Volume One of Powells’ new subscription club, “Indiespensable” just landed in the Mercury mailbox.

It contained:

1. A very fancy limited edition copy of Lydia Millet’s How the Dead Dream, autographed by the author.

3. A cookie that I believe looked something like this

but I can’t be sure because I promptly ate it.

3. A scattershot-seeming set of informational cards, upon which are printed an interview with Millet, small press picks from Kevin Sampsell, and a list of businesses on Ankeny street. Because it’s the first volume of the series, and A is for Ankeny… I’m not quite sure what to do with these cards, and since I can’t actually see the surface of my desk as it is, I’m not really digging how they became insta-clutter. Bitch, bitch.

Limited-edition installments in the series ship every six weeks. $39.95 a pop. Not too bad at all, for a fancy autographed hardback and surprise treats. Volume 2—Mudbound, the first novel from Hillary Jordan—has already sold out, so get in quick if you want to subscribe for any of the future volumes. (They haven’t announced any other upcoming titles yet, but I’d feel pretty confident signing on for future volumes title-unseen, particularly since I hear the Millet volume sold out within about 9 hours of the title’s announcement.)