Meet the person behind The Gently Used Book Club

Hi, I’m Pat.

I’m the founder, bookseller, book-picker, packer, email-writer, customer-service department and general person behind The Gently Used Book Club.

And yes, it really is mostly just me.

I started the Book Club during lockdown, from home, with a pile of books and an idea: what if I could use my experience as a bookseller to choose secondhand books for people based on what they actually like to read?

That little idea has grown rather more than I expected.

I’ve now been working with books for more than 25 years, including nearly ten years at Waterstones, and I’ve spent a very large proportion of that time helping people find books they’ll love.

But the bit I enjoy most has always been the same: finding the right book for the right person.

That’s what I do here.

When you subscribe, I read what you’ve told us about your reading, look at your favourite authors and recent reads, take note of the things you don’t like, and then go through my stock looking for books I think you’ll enjoy.

There’s no algorithm deciding what you get. There isn’t a warehouse somewhere picking books from a computer-generated list.

It’s me. In my house. Surrounded by books.

Which is probably exactly how it should be.

Why secondhand books?

I’ve always loved secondhand books. There’s something rather lovely about giving a book another reader — especially when it’s a book that might otherwise be forgotten on a shelf or end up being thrown away.

That’s why sustainability has been part of the Book Club from the beginning. The books are pre-loved, the packaging is chosen with reuse and recycling in mind, and when you’ve finished with your books, you can send them back to us so we can find them another reader.

And what about Pete?

You may have seen my husband Pete on this page before.

He isn’t involved in choosing your books, but he does occasionally get roped into helping with the practical side of things — and he has, over the years, put up with an extraordinary number of books taking over the house.

So although this is very much my business, he’s part of the story too.

And that’s really the thing about The Gently Used Book Club.

It’s a small, independent business. There’s a real person choosing your books, packing your parcels and answering your emails.

No algorithms. No warehouse. Just a bookseller who really does love choosing books for people.