Unboxing: My Bookish Crate September 2016

It doesn’t happen often, but I am super duper excited to present to you guys another UK book box.

My Bookish Crate has been around for a while, and they are probably most known for the amazing Housepride box they did. (Seriously, look it up)

I noticed them long before, but it wasn’t until this September that I actually ordered one.

And with a theme like “Glamour & Secrets”, how could I possibly resist?

(Hint: I couldn’t. At all)

As a cat lover, their logo makes me all fuzzy inside. 😻

The box is £28 + shipping, and they offer single purchases, month-to-month and prepaid 3 and 6 month subscriptions.

Note: The monthly subscription renews on the 25th of every month, which makes it unavailable as an option to me.

This is by far the most annoying thing about the box, and that is really just me being extremely bad at managing my money.

I would, however, strongly urge the My Bookish Crate team to look into changing the renewal day to the 1st of each month instead.

Maybe that’s just me, though. Do you guys prefer specific renewal days?

It should come as no surprise that I am a complete sucker for gorgeous spoiler cards.

Part of the appeal of the different themes is the artwork that accompanies each box. This counts for every book box subscription and I love collecting them.

And there’s nothing like a card that can double as an art print.

😍

I’m a fan.

THE ITEMS:

With a lovely scent of raspberry and vanilla, this handmade golden marble soap from Geeky Clean was made exclusively for this box.

I’m a big fan of Geekyclean’s products, and I’ve loved every item from them.

Their simple beauty products are high quality, and smells positively delicious. Plus they cover a lot of fandoms.

Even if you’re not into the book box business, I recommend give them a once-over if you’re part of any fandom at all. Or if you just like vegan, cruelty free, handmade products.

From Book&Nook comes some cute little wax melts that should remind me of Central Park’s last standing tree.

I believe this is a reference to the chosen book, but I could be wrong. 🤔

In all honesty, I am really not into the whole wax melt craze. However, I have to admit that these at least look super cute.

Designed by a very talented TJ Lubrano, this pocket mirror fits right into the rest of the box.

Confession Time: when I was younger I used to draw girls like the on on the design above. I have sketchpads filled with doodles of manga-esque eyes, and I’m actually struck with a kind of fond melancholia as I look at this mirror.

From the My Bookish Crate Team comes these two gorgeous bookish pins with completely relatable quotes on them. In case you can’t read it:

Black Pin:

I tried to beat my reading addiction… Worst two minutes of my life.

White Pin:

A book is a dream you hold in your hands.

I love bookish quotes, and I welcome them dearly.

From Pretty Drastic the box includes a gorgeous set of stardust earrings.

I’ve been obsessed with stars for as long as I remember, so whenever a box include an item like this, I get all starry eyed.

😂😂😂

Get it? STARRY eyed… 😅😅😅

I crack myself up.

Unfortunately, one of my earrings made a Houdini and broke, not only from its bag, but also from the box itself.

Whenever I experience shipping issues, I like to make the subscription aware of it. Sometimes it’s packaging issues, other times the courier couldn’t care less about my parcels, and other times I just have really crappy luck.

Regardless, I often send a message to make the founders aware, and I am continually stunned at how fast their costumer service works. I almost didn’t dare ask, but since these earrings are really gorgeous I kinda wanted the whole set.

So when they told me that they’d send a new set, I practically beamed with gratitude.

Note: if you’ve read a few of my unboxings, you know how unlucky I’ve been. International shipping is a pain. So many things can go wrong, and in many cases it’s completely out of the book box team’s hands.

Amazing customer service can make or break a company for me. Even when things go bad, it’s all in how the problem is handled that determines whether I come back or decide to use my money elsewhere.

And I have to admit that My Bookish Crate acted beautifully.

A+ on that front.

Speaking of My Bookish Crate; how gorgeous is this simple poster they designed? I love it. The fonts, the quote, the colors. It’s beautiful.

I already decided that my roommate doesn’t need to have framed pictures around. Obviously I need the frame more 😅

(I know… I’m horrible)

And finally, the book. But before I reveal it, can we just take a moment to appreciate the care that went into this box?

I mean… Look at the colors!

There’s something visually appealing about the contents fitting into the black/yellow/white/purple color scheme.

I wanted to do something special for the unboxing of this box, but I really didn’t need to. Just laying there it looks amazing.

😍😍😍

I am very excited to see whether they continue in this vein or not. Technically speaking, it’s not needed for the box to be amazing, but I certainly appreciated the effort.

Alright, moving on…

The featured book is “The Thousandth Floor” by Katharine McGee. It’s explained as a sort of futuristic Gossip Girl.

I’m very excited to read this.

The book was also accompanied by a letter from the author, and as silly as it is, I loved that had such a simple font.

I love reading letters and interviews, but some lettering is so hard to read. Maybe it’s because I’m bilingual—I don’t know.

But just as a hint for the future: the interview and letters are only fun if I can actually read it.

😶

Look at it. Look. Even the fricking letter fits into the color scheme.

Gahh.

The Verdict:

I. Am. In. Love.

In fact, I am continually amazed at how different bookboxes manages to give their own spin on the same concept.

I know they each continue to grow, but at the bare bones I really hope they continue with what makes them unique.

For My Bookish Crate what really stood out to me was the matching colors.

Besides that, I also liked how they incorporated both something bookish (the pins with the quotes) but also so many things that related to the chosen book.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved some Lunar Chronicles goodies (I mean, I can’t even count my book boyfriends from that series on one hand) but I kinda appreciated that it all—and I’m totally assuming—fit with the chosen book.

Of course, one could argue that the secret of the book is kinda moot when there’s a poster with the books name and a quote on it, but since nothing seemed to stray from that book and into other fandoms, I didn’t mind.

What can I say? I love themes.

Now, would I change anything?

Not as such. A bit tweaking here and there might improve the experience. A pouch, or a mini box that could contain the book might work better than the gift wrap in terms of suspense.

Maybe some designated fandom hashtags for the chosen book? Since the box is all about the feels, sharing them might be worth considering. 🤔

Obviously, all these bookboxes have made my mind work overtime with ideas 😅 please stop me.

The November theme is Alice in Wonderland, and I’m expecting it to sell out insanely quickly, so you should probably hurry over to mybookishcrate.com if you want one.