The first one is from The Literary Guild®. Their hook into me begins "It's true, we want you! Give Us a Chance and You'll Get Up to 6 Books for 99c with membership". The ad goes on to say that when I become a member my first selection will cost only $5.99 plus shipping and handling. After that I only have to buy 3 more books within the next 2 years (NOT 4 like other book companies) and my selections can be chosen by phone or on line. The titles and authors in the blurb are all big names, and for people like me who enjoy reading, this is very tempting. As a final point I can choose a free gift with my membership: a Traveler Tote Bag or an extra book. This is soooo tempting, but I toss the offer in the trash. Why? Because I already belong to another book plan from Doubleday Publishing®. Their hook was the title of a book I actually wanted to read: The Davinci Code. Other offerings in their plan were also very interesting, so I joined. Mistake! But more on that later.

The second offer was called "Crossings® the Book Club for Today's Christian Family". This offer came as a comparatively thick pamphlet filled with books that were interpretive of the Bible and inspirational fiction. The membership fee would entitle me to a free Bible and a choice of "free" gifts. As I looked over the brochure, I saw many books that only tangentially dealt with religion or did not deal with it at all For example, "Sesame Street: C is for Cooking" or "Violet Goes to the Country" about a cat. Some of these titles might be useful for my daughter and her baby or my young cousins who were now parents.

Speaking of children, there were also publications just for them. National Wildlife Federation® offered three magazines: "Wild Animal Baby®" for ages 1 - 4; "Your Big Backyard®" for ages 3 - 7; and "Ranger Rick®" for ages 7 and up. Each would bring 12 issues to your child for $15. Looking them over, the themes and sample articles for each was promising and more sophisticated than the "Highlights" magazine I had been sending to little ones on my Christmas list over the years. When the holidays come around again, I may send something different. (Note to myself: keep the brochure!)

The only downside to book clubs is that by choosing to respond to my monthly offers on line, I am at the mercy of my computer. If it crashes, I cannot even see, let alone refuse the books for that month. This led to the arrival of books I did not select or ever want. I only learned about them when they were delivered to my mailbox. Because they were already HERE, I could not refuse them. My only option was to mark the outside of the package, "Return to Sender" and pray that they were successfully sent back. I had to train myself to inspect all packages but not open them; otherwise they could not go back. Because of one really bad computer crash, I ended up with many unwanted books. I had long since met my book requirement, but I could not find any information about canceling my membership and NOT GETTING ANY MORE BOOKS!

Today I am trying to clear off my desk and pay some bills that have come since Christmas. One of the bills I pay will NOT be to Doubleday Book Club. I do NOT owe them $117.85. The bill is not even correct, and I do not send money for things I DO NOT HAVE. Our lives were such a mess in 2006-2007 that I missed refusing shipments that I did not order. I also was lax in recording the titles of what came and what I returned. That's my fault. But sending bills for items without properly listing the titles and dates of receipt, return, and payment is unacceptable. Somewhere I wrote down the PHONE NUMBER that I finally located for Doubleday. If I manage to find it, I will call and request a corrected list for the entire period of my membership in Doubleday. From that I can see what is actually in the house, pay for it if I never returned it, and send it back as unordered.