I was reading an article on BuzzFeed  about “the geekiest subscription boxes” and Owlcrate caught my eye.

Normally, I’m not into YA novels. When I was a teenager back in the 80s, YA novels meant endless books on high school shit problems — and why did I want to read those when I was dealing with high school problems in real life?

No thanks; give me science fiction and (adult) romance novels!

And this was pretty much my attitude into adult times.

Twilight? GTFO.

Harry Potter was good when it was a Juvenile novel, but the minute it turned YA, it started sucking hard.

HP and the Half-Blood Prince, I’m looking at you.

HP and the Order of the Phoenix is actually my fave of the entire series, because to me, CAPSLOCK!Harry was actually realistic —  until Rowling said he was acting that way because Voldemort was possessing him. Sigh. And here I thought it was Harry finally growing a pair and becoming less passive. Silly me.

I read The Hunger Games and I loved it; but it didn’t inspire me to run out read Divergent; let alone the rest of its own series. (Seen The Hunger Games movies though.)

But I’ve decided to read more YA novels after thoroughly enjoying a YA novel called Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan that I thoroughly LOVED. Mainly because I’m obsessed with Restoration England, and it pretty much got the historical characters spot on, and I LOVED the heroines. Even the one who has the “girliest” ambition of wanting to get married, has way more depth and development to her than even most female characters in mainstream novels.

(I must write about my favorite Restoration movies/novels/television shows sometime this year.)

And that book turned my thoughts around about YA this past fall, and I’ve resolved to try and find some more YA books that I will love.

So when I read the article about Owlcrate, I was hesitant to subsrcibe to it, even with the neat swag that comes with each crate — I mean, tea? candles? tiny notebooks to write in? I was champing at the bit, yet still hesitant to make a committment.

Then I remembered I had a credit from Ebay for a package the seller never sent, and I decided to use that money towards the $29.99 + TAX box.

It arrived yesterday:

OMG THE ANTICIPATION!

OMG OMG OMG LOOKEE AT ALL THE CUTE STUFF! AND A BOOK! SQUEEEELELVENTY!!!

OMG the book! I’ve never heard of Da Vinci’s Tiger before, but it’s set in the court of Lorenzo de Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent), AND THAT’S ANOTHER OF MY FAVE HISTORICAL PERIODS!

(I really need to write about Historial Eras that I’m obsessed with.)

I started reading a little bit last night, and I’m already loving the heroine, Ginevra de’ Benci. This is a good sign.

And look! Magnets! Poetry magnets that relate to the book!

I’ve already been inspired to play with them this morning:

The new ones are on top; that set below is one I’ve had since forever of the original set of Poetry Magnets. (Actually, I think its a booster set; I got it from the thrift store ages ago, and it came on that magnetized board someome made themselves.)

Speaking of magnets, the box also came with this cute magnet:

It’s The Little Prince and the fox! So adorable! Sandra Vargas does amazing work – I had a card of hers for a long time back in the day – and am pleased to find out she has a shop on Etsy! I will be ordering something soon!

OMG THIS CANDLE! It’s called Reading at the Cafe, and it smells just like coffee and chocolate! (Moca Latte?) The card also has a discount for a candle on the back, and Frostbeard Studio also has a store on Etsy!

I loved the What I Read notebook so much that I’ve already started answering questions in it (ex. “Books that you want to read this year”).

The only thing that is a miss for me is the little “To Do” notepad. But I have a friend who will love a cute little octopus notepad! So not a total loss after all!

Especially in comparison to Loot Crate — where I’ve gotten more than one thing I didn’t like in their boxes! November’s box almost made me cancel – Thank God December was the GALAXY box with Han Fucking Solo as a Funko Pop! (There was more that I liked but, Han Solo FTW!)

— end rant —

So I’ve decided to take the $30 bucks a month I normally spend on comics/graphic novels, and spend it on an Owlcrate each month.

I realized that I wasn’t reading all the comics/graphic novels I was buying, and decided to invest in some books and Lit!Swag. Even if I end up not liking a couple of books in a year, I still get SWAG that I totally want — for the most part!

Oh, and how could I resist this month’s cute description card:

That’s a Funko Pop Snape upon the mantle! And a Gryffindor scarf on the wall (although, I have to say, GO SLYTHERIN!) And lookee the cute black kitteh in the chair!

See you soon!