Book Riot Quarterly Box #7 (Recieved 6/10/15)

So my husband gets Loot Crate and I love it, the idea of some random fun stuff being delivered every month, so I started looking for a book related subscription box, and my choices were Powell Books or Book Riot Quarterly.
Book Riot comes out 4 times a year and costs $50 per shipment.  It was described as "The theme of Book Riot's mailings is The Reading Life. Each box contains a great book and a bunch of other bookish stuff that readers will love."
Powell's is every 6 weeks and costs $39.95 per shipment.  It was described as "Powell's subscription club delivers the best new books, with special attention to independent publishers. Signed first editions. Inventive, original sets. Exclusive printings.... Every six to eight weeks, another installment to read and admire."
Two other options I tossed pretty early on was the Book Riot YA quarterly and Owl crate.  Both are YA genre's which I read, but they felt limiting to me.

I debated long and hard about which subscription to go with, but I finally settled on Book Riot's because the reviews of the boxes sent had more stuff in it that I thought I would like.  I placed my order in March and I waited impatiently for my first box to arrive.  The Theme for Box #7 was "Technology, the Future and Reading."  When the mailman arrived today with my box, I opened it all giddy and super excited, but I was really disappointed by what I found inside.

First there was the book riot letter explaining what was included in the box (and because I wasn't one of the lucky randomly selected subscribers, what bonus items I didn't get.)

The first book included was The World Exchange by Alena Graedon ($15.95).  Let letter describes it as "a near-ish future cyberpunk novel."  It seems the premise is that handheld technology has replaces books/newspapers/libraries.  There as always are a few die-hard fans of print and they are struggling to publish the last edition of the North American Dictionary of the English Language.  Right before it is to be published the editor-in-chief goes missing, apparently along with words themselves.  The protagonist is his daughter Anana Johnson, so of course she and a friend set out to find out her father and the words. It sounds like an interesting concept, I will happily give it a shot.

Included also was the "bonus item" of a special coda written after then end of the the book, I think that it was the weird 1 page letter thing included, so I stuck it at the end of the book, maybe once I read the book it will make sense.  There was a second bonus item that I did not receive which was a "Word Flu Prevention Kit."  I tried googling it, but couldn't find out what it was.  :(

The second book was Smarter Than You Think by Clive Barker ($17.00).  This appears to be a non fiction book about if technology is making us dumber, I think the conclusion is no.  It seems like an ok read, not something I would have picked up on my own for sure though.

It included a bonus item of an online essay by Clive Barker about reading War and Peace on an e-reader vs a real book.  I got about halfway through it and was bored, hopefully the book holds my attention better than the essay.

Also included was a Grid-It Organizer ($11.99), it is small 5x7, so will fit well in my purse.  It has a bunch of elastic loops interwoven together, and it market as holding all your stuff (phone, cords, pens, etc.) in place in your bag.  Its an interesting concept, not sure if it will be useful, but I'll give it a shot, I always am looking for better ways to organize my purse.

Final item was a Pop Chart Lab Literary Genres Map Poster ($29).  This was the item I think I liked best from the box, it immediately went up on the wall in my office.  It just looks so cool!

There was also a coupon for $20 off Book Riot Live event in New York in November of 2015.  I will not be attending this event so this coupon was useless to me, but I guess it does add value to the box. Shhh.... and if you read my blog and are going, I am sure you can use the code.

There was potential to get one of two bonus books Symphony for the City of Dead by MT Anderson or Fat Girl Walking by Brittany Gibbons, I didn't get either of those either.  :(

So the total value was $93.94, although because I can't use the coupon, my value was only $73.94.  I got my monies worth technically.  I guess I was disappointed because when I looked through the previous boxes, there were notes from authors and cooler goodies, than an online essay.  I felt a little cheated because I had built it up so much in my mind I suppose.  I had really debated and Book Riot had seemed to have cooler book related items than Powell's, and the only item I got that I really liked was the poster, it just seemed like a bit of a cope out.  There was nothing I hated, it just didn't live up to my expectations I guess.  I'll give it one more go, but if I don't like the September box I will cancel and try Powell's after all.

