Lists

The Best Science Book Subscription Services

Community

Contributor

Always books. Never boring.

Calling science nerds, tinkerers, and wielders of fun facts! If you are looking to feed your voracious appetite for all things science with a fiction or nonfiction book subscription service, then you’ve come to the right place. There aren’t a ton of services out there that simply focus on science books, but we’ve done our best to showcase five different science book subscription services that you might want to try out. Here we go! 

GiftLit Big Ideas

If exploring big ideas are your thing, then the GiftLit Big Ideas subscription is the perfect nonfiction book subscription for you! The Big Ideas line of GiftLit is packed full of nonfiction science titles in a variety of fields, and you can choose which books you’d like to receive from a wide variety of hardcover titles, everything from new releases to upcoming titles and bestsellers. The subscription is available in 3-, 6-, and 12-month increments, starting at $89.95. The cool thing about this service is that you can also pick your books in advance, and tell GiftLit which order you’d like to receive your books in. Recent titles include Billy Bryson’s The Body: A Guide for OccupantsThe Hidden World of the Fox by Adele Brand, and On: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein. This is great subscription for readers who like to choose their titles and still want to fun of getting a new book each month.

Science Fiction Book Club

For the reader who loves hard science fiction, this is an excellent monthly service. Science Fiction Book Club has a wide selection from hard sci-fi to fantasy, horror, and paranormal, including graphic novels, and you can pick which books you’d like to receive each month. Hardcovers are available as low at $9.99, but to get started you can sign up and create an account. Then, at the beginning of each month, you’ll get the opportunity to purchase two credits for $14.99 each. Redeem your credits for books, or choose to skip a month. If you choose to redeem your credits for books, you’ll be able to choose from myriad titles including new releases, bestsellers, and classics. Although this is primarily a fiction service, there are nonfiction titles thrown in for good measure, such as Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us by Dr. Lucy Jones and Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon by Jeff Hecht. If you’re a fiction and nonfiction reader, this is a great service to get the best of both worlds.

Kiwi Crates

For the little ones and scientists-in-training, the Kiwi crates are fun, age-appropriate science subscription services that often include books. Each crate is leveled by age, and includes a book or guide to a scientific project or activity. This is an awesome gift for kids and teens who are curious and hands-on, and will foster a love of STEM learning. While this isn’t strictly a book subscription service, most of the monthly crates in a lot of the age levels do include books. Crates start at $29.95 per month, but you’ll get a deal if you subscribe for 3-, 6-, or 12-month periods!

My Sci-Fi Club

If you like exploring scientific ideas and learning new things through fiction, then check out My Sci-Fi Club. It’s a cost-efficient book subscription service that lets you choose between science fiction, fantasy, or a mix of both. Starting at just $16 per month, you’ll receive two new hardcover books each month. Plus, if you sign up and email the club to opt-in, you’ll get free digital short stories to start reading right away. You won’t get to preview or pick the books, but past science fiction books have included The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord and In the Shadow of Frankenstein edited by Stephen Jones. This is a great budget-friendly subscription!

TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations

If you want just science books, or a mix of science fiction and nonfiction, then pick TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations. TBR is a personalized book subscription that doesn’t just take into account your genre preferences but also asks you what you want to read more of. Interesting books about diseases and medicine? Astrophysics? The history of chemistry or interesting inventions? Let us know in the reader survey and even tell us some of your favorite books and link your Goodreads profile. Then, an expert Bibliologist who reads a lot of science fiction and nonfiction will handpick three books for you, based on your tastes and requests.

You can also choose how to receive your recommendations: The recommendations-only level will get you a personalized recommendation letter in your inbox within two weeks. This is a great option for library power users and ebook and audiobook readers! If you like getting books in the mail, choose the hardcover level and get three handpicked new hardcover books from Print: A Bookstore in Portland, Maine, in about 3-4 weeks.

Learn more about how TBR works, and explore more nonfiction book subscription services, or get more recommendations for the best science books!