Book Subscription Box – Boxwalla

As a lover of reading, I have long been intrigued by book subscription boxes. I currently do the Book of the Month club, which I love for so many reasons, namely that you can choose the book yourself and you can skip a month if there isn’t anything you are that interested in, which I do quite often.

However, I recently branched out to try a new box, called Boxwalla. I wanted something that wouldn’t come too often as I struggle to get through the books I own already). I also needed a box that wouldn’t double up on books I already had or pick books I had little interest in (I tried Just the Right Book last year, and didn’t love any of the books they chose for me).

Looking at past Boxwalla book boxes, I was impressed by the fact that they were choosing books by international authors who were highly regarded but not often read, and I liked that if I didn’t feel like getting a book that month, I could choose one of their other themes under the same subscription (they have Beauty, Food, Book and Film categories).

I received my first Boxwalla this week, and it was a treat (and no, I am not getting it for free)! With two international writers, both of whom I knew of, but have not read, it was exactly what I wanted. In addition, the thoughtful recommendation card gave a short biography for each author along with a short description of each book. The two books in my box were:

On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

This book is described as a beautiful semi-autobiographical novel about immigration, race and discovering one’s identity. It is told as a letter from a son to his mother, who cannot read, and will never read the book.

I sometimes get overwhelmed by novels like this when they are too depressing, but as Vuong is a poet as well as a novelist, I anticipate the writing being beautiful and I am excited to check it out!

The Besieged City by Clarice Lispector

I have been wanting to read a book by Clarice Lispector for a while now. A Brazilian novelist, originally from the Ukraine, she is highly regarded although not much of her work has been published in English. This book, a story set in Switzerland, promises to be an interesting and satisfying read!

I’ll be back next week with a general reading update and more – have a great weekend!