Like most bloggers, I get my fair share of requests to review different products and services.  I turn down the majority of them since evaluating sunglasses or diapers or whatever isn't really consistent with what I'm trying to do here at BBB.  However, when I get an offer to try something cool and bookish, well, I'm all over it.

Naturally, then, I was thrilled to hear from Livrada, a new company that sells e-book gift cards.  These are physical cards sold at brick and mortar stores, each of which is good for the redemption of one e-book.  Like a traditional book, each card features beautiful cover art and a plot summary for the novel it represents.  The e-books are easily downloaded to all Kindle and Nook devices.  Currently, the cards are being sold at Target and are available for the following titles:  State of Wonder by Ann Patchett; Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L. James; Odd Thomas by Dean R. Koontz; Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn; The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson; and 44 Charles Street by Danielle Steele.  They're fun, personal gifts that are perfect for the booklovers in your life.

The generous folks at Livrada gave me a choice of titles.  I selected Odd Thomas.  Redeeming the gift card and downloading the e-book to my Kindle Fire was just as quick and easy as promised.  I haven't had a chance to read the novel yet, but I will soon.

So, as much as I enjoyed using my gift card, I'm not sure I would actually buy one.  Why?  Well, unless I knew a person's reading tastes really, really well and knew exactly which books they did/did not have, I would be hesitant to give them a title-specific gift card.  A generic e-card to say, Amazon, wouldn't be as personal, but it would be more practical, you know?  I would be much more likely to go that route.  I'm also not sure about how the pricing works.  I went to my local Target the other night to do a little research and couldn't find the gift cards anywhere, not in the book section, not in the gift card section, nowhere, so there also appears to be an availability problem.  At any rate, I think Livrada's come up with a fun concept.  I'm just not sure it's going to catch on all that well.  What do you think?