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #2) by Ransom Riggs (Read 5/25/15 to 6/7/15)

This is the second book in the peculiar children series.  It wasn't as good a read as the first one.   It picks up immediately where the first book left off after the island was bombed, and they children had rescued Miss Peregrine.  The children are trying to find other Ymbrynes to change her back from bird form.  They are traveling to London in the 1940's trying to find another loop.  The story just seemed to meander about and take a lot of useless turns, there were still the great old pictures, but they didn't seem as perfect as the first time around and didn't add to the story the way they did with the first book.  The character development was minimal, in fact I was a little annoyed that Jacob seemed to consider himself and expert on peculiars' and the peculiar children he was traveling with, especially Emma, for goodness sake he had known them only a week and only found out he was a peculiar at the same time.  It was annoying what an "expert" he seemed to have become.  I'm not saying it was a bad book, I liked it, I just had higher expectations from the first book.  I will still read the thrid book, but I won't expect as much from it and maybe I will enjoy it more.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson (read 5/5/15 to 5/25/15)

This was a book of the month (BOTM) selection for "Off the Wall" reads.
This was not a hit with me.  The story is set on another planet, that is similar to Earth, but is not Earth.  The society on this planet has divided into the secular and non-secular worlds.  The Secular world is all math based and not a religion, but acts a lot like a religious order to me.  The story line was so dull, with so many unfamiliar big words, that it made it really hard to even start.   There was too much background, but doesn't it didn't help to ease the reader into the story at all.

I tried listening to the audio book and that helped a little, but I couldn't retain anything.  So I switched back to reading and surprisingly that made the reading a little easier. I continued to switch between the physical book and the audio book for the remainder of the read.
The reading got better also once they stopped talking about the architecture and left the monastery, because there was an actual story, not just philosophy based on math theories.  throughout the book there is so much philosophy, but it feels disjointed and thrown in at the most random times.  I have to say this book makes me feel stupid. The theoretical discussions go so over my head that my eyes glaze over and I absorb nothing.  I feel like I'm missing out on a ton of stuff just because I can't follow the theories.  Some in my group really loved this tome of a math theory, but it was not a great read for me.  In fact at times I absolutely dreaded reading for the week because this was just such a tedious read for me.  I think that if you really enjoy and intellectual, deep read, that makes you contemplate our place in the cosmos and in reality yourself, this is a read for you.  But if you are reading for a story, then this is not the story for you, the story plays second fiddle to the philosophy, and it is a complicated and hard to follow philosophy.

Hidden in Paris by Corine Gantz (read 4/25/15 to 5/1/15)

This book was okay. The writing was good, which always makes the reading easier when the storyline isn't always the best. The writer states this was self published in there may have been typos, thankfully there were any I didn't notice. The characters were incomplete , but could have been really good if flushed out.  Everything did wrap up an awfully nice bow at the end though. Everyone got their man to move towards happily ever after. That classifies this is a romance to me, it was a bit disappointing.   Also the author focus a lot of time and energy on the first month, then the remaining six months flew by with barely anything. I don't think she did a bad thing and spending more time on this months me slowed the storyline to crawl, but felt unbalanced to me.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (read 4/12/15 to 4/25/15)

This is the looking back on his life not so sure it was so fulfilling as he thought. He missed out on love, because of his duty. He seems like a caring enough man, but he was always so formal, and no one in. For goodness sake's he was proud he kept doing his job even as his father died.  He was blind to the world around him. Lord Darlington was taken as a fool by the Nazis and Stephen was blinded by his love and loyalty.  It made me a little sad that he missed out on so much of choices, black anyone they seemed right at the time. At the time that is the risk of life's choices. It was an okay read. The page for me, in fact I thought so, but when I was reading it, it was okay. I can see how some would love it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by LewisCarroll (read 4/1/15 to 3/12/15)

This book made me do something I haven't done in ages, write notes in margins and highlight passages.  I recognize most events and Alice in Wonderland and a few from Through the Looking Glass. Looking Glass was really hard to get through, story line was more nonsensical then Wonderland.  It just didn't hold my attention. I'm sure I will read this to my kids though. Great coming-of-age story for the growth of Alice from a child to an adult completely eluded me though.  It was a fun light read, that seemed whimsical and silly, exactly something my 6 year old would love.  The idea that this talks about growing up and a child's perception of the world through aging eyes is just as nonsensical to me as the story itself.  I liked it, I just couldn't see the underlying message.  I think that if I read it again to my kids for just the story and not for a hidden meaning, I will enjoy it more

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman (Read 3/27-4/1)

I was a little unsure about reading another Alice Hoffman book because I disliked Practical Magic.  But the Red Garden was much better than I expected.  This is essential a book of short stories that revolve around a town in Massachusetts, starting with its founding in 1750 and continuing until the 1990's.

The first story "The Bear's House" is about the founding families and how the town comes to be.  It revolves around Hallie Brady, who perseverance and gumption prevents everyone from starving and surviving their first winter.  In the process she befriends a bear cub and the magic of Blackwell begins.  The remainder of the stories follow her decendants until the present, each with their own short story.

The premise was good, but it all felt stilted, I didn't really connect with any of the characters and therefore didn't really connect with the book.  It was a meh read for me.