The Winter 2023 Drift + Focus book box was curated around the theme TIME. We largely side-stepped the science of time and theories about space-time and focused instead on time from a more human perspective.
As ever, the books are at the heart of our book subscription boxes. Here's what we sent.
Book One
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
We don't usually send our subscribers books that have hit the bestseller lists but in a box on the theme of time, we couldn't not send Oliver Burkeman's gentle but brilliant manifesto for completely changing how you think about time management. A great read for anyone who's juggling too many balls, which is most of us.
Book Two
The Premonitions Bureau by Sam Knight
Our second book was a more oblique way into the subject of time, a wonderfully evocative book about a moment in British history when a respected medical doctor and an Evening Standard journalist joined forces to set up a bureau to record people's premonitions. They hoped to prove if precognition could help prevent disasters that were yet to happen. It's brilliantly written and rich in period details.
Reading Notes
As always, both books came with a set of fold out notes with background about the authors, where to find them online and ideas to consider as you read.
One of our subscribers leaves the Reading Notes inside when she donates her books to the local charity shop, so the next person gets the benefit. What a nice idea!
Magazine
Our exclusive 28-page Drift + Focus magazine is where we can explore the theme in other ways, letting our subscribers drift across the subject and discover lots more books on other aspects of the theme. We were delighted to be able to include exclusive interviews with both Oliver Burkeman and Sam Knight for this issue of the magazine.
The Extras
You might be wondering why we send gifts in a book subscription box? The answer is, because they add an extra, joyful dimension to the experience and they're a genuine treat for our subscribers. Plus it's part of our mission to support other small businesses.
We never send anything mass-produced, only ever thoughtfully chosen items that speak to the theme and sourced from sustainable and ethical small businesses. And since no one needs more tat cluttering up their lives, we also make sure our extras are always useful, usable and beautiful.
Since the theme this quarter was time and the boxes were arriving just before the start of a new year, we included a 2024 desk calendar. But this was no ordinary calendar. It was made by Fin, an independent art studio and stationery store based in London which is run by Ozge, who designs, draws, prints cuts and sews every item by hand.
studiofin.co.uk
instagram.com/finstudio.co
Ozge of Fin, in her studio.
The second gift was a pair of beeswax spills hand dipped by Moorlands Candles, a small business in Cumbria. Subscribers can use their candles on a birthday cake to mark the passing of another year - a much nicer looking and smelling alternative to the usual paraffin candles, plus these ones have a longer burn time so can be used time and time again.
The team at Moorlands Candles, hand dipping candles the traditional way since 1981.
Digital Library
To really immerse our subscribers in the theme, we also send them a QR code to access a library of playlists, podcast and other brilliant content that we couldn't put into the box.
This quarter's specially curated playlist of time-themed music was put together by singer and songwriter, Matty Eeles, the lead singer of Brighton band, Bungaroosh.
You can purchase their debut album on the Band Camp website:
Unite Again by Bungaroosh
Fancy getting your own Drift + Focus box next time?
You can subscribe now to receive our next box, which dispatches in mid-March. Make sure you place your order before February 29th when we'll be closing the cart. We only make up as many boxes as we have orders, so once it's gone, it's gone.
If you'd like to be notified when we announce the theme of the next box and also get a discount code for 10% off, join our email list below.