Hey, bookworms!

I just had to share my latest book purchase, and this one comes with a long backstory. Are you ready?

Sweeping Declaration

If you’re a regular on this blog, you’d know about my sweeping declaration last year.

For a year, I’ve watched new lots come and go, tried to find out an online preloved bookstore as good as BooksByWeight, tempted to try the second-hand book market near me. I haven’t ordered any lot, no matter how much I liked them, have not found a website that sells books by weight and let’s you choose, and let’s face it, I’m too lazy to go out.

So, after a certain project was finally coming to fruition, I succumbed to the temptation and placed an order, almost after a year.

Expectation

Up close, the stack looked like this:

 

I tried to analyze these titles, with my dear friend ChatGPT. And this is what it had to say.

Definite wins

• Sushi for Beginners (Marian Keyes)
• The Undomestic Goddess (Sophie Kinsella)
• Her Husband’s Mistake (Sheila O’Flanagan)

Those three alone are exactly the sort of authors one would expect to see in a collection alongside Jojo Moyes, Maeve Binchy, Cecelia Ahern, Debbie Macomber, and Mhairi McFarlane.

Probable win

• 31 Songs (Nick Hornby) because I love his writing voice. Even if it’s different from his fiction, he’s still same person, right?
• Unsolved (James Patterson) His books can be gory, gruesome and grotesque but a know name part of a stack? Sure, why not?

Even if it’s not amazing, Patterson is at least a known quantity.

The others

Could be mediocre. Could be surprisingly enjoyable. Not something I’d normally buy, but for ₹62? Sure.

Timeline

20-June-2026: Order placed.

25-June-2026: Order shipped, tracking number received.

28-June-2026: Parcel arrived at Nagpur and soon marked “Return to Sender”. I panicked, contacted DTDC customer service, heard nothing; contacted worthing.in, heard nothing. Panicked for two more hours and then finally gave up all hopes of receiving the parcel. Hey, if it’s not meant to be, it’ll not be.

29-June-2026: Got a call from DTDC Delhi. The guy ensured that the parcel will reach me. It was probably mistakenly marked “Return to Origin” because it was Sunday and some lazy operator did that. He shared phonenumbers for Nagpur DTDC center. 

I called them up, the guy was quite rude.

DTDC Guy: “DTDC doesn’t service your pincode anymore. You’ll have to come and pick it up.” 

This has happened so often, I can’t even begin. Whether it’s India Post or DTDC, they always want the customer to pick up the package. Why would I order online if I have to step out of the comfort of my home to get that package? I’ll go to Sitabuldi and buy books there, no?

29-June-2026 Later that day: I got an email, confirming that the package has been sent back. Good riddance. Like I said before, 

… if it’s not meant to be, it’ll not be.

30-June-2026: I asked the worthing.in support of what they’re going to do with the package, no reply. 

2-July-2026: I checked the status of the parcel, it has still not reached Delhi.

4-July-2026: Got a message from worthing.in. They’ve promised to resend with India Post and share the tracking number on Monday. Fingers crossed.

6-July-2026: Asked the guy if the parcel is re-dispatched and to share the tracking ID.

Reply: “Kal hoga”.

I don’t have a good feeling about this.

7-July-2026: Looks like a new parcel is booked with India Post. Let’s see how many weeks it takes to get here. Sigh. This was supposed to be before my birthday. I’m skeptical about that. 

12-July-2026: It CAME. I can’t believe it. I had lost all hopes.

Reality

Does it look the same in reality? Almost!

Check out the unboxing video. Subscribe if you’re interested in that kinda thing.

Final Thoughts

I think buying these lots is much better than the surprise lot which has more non-fiction books than anticipated. Also, the surprise 10kg lot included many Indian authors and titles I wish I hadn’t bought/read even if it was roughly 40 bucks per book. 

Until next time, happy reading!