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Book of the Month
Cost: $16.99/month
Ships To: United States.
Coupon Code: “SUMMER30” to get 30% off a 3-month Book of the Month membership PLUS a free Summer Survival Kit, which includes an exclusive Book Of The Month beach bag and custom sunglasses!
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 their 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.
Book of the Month ships via USPS on the 6th day of each month. I received my package early for review purposes.
So excited! Book of the Month actually sent me all all of the books this month, but I am going to do my main “review” on the book I am planning on starting first.
My July 2016 Book of the Month selection was as follows:
~The Girls by Emma Cline (Amazon Price: $16.20): I probably wouldn’t have picked out this book on my own at the bookstore, but I think that is why I am most intrigued by it. It sounds fascinating. It’s set in the 60’s and focuses on a group of girls would become tangled in a Manson like cult. I need to finish up another book (First Comes Love) and then it’s on to this one!
From Book of the Month Judge Maris Kreizman:
My perfect summer read is the kind of page-turner that requires some discipline in order to savor — read it too quickly and you might miss many lovely nuances. Emma Cline’s The Girls is one of those wonderful life-interrupting novels that contains too many perfectly written sentences to read in one sitting, as tempting as it might be.
At first the premise of The Girls gave me pause. I feared that this novel about a teenage girl who joins a Manson Family-like cult in California in the summer of 1969 would be a cheap-thrills horror read, disturbing, the stuff of nightmares. And yes, some of it is macabre (when you’re talking about a cult of young women who commit horrific murders for an evil hippie guru, it has to be!) But Cline keeps the violence to a minimum, and only where it’s necessary. Turns out, The Girls is not a cheap, voyeuristic thrill at all, but a lovely meditation about the helter skelter of girlhood, about suburban boredom and the agonies of loneliness, of feeling like the life you’re really meant to live is way off in a distant future you can barely imagine. And how thrilling it feels when that bit of life suddenly comes into focus, even if you have to squint very hard to see it.
“Maybe this was a better way, even though it seemed alien,” thinks 14 year-old Evie upon experiencing the welcoming disarray of the commune for the first time. “To be part of this amorphous group, believing love could come from any direction. So you wouldn’t be disappointed if not enough came from the direction you’d hoped.” Even though I knew this magical time in Evie’s life would end poorly (to say the least!) I couldn’t help relating to Evie’s longing for connection ? in whatever form it might take.
And through Evie I was able to see how a “good girl” can be drawn towards darkness, feelings anyone who has ever been a teenage girl will relate to on some level. It’s these moral (and mortal) ambiguities that drew me in deep and will keep The Girls on my mind long after the summer is over.
— MARIS KREIZMAN
~The Summer Survival Kit: For a limited time Book of the Month is offering a free Summer Survival Kit, which includes an exclusive Book Of The Month beach bag and custom sunglasses. To take advantage of this offer, use “SUMMER30” to get 30% off a 3-month Book of the Month membership PLUS the free kit. I also received a BOTM crazy straw, but I think that was just an added bonus. The tote bag is roomy and can easily hold your summer beach read, a towel, sunscreen, your phone and a few snacks. Or it would work nicely as a library bag. I don’t really know why (I mean other than the fact that it’s a really good deal), but I am ridiculously excited about this promotion!
July Book of the Month Selections
As I mentioned, Book of the Month was kind enough to send me ALL of the July selections (which I am beyond thrilled about)! In addition to the book above, the July selection are as follows:
~Rich & Pretty by Rumaan Alam (Amazon Price: $15.59): From the Publisher: “This irresistible debut, set in contemporary New York, provides a sharp, insightful look into how the relationship between two best friends changes when they are no longer coming of age but learning how to live adult lives.”
~Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner (Amazon Price: $17.87): From the Publisher: “A page-turning literary mystery that brings to life the complex and wholly relatable Manon Bradshaw, a strong-willed detective assigned to a high-risk missing persons case“.
~Sleeping Giants: by Sylvain Neuvel (Amazon Price: $15.47): From the Publisher: “A page-turning debut in the tradition of Michael Crichton, World War Z, and The Martian, Sleeping Giants is a thriller fueled by an earthshaking mystery—and a fight to control a gargantuan power.“
~Love That Boy by by Ron Fournier (selected by Arianna Huffington, author of The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night At A Time) (Amazon Price: $17.77): From the Publisher: “LOVE THAT BOY is a uniquely personal story about the causes and costs of outsized parental expectations. What we want for our children—popularity, normalcy, achievement, genius—and what they truly need—grit, empathy, character—are explored by National Journal’s Ron Fournier, who weaves his extraordinary journey to acceptance around the latest research on childhood development and stories of other loving-but-struggling parents.”
What do you think of Book of the Month? Which of the selections interests you most this month?
New Book of the Month customers can use coupon code “SUMMER30” to get 30% off a 3-month Book of the Month membership PLUS a free Summer Survival Kit, which includes an exclusive Book Of The Month beach bag and custom sunglasses!
All of the books! Lucky you!
I picked The Girls this month too. I’m looking forward to reading it!
I’m on the fence between the The Girls and Sleeping Giants. Whichever I don’t pick, I’ll check out from the library 🙂 I actually put all 5 onto my library list this month