Disclosure: If you make a purchase through the links posted below, I may receive a small compensation. Read the full disclosure.
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
Cost: $16.99/month
Ships To: United States.
Coupon Code: See Below
Disclosure: This complimentary box was received for review purposes. All opinions are my own, and no compensation was received.
Book of the Month ships via USPS on the 6th day of each month.
Books always come neatly sealed in perfect condition. The jackets contain a BOTM logo, and the back shows the month the book was selected.
Book of the Month sent me all the selections this month, but I opted to discuss the book I would have picked for myself this month which is Since We Fell!
~Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane – Judge Sarah Weinman: This isn’t the type of book I would normally select, but I found it intriguing. It moves quickly – so far – and I am anxious to find some time to read the rest.
From Book of the Month Judge Sarah Weinman
“On a Tuesday in May, in her thirty-seventh year, Rachel shot her husband dead.” Who wouldn’t want to keep reading Since We Fell after a throat-grabbing opening line like that? And the novel will take us back to this point, eventually, but not before we learn exactly how Rachel got there.
This is how long I have been reading Dennis Lehane: I remember where I was, to the day and location, when I bought his 2001 masterpiece, Mystic River, in my opinion one of the best crime novels of this century. He continued to produce standout novels like Shutter Island and The Given Day, and be the source of terrific motion pictures like Gone, Baby, Gone and The Drop. Lehane messes with your mind with puzzles, breaks your heart with complicated characters, and shines a light on the epic sweep of American crime history. He knows when to pull back and take his time with the story, and when to up the tension and white-knuckle it to the finish.
Since We Fell is not quite as gritty (or, frankly, as dude-ish) as Mystic River, but it’s about time Lehane gave a female protagonist her own enthralling story. Raised by a cold, neglectful mother, an improbable star in the world of self-help nonfiction, Rachel comes of age by searching for the absent father her mother does not want her to find. What she finds, and loses, along the way forms her very essence and nearly upends her life. Layer by layer, Lehane unspools Rachel’s fears and anxieties with exacting skill, so that by the time she opens herself up to love—and is betrayed, again and again by doing so—we are with her, hoping she will overcome unspeakable physical and emotional injury.
Since We Fell is the embodiment of the “literary thriller.” The plot twists as fast and as sharp as your favorite roller coaster, but not until we’ve gone far inside Rachel Childs’s mind to fully know and care about her. Savor the book first, then be prepared to keep pace at the end.
— Sarah Weinman
~Into the Water by Paula Hawkins: One of the offers this month the ability to also receive the latest Paula Hawkins novel with your May pick. It was offered as a $9.99 add-on for current subscribers or free with coupon code “WATER” for new subscribers. Paula Hawkins is the author of “Girl on the Trai, n” and if this is half as good, it’ll be a winner.
May Book Options
This month’s options are:
❃ Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane – Judge Sarah Weinman
❃ The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich – Judge Stacey Armand
❃ The Leavers by Lisa Ko – Judge Elizabeth Kiefer
❃ Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood – Judge Nina Sankovitch
❃ Woman No. 7 by Edan LePucki – Judge Kim Hubbard
Coupon Codes
The following offers are available:
~Use this link to get a 3-month subscription for $9.99/month plus a free Book of the Month Tote.
~Use this link to get your first month for $5.
~New members can get a free copy of Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train, with a 3 month plan with promo code WATER. Current members can choose to add-on the title with their May selection for $9.99.