I recently set myself a monthly reading goal. Better late than never, right? I’ve always loved reading but thought I would up my game a little by being a tad bit more consistent. Reading is the backbone of a good writer. So ultimately, the goal for me is to stay current on what’s out there, strengthen my writing, and breed new ideas.

I want to say that getting in the habit of reading and writing every day is a challenge. So I thought I would set up realistic goals to help achieve them. It turned out to be very empowering – I set a goal of four books minimum a month, check a mental box when I have one down, update my Instagram (@l.m.durand) because I love it, and go on an exciting book hunt. Awesome, right!? At least, it is for me. 🙂

I recently made a purchase that slightly changed my reading experience. I started out with a beautiful picture on Instagram and ended with a box in my mail – Its name: Owlcrate.

What’s that? Let me tell you.

To All Book Lovers, Indulge Yourself with This Monthly Book Subscription

– Owlcrate – 

How it started.

Two months ago, I came across a picture of an open box stuffed with a beautiful hardcover book and Young Adult books related goodies inside.

And I thought of Christmas.

A warm and fuzzy feeling came to me along with the vivid memory of my big brother waking me up at 6:00 am. I’ve never been a morning person (my brother was… still is). On any other days, this would have ended up with our parents grounding us both in our room, but not that day.

On Christmas Day, nothing could have kept me in bed. He would tell me all about Santa dropping lots of presents under the tree and his master plan to get our parents down there. We weren’t allowed to open the presents before my parents get downstairs mostly because they wanted to capture our faces on camera.

So to increase our chances (AKA decrease our waiting time), we would team up to wake them up the earliest we could without pissing them off. That was the trickiest part. We always felt stronger united against adversity. And, getting my parents down there at 6:00 am was as close we could get to adversity, especially when you’re 5.

It’s funny how I now recognize that look on their face. The one that says “I love you, kid, but it’s way too early. Damn it! It’s Christmas and can’t say no.” That’s Karma, I guess. Truthfully, we never had to fight hard but did feel like it. Sorry, I digress.

What’s that fuss around it?

Have you heard of monthly book subscription box?? Well, there are boxes for any type of books or a specific targeted audience (i.e. Romance, thrillers, children’s books…). But, the one I saw was for Young Adult novels, which happens to be my target audience.

I love these books and can devour them at a very fast pace.

Owlcrate kind of fell on my lapses without asking. I saw very pretty pictures on Instagram, unboxing videos and decided to give it a try. For all book lovers out there, how would you like to have Christmas? Or a birthday present every month? Well, this is how it feels for me.

What is Owlcrate?

Owlcrate is a monthly YA subscription box that is delivered to your door every month. It contains a newly released YA novel along with 4 to 6 YA book-related goodies.

How cool is that?

This audience targets anyone who is 14 and up. You can select a single purchase on past boxes and see if there are any boxes you like. You can also go for some adventure and subscribe for a 1, 3, 6 or 12-month subscription.

Owlcrate isn’t the only company to offer this type of service, but I like them a lot. I also liked Fairyloot a lot, but it’s a UK-based company. Shipping cost to the U.S. is quite expensive. Maybe if I start making money writing… one day, one day…

Anyway, there are many companies like them, and it’s always good to check them out. Just to name a few: Unicorncrate – This box’s membership was sold out and it was more what I was looking for initially, which is YA Fantasy.  Illumicrate and Uppercase Box are also great ones.

Why is this awesome to me?

– First of all, because I enjoy having a book related to my writingdelivered to my door  every month. But even if it’s not fantasy, it helps me with the youthful narrative and other things I can learn on writing a YA novel.

– Because I did not pick the book, which makes me read books that I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. And it’s an enriching experience.

– Because I get lots of great goodies that even my kid love. RIP to a green ball bath my 3 year-old threw in his bath. He asks his dad who had no idea what it was, so within the hour I had received it, it was gone. Apparently my kid thought it was a cool green and he wanted to be a monster. He had the best bath ever, so I guess that was a better use for it than what I could’ve done with it. 🙂

– Because I can use the goodies to take really cool pictures for Instagram, and most times for Twitter and Facebook. 🙂

– Because I connect with book lovers like me who have the same type of subscription and we discuss the books received. This is awesome because these readers are the ones I would love to have for readers. They tell me what they like and what they didn’t, which helps me figure out a little more on what or how to write on a specific topic.

– Because it’s awesome to get to unwrap one of these boxes – it’s like Christmas every month. Santa got competition right there.

Overall, this is a great experience, and I would recommend to any book lovers. I’m sure you can find the type of books you enjoy the most and find the right box for you. It’s also a great present.

The subscription isn’t awfully high especially when you get two books in the same month, but that’s not common, and it’s probably going to be still high for some. If you can afford it, I don’t really see a downside to these boxes, especially because there are so many different boxes and for everyone. Check out Cratejoy.

Note: I bought Owlcrate myself and opinions published in this post are my own.

 
Thanks for reading! I’m a YA Fantasy writer who loves books beyond words. I’d love to hear about you. Connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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