How to choose your WellRead subscription

Start with who it's for

Choose a subscription for yourself or someone else. If you're sending a gift, you can select a gift subscription during purchase.

Choose your subscription type

Select an ongoing subscription if you'd like books to continue each month. You can manage, skip, or cancel at any time through your account.
Choose a prepaid gift subscription (3, 6, or 12 months) if you're gifting for a set period.

How many should I order?

Most readers only need one subscription per person.
If you're purchasing for multiple people, we recommend placing separate orders, with a different email address, so each subscription can be managed individually.
Choosing a quantity of 2 or more on this page sends that many copies of the same month's book – it doesn't send different titles.

Confirm your details

Add your delivery information, include an optional message if gifting, and complete checkout.

From there, each book is thoughtfully selected and prepared for the next available delivery.

The Land and its People by David Sedaris

What’s included each month?

Each delivery includes one carefully selected book, along with reading notes and a letter explaining why it was chosen.

Every title is thoughtfully curated from new literary releases—both local and international—with a focus on quality, discovery, and lasting reading experiences.

The reading notes are designed to deepen the experience, whether enjoyed personally or shared in a book club setting.

How does delivery work?

Books are carefully packaged and sent at the start of each month, with most deliveries arriving within the first week.

When you subscribe, your first book will be prepared for the next available delivery—often the upcoming monthly selection.

If a selected title is tied to a future release date, delivery may follow shortly after publication.

Shipping is calculated at checkout and starts from $5.

Billing & subscriptions

Subscriptions are charged on the 20th of each month.

You can choose a monthly or every-other-month delivery. With an ongoing subscription, you can skip a month, adjust your delivery frequency, or cancel at any time through your account.

If you need any help managing your subscription, feel free to contact us—we’re always happy to assist.

Can I gift this subscription?

Yes — we offer prepaid gift subscriptions designed specifically for gifting.

You can explore our gift options here: Gift Subscriptions

When purchasing a gift, you’ll be able to include a personal message and choose when the gift is sent.

Gift subscriptions are prepaid for a set period, creating a thoughtful experience that begins when the recipient redeems their gift.

What if I’ve already read the selected book?

We carefully select new and notable releases to minimise the chance of this happening.

If you’ve already read the book, many customers choose to pass it on—sharing the experience with a friend, family member, or fellow reader.

As each selection is curated in advance, we don’t typically offer exchanges. If something doesn’t feel quite right, please contact us and we’ll do our best to assist.

Pre-sale. Order now and it will be shipped in our normal shipping cycle.

*** TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ***

'So effortlessly funny. I admire no one more in the world than someone who can really tell a proper joke... and he is amazingly good at that'

RICHARD OSMAN, The Rest Is Entertainment

'Very little makes me laugh. I would say the one exception is anything by David Sedaris'

GRAHAM NORTON

'Sedaris is the God of the comic essay... Sedaris' only rule: be funny or perish'

LENA DUNHAM

In The Land and Its People, David Sedaris investigates what it means to be a traveller, a brother, a lifelong friend. Trying on the role of carer after his boyfriend Hugh's hip-replacement surgery, he both succeeds and fails. He covers ground with his friend Dawn and challenges her to eat a truck tire. An ambivalent Duolingo bot becomes his unlikely confidante as he attempts to describe his family in a foreign language. Ever adding to his list of 'Countries I Have Been To,' he rides a horse named Tequila in Guatemala, buys a bespoke priest's cassock in Vatican City, and goes on safari in Kenya without taking a single photo.

Time takes its toll: Scrolling through his address book, he counts those he couldn't bear to outline and realizes how many are already gone. He is bitten by a dog and insulted by a wee train passenger. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn't. It's easy to agree with the lady waving a sign that reads, 'Enough is Enough.' And yet, life holds much to delight in: the massive testicles of a ram, a trip abroad with his sisters, a really excellent reptile video, a pair of well-made cotton underpants.

Throughout these essays - at once acerbic and tender, playful and profound - Sedaris shows how much there is to marvel at when you keep your head up and your eyes open, observing with warmth and curiosity our fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.

PRAISE FOR THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE . . .

'Sedaris takes on the indignities and freedoms of aging - from competitive infirmity to care taking to underpants - with his characteristic elan. You'll find familiar faces and Sedaris's trademark off-kilter humor, as well as a poignant tenderness' New York Times Book Review

'A funny and heartfelt essay collection on friendship, family, and aging ... Sedaris's wit and keen awareness of life's absurdities are on full display. These essays are among the best of his career' Publishers Weekly

'It's classic Sedaris: sharp, shameless, and strangely tender' Oprah Daily

'A welcome return to form for the much-awarded and much-loved humorist ... Sedaris remains a national treasure' Kirkus

'A new Davi

Readers & Their WellRead Moments