I have subscribed to NINE book boxes over the last 4 months. Yes, 9! I am a maniac. I know it sounds like a lot (and it is), but reading is one of my great loves in life, and I really wanted to seek out the BEST book boxes and then settle on just a few of my favorites. I researched reviews online, but because it is really hard to predict what will come next in a book box, I just said fuck it and tried every single one that appealed to me. The Cozy Reader Club was one of them. I have lucked out so far in not receiving any book duplicates! There are now about another 3 or 4 book boxes that have come out that I am interested in, but it is going to have to wait until I sift through what I’ve already ordered. I generally don’t care for YA (Young Adult) book subscriptions, although I do read YA books from time to time. I just couldn’t get into Harry Potter or the Twilight Series – I am more of a smut and horror girl. 😉
The Cozy Reader Club is $64.95/month, and I just received an email that they are going to start charging a $9.99 flat fee shipping rate for US customers (it used to be included in the price of the subscription) on July 1, 2016:
Because of the rising costs of shipping, the Cozy Reader Club will no longer be offering free shipping within the United States. However, this change will not affect existing subscribers, as long as your subscription remains active. Starting July 1st, 2016, we will charge a nominal flat rate of $9.99 for shipping per month within the US*. The shipping rates for other countries will remain the same. If you do decide to cancel your subscription and reactivate at a later date, the new monthly shipping charge will apply at the time of reactivation.
To see more details about the logistics of this box subscription, you can go to my first review here.
Cozy Reader Club Review, May 2016
I can’t wait to see what is in this box each month!! Sometimes I run across a spoiler for the book included, but I never know what other things will be included, and that makes it that much more exciting!
Always a nice presentation. I think packaging is half of the appeal for me!
The Cozy Reader Club is one of the most expensive book boxes out there, but it is also one of the best. You get what you pay for, right? What I really like is all the high end items you get along with the book. Most subscriptions include some sort of cheap book swag (or just the books alone), but the Cozy Reader Club curators spend a lot of time picking out really high-end stuff like luxurious bath products, handmade items like scarves & gloves, and premium coffees, teas and cocoas! It just doesn’t get any better than that! I like the variety too. For instance, I like tea, but I don’t want just tea. I like to change things up.
The Cozy Reader Club May 2016 Box in all it’s glory!
Here is the insert card with the breakdown. The retail value of this month’s box is $86.94. That is a $21.99 extra value for subscribers – which is REALLY good for a book box. Even with the new shipping charge add, it would still be an added value of $12.04. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can get the book cheaper with free shipping, but you still pay sales tax, and if you consider the tax/shipping for ordering all the other items separately, the value of the box is still there.
This month’s book selection is “Eligible” by Curtis Sittenfeld. Here is the overview from Amazon:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Wonderfully tender and hilariously funny, Eligibletackles gender, class, courtship, and family as Curtis Sittenfeld reaffirms herself as one of the most dazzling authors writing today.
This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray. Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s fortieth birthday fast approaches. Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming…and yet, first impressions can be deceiving.
Although I am interested in reading this book, it will have to be shelved for a little while because I have about 10 books in line to read before it. I have collected quite the stack of books this Spring, and I am a slooooow reader. I’ll do reviews on all the reads eventually here on CrazyDogMama, but please be patient with me. Having a relatively new blog is quite time consuming and I haven’t exactly figured out this whole blog-efficiency thing yet. Which I’m sure you’ve noticed. Each post takes HOURS! I love doing it – but time gets away from me!!
This is the most beautiful travel mug I have ever seen! It is heavy stonewear, and the colors are just gorgeous. Dale, Jack and I go on A LOT of road trips, and I must consume large amounts of caffeine to prevent homicidal rampages, so this won’t be collecting any dust at my house.
Even the inside is pretty!
This is a cute little handmade mug cozy, and although it does not match the travel mug in this box (color-wise), it would come in handy if you like your coffee really hot, or in my case, really cold.
It DOES match my white ‘Corkcicle Canteen‘ though, which I just received in my PopSugar Summer Limited Edition Box.
Can’t WAIT to try this coffee! Not only am I a coffee junkie, but I’m from Seattle!! Seattle has the best coffee, hands down. I don’t miss the rain, but I desperately miss the coffee! I especially miss how there is an independent drive-thru coffee stand about every 50 feet. They have very few here in Orange County. Bah!
