Book of the Month August 2016 Subscription Box Review #1 + 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.

Book of the Month Club has a new deal – try just one month for just $5 with code READ5!

Or: For a limited time when you join Book of the Month Club you’ll get a Book of the Month Tote as shown above AND save 30% on a 3 month subscription! Just use the code 30TOTE when you sign up for their 3-month subscription.

Here are the choices for August!

The August 2016 Book of the Month selections were:

★Circling the Sun by Paula McLain – selected by Allison Williams from the HBO comedy-drama series Girls ($17.19 on Amazon)
★ The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware – Judge: Liberty Hardy ($15.60 on Amazon)
★ Dark Matter by Blake Crouch – Judge: Maris Kreizman ($14.99 on Amazon)
★  All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood – Judge: Nina Sankovitch ($20.69 on Amazon – released on August 9, 2016!)
★ Siracusa: by Delia Ephron – Judge: Kim Hubbard ($17.04 on Amazon)
I always have a hard time selecting only one book! August would have been especially difficult to choose just one book. Book of the Month kindly sent out all five August selections placing me in book heaven.

One book was packaged in the traditional BOTM packaging. I also selected one additional book for this first review. The other three selections will be in a separate review post. I selected The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware because I read the excerpt that was included in the  In A Dark, Dark Wood ($16). I needed to find out what happened and added it to my to-read list!

I couldn’t wait to see what was inside the box.

A cat! I couldn’t wait to read Siracusa by Delia Ephron.

I am glad that BOTM explained it was a wine coozie!

We rarely drink and don’t have wine glasses. It did fit a stemless wineglass. I also took the picture next to our grape vines which sadly has a disease. You can see the grapes on the left.

A  judge’s letter is included explaining why the book was selected along with a bookmark featuring a quote from Lena Dunham. I second the motion to have an extra day in the week devoted to reading. No need to subject yourself to the difficulties of traveling with a couple. Join me as we read why a double-date vacation may a bad idea.

Two couples travelling to Sicily together, one with a scarily precocious child in tow. If you’ve ever had a double-date vacation, you know they’re a gamble: bonhomie and irritation alternate like passing weather systems, and each relationship’s weaknesses are on full display. Ephron captures that dynamic wonderfully in this rich, suspenseful novel, ratcheting up tensions until the shocking denouement. I couldn’t put it down!

Sounds like a great read!

Siracusa: by Delia Ephron – Judge: Kim Hubbard ($17.04 on Amazon)

Both books in this review have the BOTM Variant Cover. It was mesmerizing to read about two marriages falling apart. The denouement was unexpected and not in line with what I thought was going to happen based on the book’s summary.

New Yorkers Michael, a famous writer, and Lizzie, a journalist, travel to Italy with their friends from Maine—Finn; his wife, Taylor; and their daughter, Snow. “From the beginning,” says Taylor, “it was a conspiracy for Lizzie and Finn to be together.” Told Rashomon-style in alternating points of view, the characters expose and stumble upon lies and infidelities past and present. Snow, ten years old and precociously drawn into a far more adult drama, becomes the catalyst for catastrophe as the novel explores collusion and betrayal in marriage.

With her inimitable psychological astute­ness and uncanny understanding of the human heart, Ephron delivers a powerful meditation on marriage, friendship, and the meaning of travel. Set on the sun-drenched coast of the Ionian Sea, Siracusa unfolds with the pacing of a psychological thriller and delivers an unexpected final act that none will see coming.

I agree that none of them will see what was coming. I did not either and was totally shocked by it.

The psychological thriller is told by the four adult characters with each chapter devoted to one character’s point of view. The characters are rich and well-developed. You can’t help but despise some of the characters and feel sorry for others. Seeing their human psyche exposed, being in unfamiliar territory, the vulnerabilities, the lies, and an unexpected ending made this book hard to put down.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware – Judge: Liberty Hardy ($15.60 on Amazon)

I was excited to receive The Woman in Cabin 10 by Rachel Ware. I read an excerpt in The Deep, Deep Woods and was wondering how much of her fears and how she handles herself in stressful situations would play into the plot. From Amazon:

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…

With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.

Lo Blacklock is a woman on the edge who is self-medicating herself with alcohol while being on prescription drugs. She lacks credibility in what she observes combined with no one is missing on the boat. The psychological thriller is cleverly written with twists and turns. It’s hard to know what to believe in the beginning, but it becomes clearer further into the book. The climax is intense although not graphic. It was an enjoyable read that kept me guessing. Don’t read it on a cruise!

Both psychological thrillers enthralled me. I enjoyed the twists and turns while trying to figure out the endings. Book of the Month kindly sent all five selections to me which I greatly appreciate because I love to read. I always have a hard time choosing just one book! I carried them in my tote book and noticed no damage, loose spine, or loose pages. 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. Can’t wait? Hit the ship it early button in your account by 8pm ET on the second of the month. 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 August 15!

What book did you pick this month? Share below and let us know!

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