Book of the Month is a subscription box in which members choose up to 3 hardcover books to receive each month. Once you become a BOTM BFF, you can receive up to 5 books per month.
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Every month, I make pretty accurate (80-100%) predictions about which books will be featured by Book of the Month (BOTM). I take a lot of time to research upcoming releases, analyze past selections, and choose books that are solid bets.
With October 28 as a release date, I think there is a solid chance we will see some October books among the selections. I have not included those below, but you can see my October predictions here.
I think that October books will most likely drop on Wednesday, October 29; Thursday, October 30; or Friday, October 31.
Literary Fiction
I wavered whether to include a few books but ultimately ruled them out (including Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare, Supersaurio by Meryem El Mehdati, The Tortoise’s Tale by Kendra Coulter, and Lucky Girl by Allie Tagle-Dokus.) If there is an early release, I think it will be Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen.
Like Family
Erin O. White
Synopsis: After a near-stranger dies in their small town, a tightknit group of friends can no longer ignore their long-dormant desires and unfulfilled dreams—a moving debut about the complicated joys of chosen family.
Debut
Town & Country
Brian Schaefer
Synopsis: A “big-hearted and true” (Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winner) debut novel set in a small rural town amid a congressional race that forces the candidates, their families, and a clique of gay second homeowners to confront lies, betrayals and shifting allegiances.
Debut
Lightbreakers
Aja Gabel
Synopsis: What would you give to relive the past? A heartachingly moving novel, Lightbreakers plumbs the mysteries of human connection, and explores how to love in a world where time is both a healer and a thief.
The White Hot
Quiara Alegría Hudes
Synopsis: The story of a runaway mother’s ten days of freedom—and the pain, desire, longing, and wonder we find on the messy road to enlightenment—from Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes.
Other People’s Fun
Harriet Lane
Synopsis: A chance encounter draws two old classmates toward an unforgettable reckoning in this “very smart and darkly funny” novel exploring power—and how it tangles with privilege, marriage, motherhood, and midlife—from the acclaimed author of Alys, Always, and Her.
Cursed Daughters
Oyinkan Braithwaite
Synopsis: A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition from the author of the smash hit My Sister, the Serial Killer.
The Ferryman and His Wife
Frode Grytten
Synopsis: In the spirit of Amor Towles and George Saunders, the renowned, bestselling Norwegian author Frode Grytten takes readers on a quietly epic journey: ferry driver Nils Vik’s last route along the fjord, on what he knows will be his last day alive.
Historical Fiction
I also considered Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen and Seascraper by Benjamin Wood but decided to ultimately leave it off my predictions.
The Ha-Ha
Jennifer Dawson
Synopsis: A prizewinning, semi-autobiographical debut novel that explores a young woman’s struggle with mental illness at Oxford University in the 1950s—for readers of Ottessa Moshfegh, Melissa Broder, and Sally Rooney.
Debut
Last Call at the Savoy
Brisa Carleton
Synopsis: Set amongst the glittering backdrop of London’s iconic Savoy hotel, a young woman is forced to confront her troubled past as she uncovers the story of the hotel’s first female bartender who has been erased from the history books—”an exhilarating, tender read that will leave you smiling” (Fiona Davis, bestselling author).
Debut
Sonora
Jenni L. Walsh
Synopsis: Inspired by a true story of one of the first female horse divers, Sonora explores a world of daring feats and extraordinary adventures set in the heyday of the American carnival scene.
Bitter Honey
Lolá Ákínmádé
Synopsis: Spanning four decades and three continents, Bitter Honey is a story about a mother and daughter divided by long buried secrets, struggling to understand each other as they forge their own paths, from the internationally bestselling author of In Every Mirror She’s Black.
Repeat Author
Romance
Secret Nights and Northern Lights
Megan Oliver
Synopsis: Childhood best friends and first loves are reunited on a make-or-break work trip to Iceland, with old feelings coming to the surface in this charming romance from debut author Megan Oliver.