I haven’t tried these caramels yet, but MMM MMM they look tasty! I use all the goodies I get in boxes for road trips, too. It is nice not to have to shop for snacks before embarking on a journey! Also, when Dale drives, I read, so these things DO get used in the way they were intended.
Totally in love with May’s Cozy Reader Club Box. Which doesn’t surprise me at all.
Cozy Reader Club Review, June 2016
Another box! Woohoo!
I love the inserts! I used to edit labeling and marketing brochures for the medical companies I worked for in the past, so I am drawn to these probably more than the average person.
I have to say that it makes me laugh a little that the model has her eyes closed and is holding the book down outside of the tub. I would either be reading it, or if I started to doze off, would most likely drop the book in the water. So I can truly relate to the “live dangerously” part. Haha.
The value of this month’s box is $79.26, which is a little lower than normal, but still really good. I’m wondering if the value of the box will go up at all once the new shipping charges go into effect July 1, 2016. I guess we’ll see. It wouldn’t discourage ME from subscribing, but I know high box value is a concern for a lot of people.
Oh the goodies! I tear through my boxes like a kid on Christmas morning. Box subscriptions have really added something special to my life.
Is it weird that I like arranging the items different ways and taking photos of them? Yes, I do it for blog posts, but I also do it for ME! I love my job. 🙂 Sometimes I use the photos as backgrounds for my computer or phone. THAT is the weird part.
The book for this month’s box is “The Children” by Ann Leary. Here is the excerpt from Amazon: (It got 4.4 out of 5 stars!!)
From New York Times bestselling author Ann Leary comes the captivating story of a wealthy, but unconventional New England family, told from the perspective of a reclusive 29-year-old who has a secret (and famous) life on the Internet. Charlotte Maynard rarely leaves her mother’s home, the sprawling Connecticut lake house that belonged to her late stepfather, Whit Whitman, and the generations of Whitmans before him. While Charlotte and her sister, Sally, grew up at “Lakeside,” their stepbrothers, Spin and Perry, were welcomed as weekend guests. Now the grown boys own the estate, which Joan occupies by their grace―and a provision in the family trust. When Spin, the youngest and favorite of all the children, brings his fiancé home for the summer, the entire family is intrigued. The beautiful and accomplished Laurel Atwood breathes new life into this often comically rarefied world. But as the wedding draws near, and flaws surface in the family’s polite veneer, an array of simmering resentments and unfortunate truths is exposed. With remarkable wit and insight, Ann Leary pulls back the curtain on one blended family, as they are forced to grapple with the assets and liabilities – both material and psychological – left behind by their wonderfully flawed patriarch.
This is not normally something I would pick out for myself to read, but the rave reviews have me intrigued! I know I’ve said it a million times, but box subscriptions push me out of my ruts and comfort zones; which is awesome!
This tea looks really yummy. I rarely bought ‘loose leaf’ teas in the past, but now I prefer them! It is so cool to get so many different flavors – many of my subscriptions send tea periodically so I get to try all kinds!
I needed this. I’m a tea-newbie. I put it up on the fridge. I’m so glad they included it!
This is a great washcloth! It exfoliates really well and holds up. The only thing that worries me is staining (makeup, sigh), but it doesn’t say not to bleach. I’ll have to check the website.
At first glance, I thought this was a package of thick pepperoni or salami slices – LOL!! They don’t look like macaroons to me, but I have faith they are tasty.
LOOOOOOVE this! Any bath products that come in glass containers are a win for me. They look so nice as decorations in the bathroom, and I reuse the bottles for DIY projects. This mix looks luxurious. Haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but it’s calling my name…
I’m a weirdo, I know. I framed this month’s insert and put it in my “bubble bath” bathroom where I keep the ass-load of beauty & bath items I get from all my box subscriptions. If you are a box addict like me, I bet you can spot many familiar things!
So that concludes my review for the May and June Cozy Reader Club Boxes! I hope you liked it. I feel like I just got the best present EVER and am trying to schedule a reading/bubble bath time ASAP.
TTFN! (Ta-ta for now)
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