UPDATE - this subscription no longer exists. Check out this alternative from Book Riot.
Book Riot by Quarterly is a seasonal subscription box made for book lovers. In each box they include a mix of bookish things, plus at least one or two books. (Sometimes three).
This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Book Riot by Quarterly
The Cost: $50 a box (ships every quarter) plus $8 shipping to the U.S.
The Products: Books and book-related items selected by Book Riot
Ships to: US and Worldwide (Additional shipping costs for International shipping)
Check out all of my Book Riot Quarterly Box reviews!
Each Quarterly Box comes with a letter from the curator detailing the items included and why each was selected. A quote from Book Riot on this theme:
We're capping off the year by highlighting a few of the best new voices on the scene.
Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam - Retail Value $16 (On Amazon for $14.40)
Book Summary from Amazon:
• Short-listed for the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize •
“A Brooklyn-by-way-of-Bangladesh Royal Tenenbaums.”—The Denver Post
A vibrant debut novel, set in Brooklyn and Bangladesh, follows three young women and one family struggling to make peace with secrets and their past
For as long as she can remember, Ella has longed to feel at home. Orphaned as a child after her parents’ murder, and afflicted with hallucinations at dusk, she’s always felt more at ease in nature than with people. She traveled from Bangladesh to Brooklyn to live with the Saleems: her uncle Anwar, aunt Hashi, and their beautiful daughter, Charu, her complete opposite. One summer, when Ella returns home from college, she discovers Charu’s friend Maya—an Islamic cleric’s runaway daughter—asleep in her bedroom.
As the girls have a summer of clandestine adventure and sexual awakenings, Anwar—owner of a popular botanical apothecary—has his own secrets, threatening his thirty-year marriage. But when tragedy strikes, the Saleems find themselves blamed. To keep his family from unraveling, Anwar takes them on a fated trip to Bangladesh, to reckon with the past, their extended family, and each other.
Dryland by Sara Jaffe - Retail Value $14.95 (On Amazon for $11.83)
Book Summary from Amazon:
Sara Jaffe's engrossing debut novel, Dryland, is a smart coming-of-age novel that charts the murky waters of adolescence.
Anything can happen when Julie hits the water.
It’s 1992, and the world is caught up in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the Balkan Wars, but for Julie Winter, 15, the news is noise. In Portland, Oregon, Julie moves through her days in a series of negatives: the skaters she doesn’t think are cute, the Guatemalan backpack she doesn’t buy at the craft fair, the umbrella she refuses to carry despite the incessant rain. Her family life is routine and restrained, and no one talks about Julie’s older brother, a one-time Olympic hopeful swimmer who now lives in self-imposed exile in Berlin. Julie has never considered swimming herself, until Alexis, the swim team captain, tries to recruit her. It's a dare, and a flirtation―and a chance for Julie to find her brother, or to finally let him go.
Book Riot also included these exclusive postcards that tie into each book. (And there's a bookmark from Strand Books too).
Make Reading Great Again - Value $15?
This is an exclusive item made with Strand Books for the box. To quote their letter, "of all the custom items we've created for the Quarterly box, this one's the trump card."
365 New Words A Year Page-A-Day Calendar - Retail Value $14 (On Amazon for $11.70)
I think this is a great item for an end-of-the-year book box! Plus it would make a great gift too.
Novel Teas – Value $2.50
The tags on these tea bags all have different book related quotes on them! (These were also featured in the first Book Riot YA Box).
FYI: 50 lucky subscribers will get a bonus item in this box: I'll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones and Paul Morley.
Verdict: This box has a value of about $56 if you count the discounted Amazon prices for the books. I think that's a pretty good value for this subscription, and in line with what you should expect if you are thinking about subscribing. This isn't a value box, as much as it is a curation box. I think Book Riot does a good job at curation and getting books in my hands that push me out of my reading comfort zone, so I value that!
What do you think of #BKR09?
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