BooklyBox Unboxing! May 2017

Getting this box every single month when it arrives in the mail is the best day out of the month, hands down. BooklyBox, if you either haven't read my other unboxing post and/or haven't heard of them before reading this, they are a bookish subscription that sends you a book in a genre of your choice and a couple of other this. Two teas and a bookmark are always included. What the other items are is always a surprise, as well as what kind of teas and the quote/design of the bookmark. And if you want to save some money on your subscription, feel free to use my code and get 20% off. I do make a very small commission off of the link (only $5), so if you don't want to use it, you don't have to.

Every month that I've gotten BooklyBox so far, I've gotten the fantasy box. I may switch it up to a different genre here soon and see what I get from there. But in the meantime, I've been enjoying the fantasy box and have nothing bad to say about this service so far. And if something happens, their customer service so far has been super friendly and respond fairly quickly to emails.

The first thing you see in the box is always the card that shows you where they donated books each month. The greatest thing about this service is that for every book that's bought through them, they donate a book to those in need. Every box I've gotten so far, they have donated to different countries in Africa. This month, it was to Cameroon. There are always facts about the country and statistics. Things like the population, life expectancy, the number of those living with AIDS, the percentage of boys and girls in school participation, the number of children orphaned by AIDS, and more is all found on this card. It's so great that they add this in to help bring awareness to those that don't have the same luxuries that the rest of the world is accustomed to and considered necessary to daily life. It's fairly humbling as well.

The first things I pulled out of this month's bag are the teas. I'm not super fond of earl grey due to the lavender in it but it's nice to have on a super cold day outside. The pumpkin spice I've gotten before as well and I don't think I liked it too much. So I will most likely be giving that to a pumpkin spice lover. Don't get me wrong, I love a good chai. Just not pumpkin spiced flavor. I have a feeling that I will be able to find someone that will appreciate this particular tea, since I know that I won't.

This will be a godsend this summer, I do believe. I work on a computer five days a week in a building that gets very muggy on the inside during the warmer months. We try to keep the humidity out but it always seems to find a way in. So taking this handy little fan that plugs into the tower is going to be very useful. I will probably have to fight everyone around me for it but it's going to be used pretty much every day while I'm there. It also works out because I have been meaning to buy something to take to work with me to try and keep cool outside of the few objects I have at my desk to try and fan myself with. Laminated paper can only go so far before your hand/wrist wear out from all the effort and it just isn't realistic to do it every second for a 40+ hour work week. So excited to get use of of this.

This key chain was the item that was pulled out next. It is super cute. The only thing that I'm curious about it is the little rings hanging off the big ring surrounding the arrow and leather. I don't know what they're meant for. But in the meantime, while I figure that out, I'll just hook it to my keys and have it join them. So far, I couldn't tell you if I love the key chain or the fan more. It's a pretty dang close tie.

This bookmark is so me! The quote on it says, "I can imagine no greater bill that to lie about reading novels all day." The quote this month is from Julia Quinn. I love being lazy on a day off from work and just reading all day long with something to drink close at hand. Depending on the day, it's either a mug of hot tea, an ice cold soda, or home made fruit flavored water (plain water when there's no fruit in the house to put in the water). I have a tendency to just get lost in whatever it is that I'm reading and forget the world around me, where ever it is I'm sitting. If it's nice enough outside, I'll go take my book and a blanket outside and sit in the yard and get some sunshine on my pale skin. No better way to spend the day than with a book.

And finally, the book itself! The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis didn't strike me at first as a fantasy book. I don't really know how to describe it myself, but the description from GoodReads is as follows: "The nation of Garnia has been at war for as long as Auxiliary Lieutenant Josette Dupre can remember – this time against neighboring Vinzhalia. Garnia’s Air Signal Corp stands out as the favored martial child of the King. But though it’s co-ed, women on-board are only allowed “auxiliary” crew positions and are banned from combat. In extenuating circumstances, Josette saves her airship in the heat of battle. She is rewarded with the Mistral, becoming Garnia’s first female captain.

She wants the job – just not the political flak attached. On top of patrolling the front lines, she must also contend with a crew who doubts her expertise, a new airship that is an untested deathtrap, and the foppish aristocrat Lord Bernat – a gambler and shameless flirt with the military know-how of a thimble. He’s also been assigned to her ship to catalog her every moment of weakness and indecision. When the Vins make an unprecedented military move that could turn the tide of the war, can Josette deal with Bernat, rally her crew, and survive long enough to prove herself to the top brass?"

So I'm relatively interested to see how this book plays out. Not something I would have grabbed for myself but seems like it would be a good read. The blurb on the front cover from Patricia Briggs says, "Full of sass and terrific characters. Great storytelling. Loved it." I'm always down for a sassy comment or two, so this book may be just up my alley after all.

If you subscribe to BooklyBox, let me know in the comments below what you got in this month's box. I'd love to know. If you don't already but will be getting your first box, let me know that, too, so I can be excited for you!

Your kindred bookmate,

Cassie