Book of the Month is probably the most popular book box out there regarding price, quality & variety. However, the BEST part of this club is that you get to CHOOSE the book(s) you want, and quite often they offer titles before their official release date! I’ve subscribed to pretty much every book box out there, and this is the one that I’ve had the longest commitment to because I love it so much! Today I’m here to show you the books I chose for April 2019.
BOTM Membership costs just $14.99/month for (1) book credit, or less with longer subscription commitments. Each box includes YOUR CHOICE of (1) newly released hardcover book out of their (5) monthly selections, and you can also add up to (2) more books to your box for only $9.99 each. If you have additional credits on your account, you can choose to use those to purchase add-on books instead. The add-on books can be from the current month OR from previous months (as supplies last). You can skip a month whenever you wish and you won’t be charged; and your credit(s) will roll over to the next month. Shipping is always free! Gift memberships are available to purchase as well.
All new monthly titles are available to start selecting on the 1st of the month, and you must also select when to ship your box. You have until the 6th to make your selection(s), or, if you don’t choose a book and ship your box by the 6th of the month, you will be renewed $14.99 for a credit to redeem the following month.
There are a variety of genres offered each month that may include (but are not limited to): Thriller/Horror, History, Historical Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, YA (Young Adult), Mystery, Romance, Domestic Suspense, Dystopian, Satire, Non-Fiction and Memoir.
COUPON: If you would like to join and get your first month for only $9.99, sign up at this link!
I am not a Book of the Month affiliate, but I do use their referral program which is available to all members. I pay for my subscription, but there may be other affiliate links within this post where I could potentially earn a commission. Please note however, that I *never* accept compensation in exchange for a positive review. All of my reviews are my honest, personal opinions and contain my own photography (unless otherwise stated).
To see my other Book of the Month reviews, go here. If you’d like to see what I think of all the books I read, you can go to CrazyDogMama’s Book Reviews here. You can also come be my friend (or stalker) at Goodreads.
Book of the Month Review, April 2019
Starting on the first day of each month, you can make your book selection online and ship when you are ready. I always choose to ship right away (which is generally the next day), and it takes about a week to get to me in California. It’s always fun to see the new choices available!
Photo courtesy of bookofthemonth.com
These were the April 2019 choices, chosen by 5 different curators to ensure a great selection. On the website you can read the descriptions, and the reason why each was chosen by it’s curator. This month there were three debut authors!
“Read.Love.Repeat.” – A great personal mantra to have!
I opted for the 12-month membership and have enjoyed every book I’ve read so far. How many books I order each month depends on how many titles sound interesting to me (duh), but I haven’t yet wanted to skip a month because there is always a great variety. It’s nice to know I have the option to skip, though.
The books come shrink-wrapped together with a cardboard bottom, and a paper bookmark. My books have always arrived in perfect condition – no damage at all – even if the box gets beaten up in the mail.
My choices this month included ‘Miracle Creek’ by Angie Kim from the May 2019 selections, and ‘Maybe You Should Talk to Someone’ by Lori Gottlieb from the Add-On section. Book of the Month is always adding new releases to their Add-On section, so it’s good to check there before choosing to ship your box!
This month I used one credit and paid $9.99 for the add-on book, because that is the best deal price-wise.
This is the cardboard bottom with instructions on how to tag your best book photos on social media.
‘Miracle Creek’ by Angie Kim – Retail Value $27 (You can currently find it on Amazon for $16.20.)
Description:
My husband asked me to lie. Not a big lie. He probably didn’t even consider it a lie, and neither did I, at first . . .
In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine―a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic “dives” with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. But when the Miracle Submarine mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends the Yoos’ small community.
Who or what caused the explosion? Was it the mother of one of the patients, who claimed to be sick that day but was smoking down by the creek? Or was it Young and Pak themselves, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? The ensuing trial uncovers unimaginable secrets from that night―trysts in the woods, mysterious notes, child-abuse charges―as well as tense rivalries and alliances among a group of people driven to extraordinary degrees of desperation and sacrifice.
Angie Kim’s Miracle Creek is a thoroughly contemporary take on the courtroom drama, drawing on the author’s own life as a Korean immigrant, former trial lawyer, and mother of a real-life “submarine” patient. Both a compelling page-turner and an excavation of identity and the desire for connection, Miracle Creek is a brilliant, empathetic debut from an exciting new voice.
Why I chose this book: I wasn’t initially interested in this title based on the description, but then I started reading the reviews and decided I needed to give it a chance! This book is being touted as “jaw dropping”, and most likely one of the best books of 2019. So this time around, the reviews were the influencing factor! I don’t always agree with reviews, but I’m going with my gut on this one.
All BOTM books are specially labeled with the BOTM logo on the front of the book jacket, and also on the back with the month/year the book was featured.
‘Maybe You Should Talk To Someone’ by Lori Gottlieb – Retail Value $28 (You can currently find it on Amazon for $12.49.)
Description:
From a New York Times best-selling author, psychotherapist, and national advice columnist, a hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist’s world–where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she).
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.
With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is revolutionary in its candor, offering a deeply personal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly revealing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.
Why I chose this book: I’ve been in individual therapy since 2001 (I have an issue or two..HA!), and I’ve always been fascinated by psychology and the human psyche. All that, combined with humor – and you have a winning combo! It gets great reviews, too. I think the realization that even therapists seek help occasionally, makes me feel a little less intimated.
All BOTM books are specially labeled with the BOTM logo on the front of the book jacket, and also on the back with the month/year the book was featured.
Each monthly box comes with a complimentary cardboard ‘Book of the Month’ bookmark with a literary quote printed on the back. I always use these bookmarks – they are awesome!
This month’s quote is from Henry David Thoreau:
“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”
I love this quote! It may be a tad cynical, but true nonetheless. Better get to reading and leave those dishes right in the sink!
Even though I own more bookmarks than I’ll ever be able to use, I enjoy these simple and sturdy BOTM ones every month.
So what do you think of Book of the Month? The total retail value of my box was $55 (currently $28.69 using Amazon prices), and I paid $22.49 ($12.50 with my 12-month subscription + $9.99 for my add-on book.) – so this is a fantastic deal, even over Amazon prices! If you are bookworm like me, and want to be in the loop on the latest releases, I highly recommend this box – you just can’t go wrong! I love being introduced to new authors, and titles I may not have even known about. I’m also more inclined to try new genres I wouldn’t consider otherwise, so I’m expanding my horizons, too!
DON’T FORGET THE COUPON! If you would like to join and get your first month for only $9.99, sign up at this link!
Look for the May 2019 Book of the Month review from me – coming soon!!
TTFN, CrazyDogMama – XOXO
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