If you love being the first to get newly released hardcover titles, 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 selected from BOTM for April, May & June of 2020. In the spirit of efficiency, I thought I would combine a few months so I could finally be caught up! Hooray!
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 (+tax, if applicable) 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.
Once you have received a year (12 boxes) of Book of the Month, you become part of the BFF Rewards Program, and here are the perks:
Welcome Tote – Reading looks good on you. Once you get your 12th box, you’ll get a stylin’ tote with a special pocket just for your BOTM.
Birthday Gift – We love a BFF b-day. Get a free add-on during your birthday month and treat yourself.
The Best of the Best – Every winter when we announce the five Book of the Year Finalists, you’ll get to choose the one you want for free.
COUPON: If you would like to join and get your first month for only $9.99, sign up at this link!
Book of the Month also has a subscription available for all the Young Adult (YA) genre fans! The Book of the Month YA membership is similar to the regular Book of the Month Club, except that subscribers get to choose from (5) YA books each month. NOTE: If you are a regular BOTM subscriber, you can add any of the YA books to your box as well!
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. You can read my full disclosure statement here. 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) over at Goodreads.
Book of the Month Review, April 2020
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 same or next day), and it takes about a week to get to me in California. I look forward to seeing the new choices available each month, and I have started checking for them a few days before the first of the month, because SOMETIMES they post them early!
These were the April 2020 choices, chosen by 5 different curators to ensure a diverse selection. On the BOTM website you can read the summaries, and the reason why each was chosen by it’s curator. This month there FOUR(!) early releases, and a #READWITHJENNA selection.
“You’ve got great taste” – Yup, yup! 🙂
I have always opted for the 12-month membership because I am a voracious reader, and I’ve never been disappointed!
My box got a little munched up in the mail this month! I had one fairly damaged book (the horror!), but the super nice BOTM folks sent me a new one right away! This is the very first time in over 4 years that I’ve ever had damage, so I would say that’s a pretty good track record. The customer service is tip-top, though, if you do ever have a problem. Bravo!
My April 2020 selections were ‘Beach Read‘ by Emily Henry (Romance), and ‘Valentine‘ by Elizabeth Wetmore (Literary Fiction).
I used one credit (required), but then chose to pay $9.99 for the add-on book instead of using an additional credit, because that is the best deal price-wise. You can choose to use credits on add-on books if you like, though.
‘Beach Read’ by Emily Henry – Retail Value $16 (NOTE: You can currently find it on Amazon for $12.89. *Commissions may be earned if purchased via link provided.)
Description:
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
Why I chose this book: I’m pretty picky about the romance genre, but this one sounded really different. I like that the characters don’t sound too young, and are writers. Like me! Also, it has some FABULOUS reviews, so what the hell!
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.
‘Valentine: A Novel’ by Elizabeth Wetmore – Retail Value $26.99 (NOTE: You can currently find it on Amazon for $16.31. *Commissions may be earned if purchased via link provided.)
Description:
Written with the haunting emotional power of Elizabeth Strout and Barbara Kingsolver, an astonishing debut novel that explores the lingering effects of a brutal crime on the women of one small Texas oil town in the 1970s.
Mercy is hard in a place like this . . .
It’s February 1976, and Odessa, Texas, stands on the cusp of the next great oil boom. While the town’s men embrace the coming prosperity, its women intimately know and fear the violence that always seems to follow.
In the early hours of the morning after Valentine’s Day, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramírez appears on the front porch of Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house, broken and barely alive. The teenager had been viciously attacked in a nearby oil field—an act of brutality that is tried in the churches and barrooms of Odessa before it can reach a court of law. When justice is evasive, the stage is set for a showdown with potentially devastating consequences.
Valentine is a haunting exploration of the intersections of violence and race, class and region in a story that plumbs the depths of darkness and fear, yet offers a window into beauty and hope. Told through the alternating points of view of indelible characters who burrow deep in the reader’s heart, this fierce, unflinching, and surprisingly tender novel illuminates women’s strength and vulnerability, and reminds us that it is the stories we tell ourselves that keep us alive.
Why I chose this book: Because I’m ALL OVER reading stories about strong, complex women! I mean, aren’t you? Well-written novels about violent subjects float my boat, as well. This one is getting a lot of buzz, so it’s at the top of my TBR list!
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.
‘This is the good part.’ Each monthly box comes with a complimentary cardboard ‘Book of the Month’ bookmark, printed on both sides. These bookmarks are great! They are simple, functional and are the perfect size & weight.
So what do you think of Book of the Month? The total retail value of my April 2020 box was $42.99 ($29.20 using current Amazon prices), and I paid $23.26 ($12.50 for 1 book credit used from my 12-month subscription + $10.76 (including tax) for my add-on book.) – so this is an excellent 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!
Book of the Month Review, May 2020
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 same or next day), and it takes about a week to get to me in California. I look forward to seeing the new choices available each month, and I have started checking for them a few days before the first of the month, because SOMETIMES they post them early!
These were the May 2020 choices, chosen by 5 different curators to ensure a diverse selection. On the BOTM website you can read the summaries, and the reason why each was chosen by it’s curator. This month there was an early release!
I have always opted for the 12-month membership because I am a voracious reader, and I’ve never been disappointed!
My May 2020 selection was ‘A Good Marriage‘ by Kimberly McCreight (Thriller). Can you believe I only opted for ONE selection this month? Ha!
