My Addiction to Subscription Boxes

If you haven't heard of subscription boxes, at this point, you must have been living under a rock. Subscription boxes are monthly, quarterly, however-often-you-want-ly boxes, packages or deliveries that you can receive, that revolve around a certain topic, item or theme. You may have heard of the Beauty boxes, like Birchbox or Glossybox - these were certainly the first I heard about, years ago. In these cases, subscribers receive monthly boxes with a certain number of sample or full sized beauty products to try out. I've never signed up for any of these, but they certainly intrigue me.

About a year ago (or possibly a little longer) I first heard about Book Boxes. I can't remember the first book box I heard about, but I know that OwlCrate was one of the first. Now, the market for book boxes has truly exploded, and in fact the market for subscription boxes in general has grown exponentially; there are cat-lady boxes (I of course follow their instagram), jewellery boxes, comic book hero boxes, tea boxes and the list continues. My housemate was only yesterday telling me about a geeky tee shirt and book box he subscribes to.

I ordered and received my first book boxes in May, and I haven't been able to stop. Three OwlCrates, two FairyLoots, two Nerdy Posts and one My Nerdy Book Box later, and I can definitely say I'm addicted. I would have bought all of these boxes every month, plus many more, if it hadn't used all of my money up (sad times).

What is it about these boxes that I love? Well, I obviously love books, but I have to say that isn't the reason why I adore these. In fact, I haven't yet read any of the books that came with the boxes! My love for these boxes comes from the themes and the geeky gifts that come with them. The funkos, stickers, book marks and jewellery.

What have I received so far? Well, like many book readers with an instagram (clairreads! Follow me there!) I have taken a few photos along the way...

OwlCrate ($29.99 a month) 

May's box - Steampunk

June's box - Royalty

July's box - Good vs. Evil (this is the evil box)

This is the box I've received the most, and one of my favourites. It's shipped from the US, so it can be a bit pricey. Altogether, it's around £38.00. I'm probably going to cancel this 'rolling subscription' soon, as I can't justify the expense; however, I will keep an eye on it so that I can sign up for boxes I am interested in, The great thing is that you can also order past boxes, if there's one you really fancy. My favourite items so far include the VE Schwabb book, the Malfoy funko, and the steampunk snitch badge. Next months theme, which I am signed up for, is 'YA High'.

Nerdy Post ($21.99 a month, no book included)

June - Harry Potter

July - Game of Thrones

Another package I have to unsubscribe from, as I cannot justify the price :( I love these little packages; simpler and more homemade than the other ones, they really showcase the makers talent. My favourite thing about this subscription is that they are all themed around one area; as you can see these are Harry Potter and Game of Thrones themed. My favourite items have been the Harry Potter poster and book mark, and the same items from the Game of Thrones box.

Nerdy Bookworm Box (£29.99 a month)

June

As this is a local 'homegrown' UK box, it makes more sense for me to sign up to this one, and luckily it did not disappoint. I like how you can only order one box at a time - perfect for me as not all of the themes suit me. This box was kind of perfect - I loved the candle, the poster, the notebook, the book...it was all great!

Fairyloot (£26.00 a month)

May - High Fantasy

June - classic twist

Another UK box, which I love. I very briefly met the creator at YALC (she probably doesn't realise) and she was lovely. She was also really helpful in the past when I accidentally put the wrong address down (I'm an idiot). My favourite items have been both the figures (Brienne of Tarth and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies Mr Darcy), the candle, the posters and the book marks. Next months theme is Magic and Mayhem, which I have most definitely signed up for!

As you can see, there are some great items available in these boxes, but I am always on the hunt for more. In August I should receive another OwlCrate and NerdyPost (they'll be my last for a while, from these guys, unless I'm obsessed with a future theme). In September I'll be getting a FairyLoot, and perhaps a Nerdy BookWorm Box, if the theme suits me. I'm always on the hunt for more, though, On instagram alone I follow:

