PageHabit is a new-ish company offering reading subscription boxes for book lovers of all ages and interests. Fans of book subscription boxes will recognize this subscription as Quarterly's Literary Fiction box—Quarterly recently acquired Bookly Box and formed PageHabit to help them go deeper with their book subscription offerings. You'll see that this box still looks a lot like the Quarterly box (and that it features some Quarterly logos, too). But a few months more into the transition and PageHabit's branding should fully take over. As of this review, you can still subscribe to this box via Quarterly's site AND PageHabit's site.
Each box is curated by a featured author and features a newly released book, plus other books and bookish gifts and goodies to inspire you. There are also annotations from the curator to help you engage with the reading experience in a whole new way.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About PageHabit Quarterly
The Subscription Box: PageHabit's Literary Fiction Quarterly Box
The Cost: $49.99 per quarter + $5.00 shipping
The Products: 3 books, annotations, and several bookish gifts curated by a different author, delivered quarterly.
Ships to: the U.S.
PageHabit Quarterly Winter 2018 Review
This month's box is curated by accomplished author Sigrid Nunez, whose most recent novel The Friend is the hardback featured in the box. The first slip shows a photo of Nunez with a wonderful quote from her letter. As I read the letter written by Nunez with her photograph in mind, I felt I could almost feel her presence in the room, in that way that seasoned writers have a way of seeping their essence into a reader's soul. Nunez seems wise and peaceful from her letter, and it made me really eager to dive into The Friend. Also included is a signed bookplate—cool signature!
In absorbing Bookly Box, Quarterly/PageHabit took over Bookly Box's community-minded initiatives. This time around, PageHabit partnered with Books for Africa in an effort to bring books to Ethiopia. They share some facts and stats about the country they're helping, and it always has a way of offering me perspective as I sit on my comfy couch and dive into a box full of beautiful literary works and other goodies.
They also included a bookmark in the box. This one has a great quote from A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin.
Kikkerland Copper String Lights - Retail Value $9.00
I am a believer in setting the right ambiance before diving into reading, and these string lights are the perfect way to do just that. Turns out I already own a set of these exact same string lights and love the glow they offer, so I paired this new set with them to wrap them around my mantle. The photograph was taken during the day, so they look a little faint, but in the evening they are beautiful!
Out of Print Library Card Vintage Mug - Retail Value $12.00
I love adding quirky new mugs to my collection, and this one is such a unique addition! I like that its shape is a little different from the classic stout mug you see everywhere and that its handle is nice and thick. This mug will see the insides of many books while holding tea in its embrace.
Apica Pocket Notebook — Retail Value $4.90
For such a small notebook, the quality is amazing! It's bound with acid-free paper that's ideal for writing on with fountain pens, and its spine is sewn with reinforced threading and is fabric-covered. It's an awesome little thing to have handy, and it truly is pocket-sized. Like, even for pockets in women's jeans, which are inexplicably tiny!
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez - Retail Value $25.00 (found here for $16.51)
I studied Creative Nonfiction in college, and for quite some time thereafter I avoided fiction works because I insisted authors couldn't possibly create characters who are more complex and interesting than real people. Turns out I was being a snob and a brat and while I still love nonfiction dearly, there's a whole world of brilliant fiction that sends readers through that same gauntlet of emotions and learnings that first-hand experiences can offer. So far, The Friend is shaping up to be one of those pieces. Nunez is what I would call a "writers' writer," by which I mean her style and turn of phrase might not be for everyone, but it would surely delight any writer. And, it is, indeed, delighting me. There's an intimacy to the way she addresses the main character of the novel, her best friend, directly; it's like a one-sided conversation she's having with him and it slowly reveals tidbits that round out who this person was for the reader.
Book Summary on Amazon:
"Charming...resonant." —The New York Times
"A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory...Nunez has a wry, withering wit." —NPR
"[A] sneaky gut punch of a novel...a consummate example of the human-animal tale." —Harper's Magazine
A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.
