Book of the Month is a subscription box in which members choose up to 5 hardcover books to receive each month.
You can sign up here to get your first book for $5.
This month, Book of the Month (BOTM) chose 6 main selections and 5 add-ons.
Main Picks | Add-Ons | Predictions | My Choices
Main Picks
Love Is An Algorithm
Laura Brooke Robson
Live, laugh, re-download your dating apps. This modern love story will make you believe in the power of connection.
Contemporary Fiction | Early Release
Almost Life
Kiran Millwood Hargrave
In this luminous story, two young women spend a summer falling in love, and a lifetime picking up the pieces.
Literary Fiction | Early Release
How to Write a Love Story
Catherine Walsh
Step 1: Go to Ireland. Step 2: Help your client finish her novel. Step 3: Don’t fall in love. What could go wrong?
Romance
Lady Tremaine
Rachel Hochhauser
This misunderstood villain is changing the narrative on what it means to have a fairytale happy ending.
Retelling | Debut
This Story Might Save Your Life
Tiffany Crum
A survival story podcast takes a turn when one of the hosts goes missing…and the other host is the main suspect.
Mystery | Debut
Kin
Tayari Jones
In this poignant novel, two childhood friends grow in different directions while remaining shaped by shared loss.
Literary Fiction | Repeat Author
Add Ons
No Matter What
Cara Bastone
After a traumatic accident, an estranged couple finds healing and hope in an unlikely way—a figure drawing class.
Romance | Repeat Author
Wolf Worm
T. Kingfisher
Creepy meets crawly in this Appalachian horror novel about an insect illustrator sketching a flesh-burrowing fly.
Horror I Repeat Author
Just Friends
Haley Pham
A big-hearted romance about second chances, following your dreams, and finding your way back home.
Romance | Debut
You Did Nothing Wrong
C.G. Drews
This unsettling psychological horror novel asks what’s worse: a haunted house, or a haunted marriage?
Horror
The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives
Elizabeth Arnott
Overlooked and underestimated, three unlikely friends—all ex-wives of serial killers—band together to catch a killer.
Thriller
Predictions & Thoughts
There are six main and five add-on Book of the Month (BOTM) selections for March, including three debuts and three books by repeat authors.
This month, I predicted five of the six main selections as well as all five of the add-ons. Love Is An Algorithm was not on my radar whatsoever. I like to be surprised every once in awhile when BOTM drops a book I have never heard of. I cannot remember another month where BOTM has included two horror books; it makes me wonder if they are trying to include more in order to compete with Aardvark Book Club in the genre.
Let’s talk about what books were not among the picks. There were a ton of great contemporary and literary fiction options this month. I am super surprised that not a single one was among the picks, including a few by popular past BOTM authors. I also thought that this was the first month in quite awhile we would have more than one historical fiction pick. I particularly was hedging by bets about The Beheading Game or The Shock of the Light.
My Choices
I took my time choosing my books this month. The book I was most excited for I fortunately had advanced reader’s copies of – Kin. I am actually going to add Kin to my box to have a copy to keep. I also have a copy of No Matter What on the way from the publisher. As I previously mentioned, I was highly anticipating some of the March contemporary and literary fiction releases that I thought BOTM would carry and surprised not to find a single one among the picks.
Recently, I have been reading less straight romance books and more romantasy instead. I actually have my last few BOTM romance selections sitting unread on my shelves. So I am going to skip any romance picks this month since I already have options. I am not a huge horror reader and have plenty of the genre’s novel to read; so skipping Wolf Worm and You Did Nothing Wrong was also a quick decision.
I debated about two books – This Story Might Save Your Life and The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives. Because I have not been reading a ton of thrillers, I am going to pass on these two selections this month. However, I will definitely add them to a future box if there are great reviews.
That leaves the two other novels I decided to get – Almost Life and Lady Tremaine. I do not read a lot of retellings, but Lady Tremaine has really strong early reviews. Plus, I cannot resist a book with a feminist spin; it is an simple draw for me. Almost Life is a bit of an out-of-character pick for me; however, it sounds intriguing. BOTM basically never features a sapphic romance; so I also feel like I need to get it to encourage them to branch out more.
