10 book boxes you need in your life

Book Box - (n) a box of books and/or book-themed items sent to you by mail for your enjoyment – usually on a monthly basis!

synonyms: pure joy, absolute excitement, the best thing ever!

Why now?

I have toyed with the idea of ordering a book box in the past but I could never justify the cost or choose which one to order!

Now however, as I find myself in Japan working a stable and decent job and far away from book shops where I can go to get my book fix, I am suddenly reconsidering the idea of trying out a book subscription box! Of course, that still leaves the matter of which one to chose. There really are a lot of awesome-looking possibilities – join me as I give a breakdown of a few box boxes and join me in the near future for the unboxing of the selected box!

I’ll list the price, features, merits and drawbacks of each box and declare the final winner (and the one I will order) at the end of the post.

Here we go! Box Breakdown time:

OwlCrate

Slogan/tag line: Can’t get enough YA in your life? OwlCrate to the Rescue!

Who runs it? Partners Korrina Ede and Robert Madden; partners and book-lovers who wanted to bring book nerds together

Features:

• A highly anticipated new YA release.
• 3-5 other bookish goodies (jewelry, totes, yummy treats, pins, etc).
• Exclusive items from publishers and authors.
• A note telling you more about the novel and the items included in your crate.

What I like: well reputed, this is easily one of the most popular Book boxes around; also, it’s Canadian, they are based in British Columbia!

What I don’t like: How quickly they run out of boxes; though they have a clever Wait List solution for that too!

Price: $29.99 USD (+ shipping)

the YA Chronicles

Slogan/tag line: The YA Chronicles exists to indulge your Young Adult addiction

Who runs it? Alison and Rebecca, two book-lovers from Australia

Features:

• one new release book
• one original bookmark
• 2-5 other items

What I like: They support local Australian businesses through the items they feature

What I don’t like: The anonymity, the “About” section feels sparse – if I am going to buy something from a business I want to know more about the people behind it!

Price: $29.99 AUD (+ shipping)

FairyLoot

Slogan/tag line: A box of bookish treasure stolen straight from a fairy’s lair and delivered to you.

Who runs it? Couple Anissa and Michael, based in London, England

Features:

• recently published fantasy book (usually hardcover)
• a unique buddy reading hashtag that links you up with another person
• 4-6 goodies related to the theme
• promotional items (bookmarks, signed bookplates) whenever possible

What I like: The whimsical feel of the box, the website layout and the content (lots of quotes, fairy motif)

What I don’t like: Pounds to CND is expensive! :(

Price: £26 (+ shipping)

Uppercase

Slogan/tag line: Monthly Surprise Book Mail For Young Adult Book Lovers

Who runs it? Lisa Parkin, book blogger

Features:

• a new hardcover young adult books
• signed book or bookplate signed by author
• 1-2 bookish items
• Uppercase reading experience with exclusive content (marked throughout the book with post-it notes)
• hand-written, personalized note from Lisa, the founder.

What I like: The exclusive content; I’m super curious about what kind of extra materials the people at Uppercase dig up!

What I don’t like: limited shipping – only to US, Canada and Puerto Rico

Price: $23 USD (+ shipping)

BookCase.Club

Slogan/tag line: Get handpicked books delivered every month. Mystery Boxes. Filled with great books! Handpicked by our expert Curators.

Who runs it? Ryan Tusing, John Lee, Brenna Reyes, Katie Schwartz

Features:

• two hand-picked novels of your selected theme

What I like: the link with a charity; “We have partnered with Books for Keeps and every month BookCase.Club will donate one childrens book for every active subscription.”

What I don’t like: Only ships to the US

Price: $9.99 (+ $5.00 for shipping)

Quarterly - Literary Young Adult Box

Slogan/tag line: The ultimate behind-the-scenes experience for book lovers

Who runs it? curator changes every time!

Features:

• a new release with handwritten notes and exclusive content from the featured author
• two other books hand-picked by the featured author
• fun bookish goods

What I like: different curators make for a different theme/approach/reading experience with every box

What I don’t like: it only ships 4 times a year!

Price: $50 USD (+ shipping)

Novel Tea Club

Slogan/tag line: All you need for a good night-in - a novel, a delicious beverage, and a few somethings extra to make the night special.

Who runs it? Lindsay and Kristan

Features:

• your choice of one romance, young adult or fantasy novel
• a tea
• 3-5 bookish goodies and snacks

What I like: the combination of book and tea is genius

What I don’t like: the website is sparse and the shop is confusing…

Price: $35.99 CND (+ shipping)

The Bookworm Box

Slogan/tag line: Good deeds. Great reads.

Who runs it? Coleen Hoover, Heath, Lin Reynolds, Vannoy & Chele, Stephanie Cohen, Brenda

Features:

• 2 autographed books
• a bookworm item
• fun books swag

What I like: the link to a charity; “100% of the profit after overhead costs will be donated to different charities each month”

What I don’t like: information about what actually comes in each box is annoyingly vague!

Price: $39.99 USD (+ shipping)

Coffee and a Classic

Slogan/tag line: Curl up with a classic; Timeless Books Delivered to You

Who runs it? Ashlee Doherty

Features:

• a classic book
• fresh coffee, tea or cocoa
• a beverage receptacle (usually a hand-painted collectible coffee mug)
• a snack
• other bookish goodies (bookmark, candles, etc.)

What I like: the promotion of the classics, not enough people read classics! And also the choice of beverage between coffee, tea and cocoa!

What I don’t like: The price – pretty steep!

Price: $38.00 USD (+ shipping)

Prudence and the Crow (vintage)

Slogan/tag line: the vintage book box subscription box.

Who runs it? Abigail Shaw and Peggy Seymour, based in London, England

Features:

• a vintage (minimum 20 years old) paperback book of your choice of genre (classic, science fiction, thriller, children’s)
• a handmade book bag
• a library card
• added surprises (bookplates, bookmark, a pencil, tea)

What I like: The simplicity, just books and a book bag, nothing fancy, back to basics (I think this fits well with the classics theme!)

What I don’t like: the limited genre options - there should be more!

Price: £26 (+ shipping)

So, what’s it gonna be?

There are a ton of great book boxes to choose from, for this time I want a YA book, which limits my options. Also, being in Japan I need a company that ships internationally. So that leaves me with a handful of options, and then the availability comes into play; so finally I ended up ordering… The YA Chronicles Box!

Because with a theme like Against All Odds, I just can’t wait to see what I get!

When it arrives I will do a book box reveal post, so stay tuned! ;)

In the meantime, what Book Boxes have you tried? What has your impression been? I want to know - please leave comments below!