Debut
An Academic Affair
Jodi McAlister
Synopsis: From the masterly Jodi McAlister, a charming new romance about two English professors who embark on a fake relationship…only to discover that it may be harder to pretend than they realized.
Daddy Issues
Kate Goldbeck
Synopsis: A jaded twentysomething is stuck living at home, her life on pause, when a single dad becomes her new neighbor and unexpectedly sets her life—and her heart—into motion in this modern love story from the bestselling author of You, Again.
Repeat Author
And Then There Was You
Sophie Cousens
Synopsis: Stuck in a Production Assistant job and living at home with her parents after a painful breakup, thirty-one-year-old Chloe Fairway isn’t where she wants to be in life. The last thing she needs is to face the people who once voted her “most likely to succeed” at her upcoming ten-year college reunion. Desperate to make a splash—and to save face in front of the man who might be the one that got away—she turns to a mysterious dating service.
Repeat Author
Thrillers, Mysteries, & Crime Fiction
I also waffled about a couple of books, primarily The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan, Haven’t Killed in Years by Amy K. Green, Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L. M. Chilton, and Who Knows You by Heart by C. J. Farley.
With Friends Like These
Alissa Lee
Synopsis: A group of Harvard alums have played a secret game for decades but as the stakes rise, deadly consequences emerge from old lies. An unputdownable debut thriller for readers of the suspenseful novels of Julia Bartz and Katy Hays.
Debut
Her One Regret
Donna Freitas
Synopsis: From the author of the book club favorite The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano comes a riveting feminist thriller that tackles an unspeakable taboo: regretting motherhood.
59 Minutes
Holly Seddon
Synopsis: The internationally bestselling author of the “brilliant, gripping must-read” (Glamour) Try Not to Breathe brings suspenseful thrills in this unputdownable novel following three women as they face an incoming nuclear attack.
Where He Left Me
Nicole Baart
Synopsis: From Nicole Baart, the bestselling author of Everything We Didn’t Say, comes a twisty, atmospheric novel about a newlywed whose husband disappears, leaving her isolated in Washington State’s North Cascades.
Repeat Author
Best Offer Wins
Marisa Kashino
Synopsis: An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly humorous debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success―and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?
Debut
Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Magical Realism
I wavered whether to include a few books but ultimately ruled them out (including I, Medusa by Ayana Gray, The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers, and The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely)
The Merge
Grace Walker
Synopsis: A thrilling and ominously prophetic debut set in a world when Earth and its resources have been pushed to breaking point, giving rise to a revolutionary—and highly controversial—procedure in which two people’s consciousness can be combined to exist in one body.
Debut
Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore
Emily Krempholtz
Synopsis: A powerful plant witch and a grumpy alchemist must work together to save their quiet town from a magical plague in this debut cozy fantasy romance about starting over, redemption, and what it really means to be a good person.
Debut
As Many Souls as Stars
Natasha Siegel
Synopsis: An inventive and romantic speculative novel about two women—a witch and an immortal demon—who make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat-and-mouse chase across multiple lifetimes.
Fallen City
Adrienne Young
Synopsis: In the great walled city of Isara, political turmoil ignites a rebellion one hundred years in the making. But when a legionnaire falls in love with a Magistrate’s daughter, their love will threaten the fate of the city and the will of the gods.
Repeat Author
The Glowing Life of Leann Wu
Mindy Hung
Synopsis: A seemingly inexplicable magic takes over the lives of three generations of women in this gripping and romantic novel sure to captivate readers of At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities and The Change.
Nonfiction
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime
Sarah Weinman
Synopsis: From Sarah Weinman, author of Scoundrel and The Real Lolita, comes an eye-opening story about the first major spousal rape trial in America and urgent questions it raised about women’s rights that would reverberate for decades. Without Consent embodies vociferous debates about gender, sexuality, and power, while highlighting the damaging and inherent misogyny of American culture then and still now.
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