{Stacking the Shelves} Book Riot Quarterly Box #2

The second Book Riot Quarterly subscription box arrived at my house earlier this week, and I must say, while I wasn't too happy with the first box, I found that I was much happier with this one! First off, it included a really cool poster as an extra, which I will be putting up on my wall ASAP:

Next up, of course, were the books. Book Riot had teased on their website that some lucky subscribers would be receiving one of five possible ARCs, and I was one of them! The ARC I received was Gemini by Carol Cassella, which actually came out March 4th (the Goodreads ratings are high on this one, so I'm looking forward to starting it!) The main feature of the box was a copy of Judging A Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto, which features some separate bonus pages from the author (exclusive to subscribers of Book Riot Quarterly!) Finally, there was also a novella, Parnassus On Wheels by Christopher Morley, which I thought looked fantastic - I've never had a stand-alone novella in print format before (usually they're either dispersed as eBooks, or in anthologies), so this was a nice surprise.

While I admit, the books are the main part of this box, I still think that it's the bookish extras that are what make or break the purchase - anyone can go out and buy copies of the included books at their local bookstore, but it's the hand-picked goodies that really make things special. I know that I complained about the calendar in the first box (which I stopped using after January 7th, by the way), but opening this second box actually put me in a much better mood. This box included a coffee mug featuring the titles of some banned books, a tin container filled with place-markers for your books, a "Yay! Books!" magnet, and a USB flash drive that introduces the idea of Short Story Thursdays.

I've been using the mug everyday at work - I think it looks great! I haven't used the book-markers yet, but the book I'm reading right now is on the Kindle, so they aren't necessary just yet. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with this box, but I've decided to call it quits for now - $50 is just too much for me right now, and since I really need a car, this expense just isn't worth it to me right now. Let me know if you've subscribed, that way I know where to find out what's in box #3 when it's out!

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{In My Mailbox} Book Riot Quarterly Box #1

A Meme by The Story Siren &
Stacking The Shelves, A Meme by Tynga's Reviews

Woohoo!!! My first box for Book Riot Quarterly arrived in the mail on Christmas Eve! I know I'm posting this super late, but better late than never, right? I decided to make this post because I know that many of you may be curious as to what goodies the Quarterly Box would contain before actually subscribing, especially since the price is pretty steep ($50 per box - eeek!!)

I myself was curious to see what kind of items it would contain, and was especially excited to see what book would be included. Luckily, it was a book I didn't have, and one that was already on my TBR list after hearing Michael Kindness talk about it on the Books on the Nightstand podcast. The book?

Lexicon by Max Barry

What makes this box special is that the book (a hardcover) includes a handwritten letter from the author, as well as sticky notes from the author hidden throughout the book that portray the thoughts that went through his mind while writing the novel. Sadly, the book itself is not signed, but the letter is. Here are some pics:

Other items that were included in the box were: The Book Lover's 2014 Page-A-Day Calendar, a Make A Point Pencil Set, & an E.E. Cummings Mini Notebook. There was also a promo poster and an book excerpt. Honestly, I'm really glad that Lexicon is something I've really been wanting to read, and the notebook and pencils are useful and cute, but I could really have done without the page-a-day calender. I'm not sure as to whether or not I'll continue this subscription, since the $50 price tag is too steep for me, but it may be worth checking out for those of you who can afford it. The book itself is what makes or breaks the box, and in this instance I was happy with their choice.

What do you think - would this be something you'd be interesting in subscribing to?

If you aren't already aware, Book Riot has a podcast out that features the latest and greatest news in the book world & publishing industry. Check it out - I highly recommend it!

{Influenster} Naturals VoxBox 2012

Okay, so I'm a little excited because today I just received my first VoxBox from Influenster! Influenster is a site where you can create an account to receive free product samples in exchange for honestly reviewing the products you receive (products are a mixture of full-size and sample-size items). All of these products were received for testing purposes. I can't wait to try each and every one of these products! Here's what I got, if you're curious:

• The Original Dish Drying Mat
• LypSyl Intense Protection LypMoisturizer
• EBOOST
• CleanWell Individual Hand Sanitizer Wipes
• GEODEO Natural Deoderant Plus Detox Complex
• NECTRESSE Sweetener
• Desert Essence Coconut Shine & Refine Lotion

All of these products sound interesting, and I can't wait to try them out! I'll be making a post in the future with a brief review of each product, for those of you that may be interested. I think I'm most excited to try the Coconut Shine & Refine Lotion by Desert Essence - my hair could really use the shine!

Now, the Influenster site just got re-vamped, and I think it looks great - it's a whole lot more interactive! I love the new points system, where members can earn points for writing reviews and posting them either on YouTube, their personal blog, or even the Influenster site. Sometimes it can take a while for your earned points to update, but as this is a brand new feature, I'm sure the kinks will be worked out. Right now, I'm really digging it!

So, are any of you guys signed up with Influenster?