owlcrate – The Creative Life of Liz

Yes, I’m doing another readathon. Yes, I’m probably going to regret it.

But I want to, so sue me.

Starting today and running through March 28th, OwlCrate is hosting their annual readathon. Usually it would be a major deal over on their Facebook group, but since they nuked that a couple months ago… Instragram is having fun with it anyway.

The goal of OwlCrate-A-Thon is to read books (or sequels) that have been released by OwlCrate and OwlCrate Jr that you haven’t read yet. Works for me, since I’m horribly behind. The cool thing is you don’t have to be a subscriber to participate. You just have to read books from OwlCrate’s extensive list, now into its sixth year. Which I still cant believe, because that makes this month my five year anniversary with supporting OwlCrate, which blows my mind.

There are three challenges during next two weeks, but you don’t have to do them if you don’t want to. They’re just there as a guide. Challenge one is to read the OwlCrate book that you’ve had on your TBR the longest. Challenge two is to read two books over the course of the readathon. And challenge three is to get a bingo on the bingo board they created, which I’ve included below.

Apparently it’s actually possible to complete the bingo with only one or two books, but I’m not entirely sure about that. But that is just my opinion. I know there are many people who are going to be trying to blackout the board.

Of the three challenges, I’m going to focus on the second and third ones. The book that’s been on my TBR the longest just doesn’t interest me, and I’ve tried reading it twice (once when it arrived with OwlCrate, the second when it came with Uppercase Books, a defunct book box I supported for like six months). Reading two books shouldn’t be too bad… provided that I make the time to do so. I’m trying to rework my streaming/writing schedule, so here’s hoping.

Unlike with the Reading Rush from last summer, I’m not going to make a firm list of books I want to read. I’ve realized that doing that doesn’t encourage me to read, it just sits in my mind when I’m doing other things, and stresses me the heck out. Instead, I have the list of books that are OwlCrate books, along with their sequels/prequels. It’s a decent sized list, so I shouldn’t have too much trouble finding some things to read (*knock on all the wood*).

I’ll keep you all updated on how I do, especially when I review any book that comes from this challenge. It looks like it’ll be fun, so I’m pretty excited. Happy reading!

Until next time!

I have been a firm follower of Owlcrate for nearly five years. I have received every monthly box, some of their exclusive boxes, was on their Facebook group “The Owlcrate Society” until it got nuked late last month (don’t ask)… And now it is time to unbox October’s offerings.

What is Owlcrate? Owlcrate is a Young Adult book box subscription. Every month for a decent fee, you receive a newly published book and 4-5 bookish items. I actually use a good portion of their items every month. The items range from beauty products (lip gloss has been included before), candles, paper items, practical items, décor, ect. Basically any number of things. Oh, and blankets, pillowcases, and bags too!

While they used to swap between YA Sci-fi/Fantasy and YA Contemporary books, they have mostly stayed with the former in the past few years (they sell better, according to them).

Anyway, my October 2020 Owlcrate arrived yesterday, and I actually remembered to take some pictures of what was inside (fair warning, I didn’t edit them, and I had like five minutes, so they’re not the best). Let me give you an idea of just what’s inside a typical Owlcrate.

The box has the logo on it, but of course I forgot to take a picture of it… amateur hour, here we come. This is what you usually see when you open an Owlcrate. The spoiler car is always on top, which lists out everything in the box, as well as who made it. Give credit where credit is due to for the artists! Underneath is usually the paper packing material, which I detest and chuck as soon as humanly possible. (Otherwise, they migrate and I find them six months later.)

First inside is a bowl cozy by Janine Lecour, inspired by Spin the Dawn. This is supposed to help you not burn you fingers when you make a bowl of soup or stew. Since I love to make microwaved white rice (because I’m weird and lazy), this will actually come in handy!

Next up is a soap bar from Motherland Essentials, inspired by A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. This is actually the only item I did not unbox, but that’s because I can’t use it. My skin is too sensitive for pretty much anything but the plainest soap, unfortunately. But it did smell every good.

Also included is the exclusive enamel pin (an Owlcrate monthly staple), designed by Hey AtlasCreative. It relates to the book included in the box, which I’ll name by the end.

Another item is this beautiful bamboo phone stand, inspired by The Star-Touched Queen, designed by Lady Chubb Letters. I’m actually using it right now to hold my phone so that I can have Discord as a second screen.

The Owlcrate team came up with this these absolutely gorgeous windchimes inspired by Woven in Moonlight. I can’t hang the outside, so they get to decorate my room!

Paperbackbones designed this beautiful glass nail file, inspired by Girls of Paper and Fire. I love how it fades from the near clear to the deep purple.

And finally, we have the book of the month. This is Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, which has been on my to read list since it was announced. It has an absolutely gorgeous cover and the premise is amazing. The book is a modern-day twist on the Arthurian legends, with a good helping of Southern black Girl Magic as well! The other picture is the included little booklet with an interview with the author, among other things.

This was a backed box, and I’m in love with it. This month was a great box with some amazing items. The spoiler card says that next month’s theme is “Growing Wild” and it is going to include a reading planner for next year, if that makes any sort of difference. I’m very excited to see what ends up in the next box.

I hope you guys enjoyed this write up of this months Owlcrate unboxing. Let me know if you want to see more of them!

Until next time!