Yesterday afternoon, my Quarterly Literary Box for winter arrived. I had completely forgotten about my subscription to the Quarterly Literary Box, making it an even bigger surprise. Here in Portland, where it seems like winter will never end, I need books and coffee to keep my days sunny.
For those of you not familiar with Quarterly, they are a company that sends out seasonal subscription boxes on a variety of topics. I subscribe to the Adult Literary Box, but they also have boxes themed to YA lit, culinary, crafts, tech, et.. They have tons of different themes, and not all are book related.
What I love most about the Quarterly Literary Box, is each season, the box is curated by a different author. The fall 2016 box was curated by Brit Bennett, author of The Mothers, and this winter box was curated by Kayla Rae Whitaker.
Here is the included note from Whitaker.
The featured item is an annotated copy of Whitaker's latest novel, The Animators. The bad news is I have already read The Animators, having recieved an advanced readers copy. The good news is I absolutely loved Whitaker's novel and I'm looking forward to reading through her annotations ( done specifically for Quarterly subscribers), before passing the book along.
Check out my review of The Animators.
As curator, Whitaker picked two additional books by other authors to include in the box. I was not familiar with either book, however, I have read other books by Maggie Nelson. My Quarterly subscription is a bit like going on a blind date, but with books. I love it!
The last inclusions were non-book items, yet related to the theme. For example, last month, Bennett included a mug with a quote from her book. Whitaker chose to include a bookmark and colored pencils. This works to the theme of her novel, with her main characters both animators. I'm not into crafts, but this was a fun addition, although I think I like how the bookmark looks in black and white. What's a bit special about this bookmark, is its designer is Julie Doucet, a cartoonist, or as Whitaker mentions in her letter "Trailblazing cartoonist". I've never heard of Doucet, but it seems to be a well-thought out inclusion for her box. Besides, I can never have too many bookmarks.
On a whole, I'm very happy with my winter 2017 Quarterly Literary Box. I can't wait to read Whitaker's picks and to see what comes in the mail for spring. I'm going to try to forget about my subscription, so that in three months, I have another "happy-snail-mail-surprise-day."