When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.
While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.
Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke - Retail Value $12.95 (found here for $9.16)
This thin paperback book is the gem of this month's box, in my opinion. I'm embarrassed to say I had never heard of Rilke, but in reading of him in the short intro and diving into his letters, I was immediately intrigued and couldn't wait to dive in. The translator's note gives the tidbit that Rilke was 28 years old when he started corresponding with the "young poet," which perked my ears up—I imagine I'm not alone in feeling a little yawny at the concept of reading the writings of an old man from the 1800s, so knowing he was my age when he penned these words made me feel an instant connection. The letters themselves, as promised, hold such a kindness and humbleness in them, and address the young poet with such care. I can already tell this will be a book that I keep on my bookshelf to revisit over and over again through the years.
Book Summary on Amazon:
Rilke's timeless letters about poetry, sensitive observation, and the complicated workings of the human heart.
Born in 1875, the great German lyric poet Rainer Maria Rilke published his first collection of poems in 1898 and went on to become renowned for his delicate depiction of the workings of the human heart. Drawn by some sympathetic note in his poems, young people often wrote to Rilke with their problems and hopes. From 1903 to 1908 Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young, would-be poet on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. Those letters, still a fresh source of inspiration and insight, are accompanied here by a chronicle of Rilke's life that shows what he was experiencing in his own relationship to life and work when he wrote them.
My Dog Tulip by J. R. Ackerley - Retail Value $15.95 (found here for $14.32)
This book might be considered a little more traditional of a read by some standards, but its understated wit is pleasing me well. I haven't seen the film and so don't know where this story goes, but being a dog-lover and enjoying the concept of the storyline (which follows an unwieldy, un-spayed German Shepherd) is enough to pull me in. It's funny how some people always read the introduction of a book and some people never do—I am in the former group and my husband is part of the latter. I couldn't imagine skipping over it, for that's where you learn some amazing behind-the-scenes info to equip you with a little context and knowledge before the book even begins! My Dog Tulip is one where the introduction is a must; it gives insight into other perspectives and interactions with Tulip, which to me, make the story even more enjoyable and worthy of a chuckle.
Book Summary on Amazon:
Now a Major Motion Picture
The distinguished British man of letters J. R. Ackerley hardlythought of himself as a dog lover when, well into middleage, he came into possession of a German shepherd. Tohis surprise, she turned out to be the love of his life, the“ideal friend” he had been searching for in vain for years. My Dog Tulip is a bittersweet retrospective account of theirsixteen-year companionship, as well as a profound andsubtle meditation on the strangeness that lies at the heartof all relationships. In vivid and sometimes startling detail, Ackerley tells of Tulip’s often erratic behavior and very canine tastes, and of his own fumbling but determinedefforts to ensure for her an existence of perfect happiness.
My Dog Tulip has been adapted to screen as a major animated feature film with a cast that includes the voices of Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, and Isabella Rossellini. It has been heralded as "A stroke of genius" by New York Magazine and "The love story of the year" by Vanity Fair.
Verdict: What a truly satisfying box this quarter! While I absolutely love reading, I'm not a very speedy reader, so sometimes the books that arrive in my subscription boxes sit on my shelf for quite some time before being explored, but from the three offerings in this PageHabit box, that will not be the case here. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd pick Letters to a Young Poet, then a tie for second between the other two. With shipping, the box is $54.99 per quarter, and the items all added up to $79.80. I'd say that's a great value, and I'm very happy with this box!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, as of publication, this box was still available!
Value Breakdown: At $54.99 for this box, here’s what you are paying approximately per item:
- Kikkerland String Lights: $6.20
- Out of Print Library Card Mug: $8.27
- Apica Pocket Notebook: $3.38
- The Friend by Sigrid Nunez: $17.23
- Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke: $8.92
- My Dog Tulip by J. R. Ackerley: $10.99
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