If You Ever Wanted a Storage Box Shaped Like a Book, Aldi is Selling One
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By day, I’m surrounded by books. Thousands of them. Tens of thousands, in fact. (No, really. It’s true.) Consequently, I order a lot of books, sort a lot of books, and, of course, read a lot of books. Bonus: I also have written books.
Books are made to be read. They’re also made to be displayed. During a recent trip my family visited an antique bookstore that sold some beautifully bound vintage books. You probably know what I’m talking about: some 19th century novel or ancient collection of wisdom that is meant as much for showing off in the great family library than actually perusing. Chances are, in fact, that the only way your children will peruse said books if you make them, or if their teacher makes them … and even then, they might not read them.
Imagine, though, if there was a book that was not meant to be read at all. Instead, this book was made to be displayed, shown off to unsuspecting visitors. Furthermore, this book had no words, so it couldn’t be read even if you wanted to. As a consolation prize, the book could hold stuff, just like the Good Book in The Shawshank Redemption.
Have you ever heard of such a book? No? Me, neither. But Aldi has, because your favorite German grocer is rewriting the book (pun intended) on home accent curios. We picked one up and put it through some review paces.
The Huntington Home Book Storage Box (Product Code: 712127) is an Aldi Find. Aldi Find means limited time: each store gets a single batch, and once they’re all gone, they’re all gone. If you can’t find it in your store, that’s the end of the story. (Also pun intended.) Aldi doesn’t ship online for products that are sold out, either.
How much is this conversation piece, you ask? The grocer is selling it for $9.99. I had a hard time finding anything exactly like it online (when I searched “book storage box” I mostly got just nondescript boxes for storing real books) but what few book-shaped boxes I could find ran 2-4 times this price. Not for the first time, Aldi is the price winner.
The box comes in three colors: linen, sage green, and navy. We grabbed the linen ones.
The large storage box measures 8.6 inches by 2 inches by 11 inches. The small box measures 6.7 inches by 1.6 inches by 9 inches. The boxes are made in China, and the packaging warns that they’re “not a toy,” in case you weren’t sure.
I found these to be pretty much as described. They’re decorative boxes that open and close (there’s no magnet holding them closed or anything like that) and they can hold things. The exterior is textured, while the interior is soft, if not exactly cushioned. I could see their use in concealing clutter, like remotes or other things you want to keep out of sight.
The Verdict:
The Huntington Home Book Storage Box is a two-pack of what you’d expect: boxes that you can store things in. They’re not huge, and they’re not made to take a ton of punishment — they’re not toys, after all — but as conversation storage pieces go, they’re not bad. And they’re a lot cheaper than other products like this online.
