Book of the Month Subscription Review + Coupon – April 2016

Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription box. Each month, 5 curators pick out their favorite new hardcover books, and you can choose which one you want to receive on the first of the month. You can also add up to 2 additional books for only $9.99 each.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Book of the Month

The Cost: $16.99 a month (less with 3 and 12 month subscriptions)

If you haven’t signed up for Book of the Month yet, you now have until April 15th to start with the April box. 

Use coupon code APR50 to save 50% off a 3-month subscription of Book of the Month! That brings the cost down to $7.50 a hardcover book!

The Product: Subscribers get to pick from a selection of hardcover books each month. Skip any month you aren’t interested in. Add up to two additional books for $9.99.

Ships to: US Only

Check out all of my Book of the Month reviews!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wish list!

For April, subscribers picked from the following 5 books:

And Ellie Kemper, AKA Kimmy Schmidt (trust me, you want to click that link), is one of the guest judges for April!

(I decided to buy an additional two books for $9.99 as well.

My first selection:

No One Knows, by J.T. Ellison (Judge: Liberty Hardy) Value $26, On Amazon for $17.77

Book Summary from Amazon:

In an obsessive mystery as thrilling as The Girl on the Train and The Husband’s Secret, New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison will make you question every twist in her page-turning novel—and wonder which of her vividly drawn characters you should trust.

The day Aubrey Hamilton’s husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn’t want to move on; she wants Josh back. It’s been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage—they were happy, weren’t they?—screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn’t Josh show up at his friend’s bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?

In No One Knows, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series expertly peels back the layers of a complex woman who is hiding dark secrets beneath her unassuming exterior. This masterful thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Paula Hawkins will pull readers into a you’ll-never-guess merry-go-round of danger and deception. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops…no one knows.

Each book is selected by a judge, and each judge includes a brief letter on why they selected the book. I love the last line of this letter from Liberty Hardy, stating that the mystery is so good it will “have you second-guessing every so often, you’ll start to eye your pets suspiciously.”

Left of Boom, by Douglas Laux and Ralph Pezzullo (Judge: Book of the Month) Retail Value $28,On Amazon for $17.70

Book Summary from Amazon:

On September 11, 2001, Doug Laux was a freshman in college, on the path to becoming a doctor. But with the fall of the Twin Towers came a turning point in his life. After graduating he joined the Central Intelligence Agency, determined to get himself to Afghanistan and into the center of the action. Through persistence and hard work he was fast-tracked to a clandestine operations position overseas. Dropped into a remote region of Afghanistan, he received his baptism by fire. Frustrated by bureaucratic red tape, a widespread lack of knowledge of the local customs and culture and an attitude of complacency that hindered his ability to combat the local Taliban, Doug confounded his peers by dressing like a native and mastering the local dialect, making contact and building sources within several deadly terrorist networks. His new approach resulted in unprecedented successes, including the uncovering the largest IED network in the world, responsible for killing hundreds of US soldiers. Meanwhile, Doug had to keep up false pretenses with his family, girlfriend and friends–nobody could know what he did for a living–and deal with the emotional turbulence of constantly living a lie. His double life was building to an explosive resolution, with repercussions that would have far reaching consequences.

This book looked like something my husband Eric would enjoy, and I’m pretty curious about it, too!

Flight of Dreams, by Ariel Lawhon (Judge: Nina Sankovitch) Retail Value $26, On Amazon for $17.74 

Book Summary from Amazon:

On the evening of May 3rd, 1937, ninety-seven people board the Hindenburg for its final, doomed flight to Lakehurst, New Jersey. Among them are a frightened stewardess who is not what she seems; the steadfast navigator determined to win her heart; a naive cabin boy eager to earn a permanent spot on the world’s largest airship; an impetuous journalist who has been blacklisted in her native Germany; and an enigmatic American businessman with a score to settle. Over the course of three hazy, champagne-soaked days their lies, fears, agendas, and hopes for the future are revealed.

Flight of Dreams is a fiercely intimate portrait of the real people on board the last flight of the Hindenburg. Behind them is the gathering storm in Europe and before them is looming disaster. But for the moment they float over the Atlantic, unaware of the inexorable, tragic fate that awaits them.

Brilliantly exploring one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century,Flight of Dreams is that rare novel with spellbinding plotting that keeps you guessing till the last page and breathtaking emotional intensity that stays with you long after.

And each book this month also came with this sticker set celebrating guest judge Ellie Kemper:

I think I will wear that Ellie sticker on Friday when I binge-watch season two of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – and I’ll be drinking out of my Hashbrown No Filter mug, too!

Verdict:  I’m very pleased with the value of my Book of the Month subscription. The prices are better than Amazon for new hardcover releases – I don’t know how they do it! Plus I love the curated selection each month and getting to pick a book (or more than one) each month. It pushes me out of my reading comfort zone, and gets new books on my radar! And I love that you can  skip any month you aren’t interested in, and you can also buy books from previous months as add-ons for $9.99.

What do you think of the Book of the Month subscription? Which book (or books) did you pick this month?

If you haven’t signed up for Book of the Month yet, you now have until April 15th to start with the April box. 

Use coupon code APR50 to save 50% off a 3-month subscription of Book of the Month! That brings the cost down to $7.50 a hardcover book!