, whether you want translations, and whether there is anything you would rather avoid.

Your name is then given to one of the four of us behind the counter, usually whoever has read most in your direction. Rituparna takes most of the fiction readers, Sayan the history and travel readers, and Moumita the poetry and children’s books. Each month she or he picks a book they have read themselves, never one taken from a list. Before it goes out, the whole team looks over the month’s choices at the Friday meeting, and we check we have not sent it before.

The book is wrapped in brown paper with a short handwritten note explaining why we chose it. You can reply on WhatsApp with what you thought, and we keep a record. After three or four months the picks usually get noticeably sharper. If a book misses, say so; we would rather know than keep guessing. You can pause the service any month, and books not yet read can be returned unread within seven days.