Have you guys heard about BOTM (Book of the Month)? I’ve been signed up for years, but the recent changes they have made have resulted in me getting pretty hooked, to say the least. For those that don’t know: BOTM is a subscription service that offers five (see below) selections each month. Readers get to choose the book they want – plus two extras. There are a bunch of add-ons for readers to choose from as well.

Or rather, I should say that they used to offer five selections. Now they offer between five and seven, giving readers a better chance to find the perfect book for them. I love this, as I have relied on BOTM to help me find new books/authors to read. Plus, it’s a new hardcover for a decent price. Win-win, right?

You can sign up for BOTM HERE.

February’s BOTM Choices Are:

-Someone Else’s Shoes (Contemporary Fiction)
-River Sing Me Home (Historical Fiction)
-Georgie, All Along (Romance)
-The Writing Retreat (Thriller)
-Maame (Contemporary Fiction)

New Spotlight Books:

-The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
-Really Good, Actually
-The Shards

My Picks:

I managed to be good and only use one of my two BOTM accounts for books this month! Though I did cave and get a couple from Aardvark (stay tuned for that post!).

The Writing Retreat – The Writing Retreat was the only thriller novel for this month, so naturally, I nabbed it, no questions asked! It’s a debut novel too, so that’ll count extra for my BOTM reading challenge (yay!).

“The Plot meets Please Join Us in this psychological suspense debut about a young author at an exclusive writer’s retreat that descends into a nightmare.”

I’ve got to admit, while I had heard nothing about The Writing Retreat prior to this, I’m really excited for it to arrive so I can dive in!

Maame – I’ll be the first to admit that at a glance, Maame doesn’t look like it fits in with my usual reading picks. However! It is a contemporary fiction novel, and it sounds pretty good. So that was enough to help sway me.

“Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures―and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.”

I’ve been trying to be better about branching out from my fallback genres (mostly sci-fi, fantasy, and thrillers), and I’m hoping Maame fits the bill.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride – Last but not least, we have The Last Tale of the Flower Bride. This is one of the new(er) add-ons available on BOTM. It’s also been on my TBR list for a hot minute because I adore Roshani Chokshi.

“A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales–the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.”

I think the description alone makes it clear why I’ve been looking forward to The Last Tale of the Flower Bride!

Annnd that it’s! Those are my picks for October. Stay tuned for my reviews, which I will try to get out asap.