Beautiful Madness Book Case is a brand new subscription service for bibliophiles! Each month they send one book along with two to three items that compliment the theme of the box, plus a drink and a snack.
This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.
The Subscription Box: Beautiful Madness Book Case
The Cost: (new pricing update) $39 a month, $114 for a 3-month prepay subscription and $222 for a 6-month prepay subscription. Shipping varies by address and Tennessee residents will be charged sales tax
The Products: One handpicked book, a snack and a make-able drink, (think coffee, tea, hot cocoa), and two to three bookish items that round out the theme for that month
Ships to: U.S., Canada, and the UK
Check out all of our Beautiful Madness Book Case reviews the Book Subscription Box Directory!
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The theme of this month's box is "You Can't Spell Dysfunctional Without FUN!" They always have such fun themes! This list was included, detailing the contents of this month's package.
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz - Value $12.73 on Amazon (retail price $15.99)
I love a good mystery, and I love a good comedy, so it sounds like this book might be right up my alley! From Amazon:
The Spellman Files is the first novel in a winning and hilarious mystery series featuring Isabel "Izzy" Spellman (part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry) and her highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators.
Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors - but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.
Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends"). But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go - a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.
Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz - Value $13.02 on Amazon (retail price $15.99)
My favorite kind of month is DOUBLE BOOK MONTH! I am so happy they sent the first two books in what looks to be an awesome series. Hopefully, I will get hooked! From Amazon:
In this sidesplittingly funny follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The Spellman Files, San Francisco's own highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators are back on the case in another mystery full of suspicion, surveillance, humor, and surprise from award-winning author Lisa Lutz. Curse of the Spellmans was nominated for both the Edgar Award and the Macavity Award, and the Izzy Spellman Mysteries have earned comparisons to everything from Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich to Veronica Mars and Bridget Jones.
When Izzy Spellman, PI, is arrested for the fourth time in three months, she writes it off as a job hazard. She's been (obsessively) keeping surveillance on a suspicious next door neighbor (suspectís name: John Brown), convinced he's up to no good - even if her parents (the management at Spellman Investigations) are not.
When the (displeased) management refuses to bail Izzy out, it is Morty, Izzy's octogenarian lawyer, who comes to her rescue. But before he can build a defense, he has to know the facts. Over weak coffee and diner sandwiches, Izzy unveils the whole truth and nothing but the truthóas only she, a thirty-year-old licensed professional, can.
When not compiling Suspicious Behavior Reports on all her family members, staking out her neighbor, or trying to keep her sister, Rae, from stalking her best friend, Inspector Henry Stone, Izzy has been busy attempting to apprehend the copycat vandal whose attacks on Mrs. Chandler's holiday lawn tableaux perfectly and eerily match a series of crimes from 1991-92, when Izzy and her best friend, Petra, happened to be at their most rebellious and delinquent. As Curse of the Spellmans unfolds, it's clear that Morty may be on retainer, but Izzy is still very much on the case...er, cases - her own and that of every other Spellman family member.
Lisa Lutz brings her trademark wit and humor back in what Publishers Weekly calls a "sparkling sequel." (Re)meet the Spellmans, a family in which eavesdropping is a mandatory skill, locks are meant to be picked, past missteps are never forgotten, and blackmail is the preferred form of negotiation - all in the name of unconditional love.
Under Lock & Key Internet Password Logbook by Studio Oh! - Value $14.43
What a cute password keeper! It's sort of like an old-school address book, but for passwords. I never write my passwords down anywhere (I have a system), but with every year that passes I'm thinking I might need to start. I am kind of on the fence about whether I would use this or not, but I know a certain aging gentleman in my house who definitely needs this. I won't name names.
Fresnel 66mm Camera Bookmark / Magnifier by Kikkerland - Value $3.99
This is not only super handy, but also very clever. The Fresnel lens has extraordinary magnifying powers, so it would make a wonderful magnifying spy camera! Perfect for the theme!
De Liege Wafel & Choco Liege Wafel by Belgian Boys - Total Value $2
I tasted both of these, and they were so delicious! They were also super rich, though, so my husband had to finish them up for me.
Assorted Teas by Harney & Sons - Value $1.50
I have tried many different varieties of Harney & Sons Teas thanks to subscription boxes. They are so fancy! The sachets are made of silk!
Verdict: Beautiful Madness Book Case has become one of my favorite subscription boxes! I usually love everything they send, and this month is no exception. The books this month look like something I could totally get lost in, and of course, I love that there are TWO! The value this month comes to about $48, which is just a little above of the $46.50 cost of the box. Book boxes usually don't clear the cost of the box, though, so I'm okay with the value this month.
What do you think of Beautiful Madness Book Case?
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