Disclosure: If you make a purchase through the links posted below, I may receive a small compensation. Read the full disclosure.
Disclosure: This complimentary box was received for review purposes. All opinions are my own and no compensation was received. This post contains affiliate links.
Book of the Month
Cost: $16.99/month
Ships To: United States.
Coupon Code: “BOTM15” to get a 3-month Book of the Month membership for just $6.99/month!
Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription service. Each month their panel of Judges selects a limited number of exceptional books to offer to our members. They announce their New Selections on the first of the month, and members have six days to decide which book (or books) they would like to receive. They ship books to all of their members at the same time, so members can read and participate in their discussion forum as a group.
The December 2015 book selections were:
~The Magician’s Lie, Greer Macallister (Judge: Whoopi Goldberg)
~The Japanese Lover, Isabel Allende (Judge: Bill Goldstein)
~Dear Mr. You, Mary-Louise Parker (Judge: Stephen Marche)
~Lafayette in The Somewhat United States, Sarah Vowell (Judge: Liberty Hardy)
~What She Knew, Gilly Macmillan (Judge: Kim Hubbard)
Book of the Month ships via USPS on the 6th day of each month.
Books arrive basically like you’d get them from Amazon (or another online retailer). I appreciate that they closed the outer packaging on the side so you didn’t have to worry about slicing into the book when you opened it up.
All shipments include a note from the Guest Judge who selected the book you receive this month. It’s basically the same information you can find online, but I liked actually having this to read too.
My December 2015 Book of the Month selection was as follows:
~Dear Mr. You – Mary-Louise Parker (Amazon Price: $15.37): I received “Dear Mr. You” written by actress Mary-Louise Parker. The book was selected by Guest Judge Stephen Marche who is a columnist for Esquire magazine and author of five books. Dear Mr. You is described as a collection of letters to the men who shaped Ms. Parker’s life and, in turn, reveal a lot about her relationships, family, romance and heartbreak.
I haven’t gotten a chance to get too into this yet, but I am enjoying it so far. I like that it’s a collection of letters because if I am not too into one, it doesn’t mean that the next one won’t be amazing! They are all totally different and I love that.
From Book of the Month
The letter recipients in Dear Mr. You include some men she has never known (like her grandfather who died before she was born), men she has only met once (like a cabdriver who witnessed Parker break down completely when she pregnant and single), and of course men who are central to her life (like her father whom she worships as a deity and her son whom she adores like a messiah). One beautiful letter is a description of a casual but profoundly meaningful encounter at a party with a charming man with whom she feels a deep connection and whom she finds out is dying of cancer.
Did you get Book of the Month this month? Which selection did you opt for and what’d you think? I don’t think I would have selected any of these books on my own, but I think that’s part of the appeal. I am now also super interested in one of the other December selections “What She Knew“. I may add that to my Christmas list!
If you are interested in subscribing to Book of the Month you can get signed up now AND get one of the December option as your first book! Also, make sure to use coupon code “BOTM15” to get a 3-month Book of the Month membership for just $6.99/month!
I loooove Mary Louise Parker. Her show Weeds is one of my favorites–I’ll have to check this one out!
I got “What She Knew” and it’s a great book. If you liked “Gone Girl” then I think you’d really like this one. I’m about 3/4 of the way through and it goes along at a good pace. It’s about a boy who is kidnapped and the investigation after. I am anxious to see how it ends!