Ninja Book Box Un Boxed – Conspiracy By Candlelight

This is my second Ninja Book Box and I am new to the world of “un-boxing”, but it sounds much better than boxing so here we go. First of all I only noticed when Bex (Ninja Bookbox Chief Ninja – that’s how I think of her anyway!) mentioned it on Twitter,  that the boxes are hand stencilled…truly a cottage industry of the most hands on kind:

Theres a very delightful minimum  of plastic wrapping in these packages. There is some, which the Ninjas are working on reducing – but compared to a lot of things that come through the post (clothes shops I’m looking at you) they’re well on the way to reducing it already. Though that blue tape…is it Bank of England issue or something? SO SECURE.

Unwrapped

Wrapped

Enough of the outsides. I bet you want to know what’s on the insides. Here we are; a little easel for some Ninj-art (Art Ninja, watch out!), some dinky scales – I love these little charms they pop in, sealing wax and a stamp in my actual initial (now, how easy would it be to just pick a pattern and not have to match them all up to box buyers, but that’s not the Ninja way, grasshopper), and The Recipe, as someone who once let through a run of 5,000 leaflets asking people to bring ‘proof of your concessionary statues‘ I can live with the typo…I haven’t made them yet.

I have an idea a’brewin’ for this…

Dinky scales!

Sealing Wax and Stamp. How did you know?

I must writ to someone!

Oh, this is good…!!!

…and there’s more – because you will, eagle eyed as you are, have noticed there hasn’t been a book yet. You see that last picture bottom right there, maybe it’s too small to read. Inside there WAS AN ASTERIX BOOK. I wallowed in nostalgia for a good while I can tell you, I loved Asterix when I was a kid, I think we even read some in French at school.

Genius

TRUE

The blurb

(I’d add ‘a gin and tonic’ to that bookmark but old Cicero had it mostly right). The spoilers (sweetie) envelope with the reviews and further reading – like I need any encouragement – is always clearly marked. Then here is the book:

A Roman mystery/detective tale. I’m greatly looking forward to reading it. I did enjoy the Lindsey Davis ‘Falco‘ novels – and the radio adaptations of them. I spent quite a lot of time studying Roman society and the empire while doing my archaeology degree, so I’m sure this will be a great read – the Page 69 test suggests it is!