Book of the Month July 2016 Subscription Box Review #2 + Coupon

Bookspan’s Book of the Month Club is a monthly book subscription box. Each month their panel of Judges selects 5 books, which they announce on the first of the month, and members have six days to decide which book (or books) they would like to receive. All books are shipped at the same time, so members can read and participate in their discussion forums as a group. One book per month is included in the membership fee, and members can purchase up to two additional books each month for $9.99 per title. The monthly price is $16.99 per month, $11.99 per month on a year long subscription.

Here are the choices for July!

The July Guest Judge: Arianna Huffington, author of The Sleep Revolution ($15.85 on Amazon)

The July 2016 Book of the Month selections were:

★ Love That Boy by Ron Fournier – Guest Judge: Arianna Huffingon – $17.77 on Amazon
★ The Girls by Emma Cline  – Judge: Maris Kriezman $16.20 on Amazon
★ Rich & Pretty by Rumaan Alam  – Judge: Cynthia Sweeney $15.59 on Amazon
★ Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner – Judge: Maud Newton $16.20 on Amazon
★ Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel – Judge: Liberty Hardy $15.47 on Amazon
I always have a hard time selecting only one book! Book of the Month kindly sent out all five July selections placing me in book heaven.

One book was packaged in the traditional BOTM packaging. I also selected one additional book for the first review. The other three selections will be in this post.  I reviewed the Summer Survival Kit earlier in the month. My sister loves her new sunnies! I’ve been using the tote throughout the week.

I had a difficult time deciding which book to read first!

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner – Judge: Maud Newton $16.20 on Amazon

A page-turning mystery that brings to life a complex and strong-willed detective assigned to a high-risk missing persons case

“An extraordinarily assured police procedural in the tradition of Ruth Rendell and Elizabeth George.”—Joseph Finder, author of The Fixer

“Wonderfully written . . . surprise-filled . . . Detective Bradshaw’s biting wit is a bonus.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Missing, Presumed has future BBC miniseries written all over it.”—Redbook

“A new and complex police heroine . . . a highly charismatic and engaging story.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This combination of police procedural and an unfolding family drama that continuously twists and turns will work well for fans of Kate Atkinson and Tana French.”—Booklist

I can’t resist a good mystery. Missing, Presumed was my first selection to read. I included the back covers because two of the covers have BOTM logos along with the month and the year.

At thirty-nine, Manon Bradshaw is a devoted and respected member of the Cambridgeshire police force, and though she loves her job, what she longs for is a personal life. Single and distant from her family, she wants a husband and children of her own. One night, after yet another disastrous Internet date, she turns on her police radio to help herself fall asleep—and receives an alert that sends her to a puzzling crime scene.

Edith Hind—a beautiful graduate student at Cambridge University and daughter of the surgeon to the Royal Family—has been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Her home offers few clues: a smattering of blood in the kitchen, her keys and phone left behind, the front door ajar but showing no signs of forced entry. Manon instantly knows that this case will be big—and that every second is crucial to finding Edith alive.

The investigation starts with Edith’s loved ones: her attentive boyfriend, her reserved best friend, her patrician parents. As the search widens and press coverage reaches a frenzied pitch, secrets begin to emerge about Edith’s tangled love life and her erratic behavior leading up to her disappearance. With no clear leads, Manon summons every last bit of her skill and intuition to close the case, and what she discovers will have shocking consequences not just for Edith’s family but for Manon herself.

Suspenseful and keenly observed, Missing, Presumed is a brilliantly twisting novel of how we seek connection, grant forgiveness, and reveal the truth about who we are.

 I enjoyed reading Missing, Presumed and figuring out how a murder tied into Edith Hind’s disappearance. Each chapter is told from one’s character point of view which was interesting and brought in other details that may have been omitted from having only one narrative. Everything comes together in the end with a couple of twists.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Love That Boy by Ron Fournier.  I was game because I am a parent and love history.

Love That Boy by Ron Fournier – Guest Judge: Arianna Huffingon – $17.77 on Amazon

Tyler and I inch toward the Green Room, in line with blow-dried TV anchors and stuffy columnists. He’s practicing his handshake and hello: “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President.” When the couple in front of us steps forward for their picture, my teenager with sky-blue eyes and a soft heart looks up at me and says, “I hope I don’t let you down, Dad.”
What kind of father raises a son to worry about embarrassing his dad? I want to tell Tyler not to worry, that he’d never let me down. That there’s nothing wrong with being different. That I actually am proud of what makes him special. But we are next in line to meet the president of the United States in a room filled with fellow strivers, and all I can think about is the real possibility that Tyler might embarrass himself. Or, God forbid, me.

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.

It’s difficult to describe this book. It was part journalism but what stood out to me that it was also an endearing love story about how a father tossed out his parental expectations and accepted his child.  The personal story is what captivated me as a parent.

I was prepared to read a couple of chapters of Sleeping Giants and put it aside. Michael Crichton interests me; World War Z does not. Instead, I read it in one night!

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel – Judge: Liberty Hardy $15.47 on Amazon

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.
 
A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

The book is written in interview form and log accounts which at first I thought I would not enjoy. The characters are developed although it takes time to learn about them. Everything builds upon itself as more and more is revealed. The details pulled me in causing me to read it in one sitting! It was a surprisingly good read for someone not into science fiction.

Book of the Month kindly sent all five selections to me which I greatly appreciate because I love to read. I enjoyed reading different genres and being pushed outside of my comfort zone when it came to Sleeping Giants. The five books are well written and varied enough to appeal to most people.   Book of the Month is an inexpensive way to build up your reading library of favorite genres or to push yourself into unfamiliar genres! Skip if nothing interests you. Add on up to two extra books at $9.99 a book if you can’t decide! There’s even a discussion group.  Select a book by July 21!

What book did you pick this month? Share below and let us know! Haven’t tried Book of the Month?Just use the code FUN30 when you sign up for their 3-month subscription to save 30% on a 3-month subscription!

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