#AtoZChallenge: Book of the Month

Day 2 of May and day 2 of my #AtoZChallenge: B is for Book of the Month.

It’s that time again: the Book of the Month club selection period! If you’re not familiar with BOTM, it’s a subscription based membership where you select a hardcover book out of four options every month to be shipped to you. It’s truly that simple. There’s almost always some extra swag included too, like a BOTM tote bag, an extra surprise book, or info about a BOTM contest. If you can’t decide on just one book for your selection, you can add up to two more books for $9.99. I wish that didn’t sound so much like an ad but it’s a fact I can’t ignore.

Book of the Month is great in so many ways, but here are some specific ways:

• It’s the perfect way to discover new books and/or authors
• The judges who choose what books are included every month send along a little note with your box about why they made their choice, AKA a personal recommendation
• If you’re really not feeling the options for a certain month, you can skip it without “wasting” a month of your membership
• The membership prices are an affordable option for those of us who can’t always buy a new hardcover book as often as we may like

With these and many other pros, there is one tiny con I have to mention. Each edition is fully fleshed with the BOTM emblem. As lovely as it is, it slightly pains me to not have the original editions. HOWEVER, they do look nice together, so with the more BOTM books I acquire the less I actually care about this.

Here are my BOTM selections so far. I skipped April, and in January Gillian Flynn’s book The Grownup was sent along as a surprise! This month, I’m choosing Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane, and if member services gets back to me in time, a wine koozie because as the weather heats up I’ll want to read outside and I don’t want my Pinot Grigio getting warm.

• December: Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? Kathleen Collins
• January: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk Kathleen Rooney
• February: Pachinko Min Jin Lee
• March: Exit West Mohsin Hamid

Are you in the Book of the Month club? Share your May selection(s) in the comments and happy reading!