'A Year In Books’ is Heywood Hill’s innovative range of book subscriptions. Our aim is to enhance the enjoyment of reading for customers of all ages. Our subscriptions are the perfect, generous gift for true bookworms all over the world. Choose from three subscription categories: Tailored, Classic & Contemporary and Best of New. Our famous Tailored options are the most personalised book subscriptions in the world and for that reason limited to only 1000 customers. This year we are launching a BRAND NEW range of Classic & Contemporary combinations. These subscriptions are subject specific and will nourish and absorb readers everywhere. Or put someone's reading into our booksellers' hands with our popular Best of New options, the perfect gift for eclectic and curious readers, available in hardback and paperback. Last but not least we have some wonderful new subscriptions for Children, from 0-18.
All of our subscriptions begin with the dispatch of a stylish Welcome Pack and introductory letter. Over the year ahead well-chosen books are sent out from our Mayfair shop in parcels of literary joy beautifully gift-wrapped in our trademark livery of brown paper and blue ribbon. Books are shipped to the address of your choice with trackable ease. All come with gorgeous Heywood Hill monthly bookmarks, designed by the wonderful Cressida Bell.
After choosing which of our Subscription options suits you best, you or the recipient will receive an elegant gift card and introductory welcome letter. You can choose to receive this by post or email.
"Heywood Hill has succeeded in reading my mind. They send books that broaden my horizons, and introduce me to new authors with admirable attention to my tastes"
Tailored Customer
"Not only have you unearthed nuggets but also introduced me to the newest, latest and most absorbing reads."
HH Customer
"It's a dream present for fellow bibliophiles or for yourself"
Vanity Fair
‘A Year in Books’ is Heywood Hill's innovative range of book subscriptions, truly the literary gift that keeps on giving. We take great pride in hand-picking books for all our subscribers from our Mayfair bookshop. There are three categories of subscription: Tailored, Classic & Contemporary and Best of New. In all cases superb well-chosen books are dispatched throughout the year. Each parcel of books arrives gorgeously gift-wrapped in our trademark livery of brown paper and blue ribbon, with stylish bookmarks designed by Cressida Bell. The frequency of parcels depends on the subscription.
For customers with very specialised interests we recommend our Tailored Gift Box as an alternative to a subscription. The books included in our tailored gift box come all at once in a single gift-wrapped delivery. It is the perfect personalised present for book-lovers everywhere.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Our tailored subscriptions are bespoke to your personal taste. The recipient has a reading consultation with one of our team of personal booksellers, who will then send out books based on that discussion. FAQs for tailored subscribers can be found at the bottom of the page. Our tailored subscriptions are:
Our other subscriptions offer our booksellers’ pick of titles depending on the theme of the subscription. This is not tailored to your taste, but instead to the theme of the subscription, and is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse, in the case of our Best of New subscriptions, or to delve classic and contemporary writing on some of our favourite themes. Our Best of New subscriptions are:
Our Classic & Contemporary subscriptions are:
Yes. All of our subscriptions are gift wrapped in our trademark brown paper and blue ribbon, with beautiful monthly bookmarks designed by Cressida Bell to reflect each month of the year.
Yes. Subscriptions can be purchased worldwide. An additional one-off payment will be added during checkout for postage and packaging.
At any age! Our Bedtime Stories subscription is a choice of our favourite books for each age group between newborns and twelve-year olds, and our Intelligent Teenager subscription is the same for young adults all the way up to eighteen. For a tailored subscription, our booksellers will choose age-appropriate books however old the child is, personalised to their tastes. We have an upper age limit of 14 years for this subscription.
The welcome letter can be sent to either the purchaser or recipient. Please let us know which you would prefer in the notes box during the checkout process.
Yes. You will be prompted to provide a personal message during the checkout process. We will then add your note to the welcome letter.
We endeavour to send welcome letters within three working days of receipt of your order. Please ensure that you have provided us with all the information we need to send your welcome letter, as requested during checkout. If we have any queries about your order we will endeavour to email you within one and a half working days. Welcome letters will be sent by email, unless sending by post is requested in the order. If you would like us to send the welcome letter by post, we can send it out by second-class post to addresses in the UK or standard airmail to all international destinations; this should take approximately 7-10 working days.
The welcome letter will be sent out on receipt of your order unless otherwise requested during the checkout process. The book parcels will begin one to two months later.
We make great efforts to ensure that each book is the best choice for our subscribers. However, if our book choice is unsatisfactory or the subscriber has already read it, books in perfect unread condition can be exchanged. Subscribers can make a maximum of two exchanges during the year. Postage for the return of books is at the subscriber’s expense.
If you have any concerns about the delivery of your parcel you can contact our booksellers at any time. If you move house or would like the parcels delivered to a different address please let us know with at least a month notice. If necessary we can pause your subscription for up to three months.
You can renew your subscription online by purchasing the subscription in our online shop and ticking the renewal box in the checkout. Alternatively, you can contact us in the shop by email or phone.
For Tailored Subscribers:
Subscribers can complete a reading consultation online or arrange one by phone, email or in person at the shop by contacting us directly. All the details on how this can be done are included in the welcome pack.
A reading consultation is not mandatory! If we do not hear from the subscriber within one month of the welcome letter being sent, or they elect to receive our Book of the Month choices, we will begin sending out our selection of the very best new books.
TAILORED
Our premium and most personalised subscription category. After an in-depth Reading Consultation our talented booksellers choose books to suit each person’s reading taste whatever their sensibility. To maintain the highest service standards we are limiting Tailored sales to only 1000 customers.
CLASSIC & CONTEMPORARY
Our Classic & Contemporary range is brand new for 2025. Six parcels throughout the year contain a new hardback paired with a classic paperback. London Calling connects readers to the best of British writing, old and new. Tradecraft explores espionage from Conrad to Herron, via le Carré.
BEST OF NEW
Our popular range of affordable subscriptions for curious readers worldwide. Choose from fiction or non-fiction in paperback, or a mixture of both, in paperback or hardback. Our booksellers considered choice of surprises and delights throughout the year.
CHILDREN
Our mission is to keep children in touch with physical books and to activate the joy of reading whatever their age. Our Intelligent Teenager subscription delivers an inspirational mix of classics with fresh current writing. Bedtime Stories is for younger children, superb well-chosen books old & new.