• Spellbound - https://spellboundbox.cratejoy.com/shop/listing - $25.00 - None UK based
• Nerdy BookWorm - https://nerdybookwormbox.cratejoy.com/ - £29.99 - UK based
• Lit Joy - http://litjoycrate.com/ - $29.99 - None UK based
• Once Upon A Bookcase - https://www.cratejoy.com/once-upon-a-bookcase/ - $26.00 - None UK based
• The Monthly Prophet - https://themonthlyprophet.cratejoy.com/ - $26.00 - None UK based
• The YA Chronicles - http://theyachronicles.com.au/ - $29.99 - None UK based
• Illumicrate - http://www.illumicrate.com/ - £29.99 - UK based - quarterly
• Flitwicks (a jewellery subscription) - https://flitwicks.cratejoy.com/ - $12.00 - None UK based
• Parnassus Next - http://www.parnassusbooks.net/ParnassusNext - $100 for three months - None UK based - frst editions
• Novel Tea Club - http://noveltea.club/ - $27.50 - None UK based
• Fantasy and Sci Fi Books - http://www.fantasyandscifibooks.com/ - $27.99 - None UK based
• The Best Damn Book Box - https://www.cratejoy.com/the-best-damn-book-box/ - $39.99 - None UK based
• Uppercase Box - https://www.uppercasebox.com/ - $29.00 - None UK Based
• The Bookish Box - https://thebookishbox.cratejoy.com/ - $25.00 - None UK Based

October Wrap Up and November TBR

October Wrap Up

Oh dear. I have to confess, October was a bad reading month for me. Despite the fact I had half term, the number of books I read was abyssmal. In fact, I only completed one first time read. I tried to read a couple more, but just couldn't manage it.

The one book I completed was ...

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

I really enjoyed this read, and gave it 4/5 stars. I liked the plot, and the mysterious alternate London setting. As I mentioned before (I think in my vlog), lots of people have said that they find the main character boring. I think that is partly the point? He is a guy who is living a dull, pointless life until he gets exposed to this world, and that is when he begins to become more interesting. I especially enjoyed the different settings in London that were mentioned and described.

I tried to read..

The Resurrectionist by James Bradley

I couldn't do this. I found it exceptionally dull, and the scenes/events didn't fit well together. I learnt next to nothing about any of the characters, and gave up. As I was definitely 2/3 of the way through when I quit, I am counting this as my 'book with bad reviews' for my reading challenge. The fact I quit shows that I agree!

I am slowly getting through...

Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer

And I am liveblogging the experience here on this blog! I've just posted chapter five. I used to be a huge Twilight fan (also mentioned in another blog post) so rereading it in this form is hilarious. It's taking me a while because typing up my comments, although funny for me to do, is rather time consuming.



November TBR

After failing at reading so many books in October, my TBR pile is looking huge. And they are all on this TBR pile up to help me complete the reading challenge! Help!

These are the books that I am hoping to get through, with the most likely at the top, all the way down to the least likely...

Salem's Lot  (a book that scares me)
The Wrath and the Dawn (a book with a love triangle)
Burial Rites (a book based on a true story)
The Handmaids Tale (a book my mother loves)
To Kill A Mockingbird (a popular authors first book)
All the Light we Cannot See (a Pullitzer prize winner)
Little Women (a book that became a movie)
North and South (a book with antonyms in the title)
The Pillars of the Earth (a book published in the year I was born)

This is definitely more than I had planned, and in all honesty I cannot see it happening. My aim, realistically, is 3 books. However, the more I put off, the more on my 2015 reading challenge I have to make in December!

If you have any recommendations for books that could help me meet my 2015 challenge, please comment below!

Clair's 2015 Reading Challenge:

• A book you read in a day - Dreamfever/ Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (3rd January 2015)
• An Author with my initials - The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan (9th January 2015)
• A book written by someone under 30 - The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon (21st February 2015)
• A book with a colour in the title - The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (18th February 2015)
• A book that takes place in your hometown - The Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan (February 2015)
• A book set in a different country - Delilah by Eleanor Jong (15th February 2015)
• A book with nonhuman characters - Burned by Karen Marie Moning (February 2015)
• A book with a female author - A Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas (10th February 2015)
• A book published this year - Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs (2nd March 2015)
• A book set in high school (well, they're all high school age and some parts mention their school - that counts right) - The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (2nd March)
• A book with more than 500 pages - Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (10th March 2015)
• A book a friend recommended - Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas (12th March)
• A book by an author you've never read before - The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (17th March)
• A book with a one word title - Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon (30th March)
• A book with a number in the title - Eight Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones (31st May)
• A book with magic in it - The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (May 2015)
• A funny book - The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (15th August)
• A book of short stories - Teeth by various authors (June)
• A nonfiction book - The Time Travellers Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer (July 2015)
• A book from an author you love but haven't read yet - Masques by Patricia Briggs (June 2015)
• A book at the bottom of your to read list - Mistwood by Leah Cyprus (7th June 2015)
• A book based entirely on the front cover - The Paper Magician by Charlie N Holmberg (August 2015)
• A memoir - The Crossing by James Cracknell and Ben Fogle (August 2015)
• A trilogy - Penryn and the End of Days trilogy by Susan Ee (August 2015)
• A book set in the future - The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey (April 2015)
• A mystery or thriller - Inferno by Dan Brown (August 2015)
• A graphic novel - Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs, artwork by  Francis Tsai,  David Lawrence and Amelia Woo (September 2015)
• A book more than 100 years old - Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (September 2015)
• A book from your childhood - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (I figure this is the only book you can really be allowed to reread, and as I am reading it to my class, the 20 of them that have never read it make up for it)
• A book that made me cry - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (September 2015)
• A book I started but never finished - 666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce (September 2015)
• A book with bad reviews - The Resurrectionist by James Bradley (October 2015)
• 
  

~to be added to as time passes~

Life a Death Live Blogging: Chapter Five

Evening! (Or morning, or afternoon)

So I got a little carried away in the bath last night and read 3 chapters of Life and Death. Help, what if this is a spiral into the Twilight universe that I have to escape a second time? I was too tired (and warm) to be productive and write about any of the chapters, so I'll write up Chapter Five now!

Chapter Five - Blood Type

'Yesyesyesyes! I want to see LadyEd carry BeauBella!! I cannot wait to read this'- a quote taken directly from my brain last night.

'Patches of red formed on my face as I hurried to my seat.' That doesn't sound healthy.

'It wasn't until class was over that I noticed that McKayla wasn't sitting next to me like she usually did'. I'm sorry BeauBella, but this may be why you had no friends in Phoenix. How can you not notice someone isn't sat next to you for an entire lesson, even if you don't care too much about them?


'Would she ignore me like usual?' I don't think you can be too offended if she does, seeing as you just forgot about the existence of a perfectly normal human being for a whole lesson.

'I think I grunted in the right places' - I'm imagining an acapella group made up entirely of grunting teenage boys.

'Disappointment hit like a punch in the gut. There were only four people there' - you know, it must be so freaking annoying to be Jasper (or Jessamine) when this kind of thing happens. Not only are you holding yourself back from massacring the entire year group (tell me again why the Cullens risk every human life in the school so that they can blend in?), but, probably on a regular basis, random teenagers suddenly explode with emotion. Whether it's linked to you or not, if you are Jasper, you can feel it all. God damn. Or perhaps he enjoys himself by making experiences like this feel like a literal punch in the gut? How hilarious would it be to hear a kid say 'I'm so scared I'm going to piss myself'...and then have the power to actually make that happen. Mwahaha.

Don't worry BeauBella, LadyEd is there after all.

'Her dimples flashed as soon as she knew I'd seen her.' Ok, I get that dimples are cute but how do they flash? Also, not making her seem like a dangerous monster right now.

'She raised one hand and motioned with her index finger for me to join her.' Aha, I pretended to do this in the bath last night. I know it means that she beckoned, but in my head (and re-enactment) it looks stupid.

'As I stared, she winked.' I'm sorry but the image of this scary girl (with dimples) with her arm in the air, using once finger to beckon and then also winking, makes me laugh. I don't know why.

'"Does she mean you?" Jeremy asked.' I know right, Jeremy. There is nothing interesting about BeauBella. Apart from the fact he smells like a good meal and his boring thoughts are quieter than other peoples. THAT IS LITERALLY THE BASIS OF THE ATTRACTION.

'"Your friends are upset that I've stolen you." Suddenly I could feel all their eyes boring into my back.' That sounds incredibly painful :/

'"I always say too much when I'm talking to you, that's one of the problems."' LadyEd, you have said barely anything to him all book. I know it feels like you've been there a lot, because BeauBella is a little obsessed, but the majority of the time has been spent in his head, where he has been judging every person he has ever met - including you.

