Around a month ago, Books That Matter announced they would be collaborating with the Women's Prize for Fiction. Everyone in the community was immediately excited as we knew we would be in for an extra special treat with this box. I signed up for my subscription in late April so this is my second box so far and, spoiler alert, it did not disappoint.
The box was packaged and displayed in the same way as last time. [click here to read my previous Books That Matter unboxing] Underneath the tissue paper I was greeted with a black tote bag. I put this aside to focus on the rest of the box first as I was too eager to see which book we had been given.
This month's book was, perhaps coincidentally, very topical. At the time of writing this, many citizens of the United States of America, the UK, the Netherlands and many more countries are coming together to protest police brutality and support the #BlackLivesMatter movement sparked by the murder of George Floyd by an American police officer. Our social media timelines are, very rightly, flooded with information and links on how to better educate ourselves and others. One way in which I would like to support the black community more is by reading more books by black authors and decolonising my bookshelf. Although I have already read a large amount of black authors due to studying mostly black writers for my university degrees, it has been a while since I was at university and it is time to get back into it.
An American Marriage is a novel about a couple who go through one partner's wrongful incarceration for a crime he did not commit. I am beyond excited to get stuck into this book as I already know I will love it. However, I am preparing myself for a lot of heartache and necessary discomfort. I will for sure leave a review of this book in a later post once I have read it. If you are looking to educate yourself further on wrong convictions, in the USA specifically, I can recommend the following:
When They See Us - A Netflix limited series
The next item I noticed in the box also really excited me as I immediately recognised the branding of the backing card as a brand I have purchased from before- Flamingo Candles. This keyring is a flat plastic tag with an Ali Smith quote engraved into it reading "Books mean all possibilities. They mean everything." I have immediately attached this to one set of keys I have which also has the other keyring I have from the same people. That keyring is purple with "Embrace the chaos" engraved.
As with the May box, we each received a bookmark. If you read often, you may also be one of those people who always buys a bookmark but then also always loses it! I love getting bookmarks in these boxes as I don't have to spend ages looking for one (and then settling on an old receipt) to read the books we get sent. This one lists authors that have been nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction and has a Virginia Woolf quote about books on the other side.
When I first picked up this book, I assumed it to be a regular notebook. As a stationery addict, I do love a good notebook but I do already have one too many as it is so wasn't too fussed about receiving what seemed like yet another. However, after opening the book, I realised it wasn't just a regular notebook at all.
THEY'VE SENT US OUR OWN READING JOURNALS. I love, love, LOVE this item. I log all of my reading on goodreads but I have always been a much bigger fan of putting pen to paper rather than keeping everything digital. This book is going to come in so handy when writing my future blog posts and as my flatmate pointed out, it's going to make those posts more aesthetic too.
In this box they've also given us a little magazine giving us some more information about the Women's Prize for Fiction including interviews and more. I would like for a magazine like this to be a regular for this box as it gives a bit more information about the book community and I felt like this was missing from my May box.
And, last but not least, THE TOTE BAG! I am a bag lady. I have so many bags and I am grateful to have a new addition to my collection. The illustration consists of the names of women who have been nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction in the shape of a side silhouette. I think it is beautiful and I can't wait to give it an outing when I'm officially allowed outside of my house again...
Overall, I am absolutely thrilled with my box. I absolutely loved May's box but I love this one even more. I am definitely going to be keeping up with my subscription. If you subscribe to Books That Matter, what did you think of this month's box?! And, if you're not a subscriber, what are you reading at the moment?! I'd love to know!
Please note I have refrained from linking to websites for products and services in this post as I would like you to direct all of your monetary support and resources to Black owned businesses and to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
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