‘A Good Marriage’ by Kimberly McCreight – Retail Value $27.99 (NOTE: You can currently find it on Amazon for $17.98. *Commissions may be earned if purchased via link provided.)
Description:
Big Little Lies meets Presumed Innocent in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia, in which a woman’s brutal murder reveals the perilous compromises some couples make—and the secrets they keep—in order to stay together.
Lizzie Kitsakis is working late when she gets the call. Grueling hours are standard at elite law firms like Young & Crane, but they’d be easier to swallow if Lizzie was there voluntarily. Until recently, she’d been a happily underpaid federal prosecutor. That job and her brilliant, devoted husband Sam—she had everything she’d ever wanted. And then, suddenly, it all fell apart.
No. That’s a lie. It wasn’t sudden, was it? Long ago the cracks in Lizzie’s marriage had started to show. She was just good at averting her eyes.
The last thing Lizzie needs right now is a call from an inmate at Rikers asking for help—even if Zach Grayson is an old friend. But Zach is desperate: his wife, Amanda, has been found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their Brooklyn brownstone. And Zach’s the primary suspect.
As Lizzie is drawn into the dark heart of idyllic Park Slope, she learns that Zach and Amanda weren’t what they seemed—and that their friends, a close-knit group of fellow parents at the exclusive Brooklyn Country Day school, might be protecting troubling secrets of their own. In the end, she’s left wondering not only whether her own marriage can be saved, but what it means to have a good marriage in the first place.
Why I chose this book: ‘Big Little Lies‘ is one of my favorite books, so when I saw this title compared to that one, it was a no-brainer choice for me. I love twists & turns and secrets & lies! *Commissions may be earned if purchased via link provided.
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.
‘All booked up right now.’ Each monthly box comes with a complimentary cardboard ‘Book of the Month’ bookmark, printed on both sides. I absolutely love these bookmarks! They are simple, functional and are the perfect size & weight.
So what do you think of Book of the Month? The total retail value of my May 2020 box was $27.99 ($17.98 using current Amazon prices), and I paid $12.50 (1 book credit used from my 12-month subscription) – so this is an excellent 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!
Book of the Month Review, June 2020
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 same or next day), and it takes about a week to get to me in California. I look forward to seeing the new choices available each month, and I have started checking for them a few days before the first of the month, because SOMETIMES they post them early!
These were the June 2020 choices, chosen by 5 different curators to ensure a diverse selection. On the BOTM website you can read the summaries, and the reason why each was chosen by it’s curator. This month there two early releases, a #READWITHJENNA selection, and a repeat author.
I have always opted for the 12-month membership because I am a voracious reader, and I’ve never been disappointed!
My June 2020 selections were ‘One to Watch‘ by Kate Stayman-London (Romance), ‘The Last Flight‘ by Julie Clark (Thriller), and ‘Home Before Dark‘ by Riley Sager (Mystery).
I used one credit (required), but then chose to pay $9.99 for each add-on book instead of using additional credits, because that is the best deal price-wise. You can choose to use credits on add-on books if you like, though.
‘One to Watch’ by Kate Stayman-London – Retail Value $17 (NOTE: You can currently find it on Amazon for $13.59. *Commissions may be earned if purchased via link provided.)
Description:
Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers—and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?
Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition—under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She’s in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That’s it.
But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She’s in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, wickedly observant debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men—and herself—for a chance to live happily ever after.
Why I chose this book: I almost didn’t choose this one, because I HATE reality TV. However, I do love an intelligent and heart-wrenching story about a plus-size woman, because I struggled with my own weight for a long time. The struggle is real! This author has quite a interesting history as well, so this book piqued my interest.
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.
‘The Last Flight’ by Julie Clark – Retail Value $26.99 (NOTE: You can currently find it on Amazon for $18.89. *Commissions may be earned if purchased via link provided.)
Description:
Two women. Two flights. One last chance to disappear.
Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he’s not above using his staff to track Claire’s every move, making sure she’s living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn’t know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.
A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets—Claire taking Eva’s flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it’s no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva’s identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.
For fans of Lisa Jewell and Liv Constantine, The Last Flight is the story of two women—both alone, both scared—and one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.
Why I chose this book: OMG, after reading the description, I wanted to start this book right away! Two strangers running from their husbands, switch plane tickets, and one of the planes goes down?!? Gimme.
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.
‘Home Before Dark: A Novel’ by Riley Sager – Retail Value $27 (NOTE: You can currently find it on Amazon for $24.30. *Commissions may be earned if purchased via link provided.)
Description:
In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?
What was it like? Living in that house.Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
Why I chose this book: I had this book in my BOTM cart before I had even READ the description! I have love for Riley Sager. And Mystery-Thrillers. It’s just an automatic choice. But, now that I’ve read the description, I’m even more excited because it’s one of those creepy haunted house stories!
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.
‘Oh, hello again.’ Each monthly box comes with a complimentary cardboard ‘Book of the Month’ bookmark, printed on both sides. Out of all the fancy-pants bookmarks I own, these paper ones are my favorite! They are simple, functional and are the perfect size & weight.
So what do you think of Book of the Month? The total retail value of my June 2020 box was $70.99 ($56.78 using current Amazon prices), and I paid $34.03 ($12.50 for 1 book credit used from my 12-month subscription + $21.53 (including tax) for my add-on books.) – so this is an excellent 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!
TTFN, CrazyDogMama – XOXO Elbow-bump!
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