'Funny how my stomach was rolling. Was it because I was hungry after all?' Well you've only had a lemonade all day, I'm going to guess the answer is yes. Or maybe your instincts are telling you to RUN AWAY from the weird girl who doesn't eat, says she's dangerous and avoids sunlight.

'"I'm wondering what you are"'. I know we all know what she is, but if you suspected someone in your life was not a human, would you tell them that?! You aren't friends, you're a bit scared of them and you already for certain know that they are very strong. She's already told you she'd dangerous! This does not seem like the logical thing to say, is all I'm trying to express here.

'My neck got hot, and I assumed - unattractively blotchy.' So basically all your blood has rushed to the surface of your skin. This is like waving a bacon sandwich in front of a hungover Clair, and attaching a big flashing sign to it. I feel really sorry for LadyEd - perhaps she should just have bitten him here and ended the book?

'Her lips pouting out in a distracting way' all I can see reading some of the descriptions of LadyEd's facial movements is Robert Pattinson pulling ridiculous faces of disgust.

'"No, I'm not hungry." She smiled as if I was missing some inside joke.' SHE WANTS TO EAT YOU.

I like that in this book, when BeauBella starts to guess, LadyEd genuinely seems concerned he might get it right. But lets be honest, why the hell would someone think there was an actual vampire in the school? Such a ridiculous use of immortality.

'The incongruity of the word dangerous applied to her slim and perfect body.' One, she is wearing a lot of clothes, she may not be 'perfect'. Two, please don't put perfect and slim in the same sentence it freaks my sensitive ego out.

This is a really long chapter. I thought the blood typing and the lunch were separate. AAH.

So yeah, the coming scene was one of my favourite in the original book. I can't wait to see how it plays out here...

The teacher totally stabs McKayla with the prongs, making her bleed with completely zero consent gained.

One issue that instantly arises from BeauBella feeling faint, is that McKayla has to help him out of class. In Twilight, Mike had Bella leaning against him, and I bet that made him feel v manly and strong. Mckayla is obviously shorter than the tall (as we have been told many times) BeauBella, so it doesn't work as well.

'Please let me not vomit on her'.  AHAHA can you imagine?! I threw up on a work colleague's arm when he was taking an extremely drunken me home safely. The poor guy. Luckily, I cannot remember it.

'"I have a weak vasovagal system" I muttered. "It's just a neurally mediated syncope."' Says the boy who has obviously had to explain his none-manly phobia of blood for a while. Also, I have a slight medical training background and I do not know what the last three words mean.

'I wished I felt more normal so I can could appreciate that more - her body touching mine. I knew that under normal circumstances I would be enjoying this.' I bet you would,

'"Oh my" a male voice gasped.' Teeheehee

LadyEd stands a little away from BeauBella when he's in the medical room. 'Her eyes were bright, excited.' She wants to eat you!!!!!!!!

'"People can't smell blood" Edythe contradicted.' There are many people who would like to disagree with you about this. So many people.

'"It warms my cold heart to see you learning so quickly."' In which LadyEd is all of us.

'The smooth roll of her hips was just as hypnotic as her eyes.' I WISH THIS HAD BEEN USED TO DESCRIBE EDWARDS WALK OH MY GOD. Strut, Edward!


CARINE AND ERNEST. I can't remember if their names have already been mentioned (or even if I have already mentioned their names in this post - I wrote half of it 2 week ago) but CARINE AND ERNEST are Carlisle and Esme...

And this ends this chapter. Not quite as dramatic as I was hoping. I wanted LadyEd to sweep BeauBella off his feet,  but oh well!

To Vlog or not to Vlog

I'd love to start vlogging, but seeing as I have never successfully vlogged before, and that I only have my iPhone as a camera, I'm quite scared.

I'd be book vlogging, and it would be pretty irregular, I'm sure. But how to start? What to talk about (well, aside from books obviously!) Would anyone actually watch my videos?!

I'd love to know if anyone who reads this vlogs, or if they know any tips or tricks that might help me. Do you have any favourite vloggers who might inspire me? Let me know :)