So I like books. I mean this isn’t a secret because I’ve written article upon article on the positive effects of reading, but even people who don’t know me can probably figure out I like to read. Like Rory Gilmore of “Gilmore Girls,” I carry a book with me everywhere. In doctor’s offices, in my office, on road trips, I’ve even been known to carry a book in the mall. Sometimes my books are digital and before you think I’m another Millennial tweeting incessantly about TV shows and Kim K (which I have been known to do), you might find that I’m reading Tolkien’s lost unfinished Arthurian epic on my phone. The point of this is that I’m always looking for ways to go outside my corner of the bookstore and expand my reading interests, and that is how I came upon Book Riot and their Quarterly Book Box.
In their own words: “Book Riot is dedicated to the idea that writing about books and reading should be just as diverse as books and readers are. So sometimes we are serious and sometimes silly. Some of our writers are pros. Many of them aren’t. We like a good list just as much as we like a good review. We think you can like both J.K. Rowling and J.M. Coetzee and that there are smart, funny, and informative things to say about both and that you shouldn’t have to choose.
And the only thing we like as much as books is talking about books with other readers. So welcome to Book Riot—you seem like our kind of people.”
And so it seemed that I had found my people. People who wrote thoughtful articles on books, much like LD does. *wink wink* When I found out about the Quarterly Book Box I knew I had to try it.
For $50 you can sign up to receive your first book box, the boxes go out four times a year and include items related to culture, stories, and lifestyle, which I took to mean books and bookish things. The price did stop me for a while, but once I decided to give it a try I couldn’t wait to get it.
The theme for my box was “expand your readerly horizons” and featured three books from genres people are most hesitant to try: romance, sci-fi/fantasy, and young adult. Here’s a list of what I got in my box.
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin- Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
- A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean
- Literary Aces Playing Cards from Electric Literature
- Out of Print Library Card Pouch
- I Read YA pin
- Free 2 month subscription to Oyster
As far as I can tell, buying everything in my box would have cost me $64 not including shipping and handling. I also got a personal letter from N.K. Jemisin, a flow chart from A.S. King, and a poster from Sarah MacLean. Overall I feel like I got my money’s worth, but I don’t think I’m likely to get one every quarter because you have no idea what comes in it each time and $50 is a lot to spend to take a chance. It was fun to try out and I might come back to it when I have a full time, grown up job. I still love going to bookriot.com for articles, but I think I’ll stick to my favorite corners of the bookstore for now.
I’d be into something like that if I could specify which genres I received – that way it would be a smattering of books from areas I was interested in. I like the idea of exploring new things, but I know there are genres that I just cannot get interested in no matter how hard I try.
I totally agree because while I enjoy romance stories I don’t read romances, I like romance in my all my stories because it helps plot but I find just romance stories all mushy and uninteresting.