Okay, we all know that Book of the Month is a monthly subscription service where you are suppose to pick one book a month. We also know this does not usually happen, because they generally have some awesome add-ons! I’ve seen a lot of folks asking for guidance when picking add-on both via Facebook and Instagram, so I wanted to take some time to highlight some of my favorite add-ons.
As a note I generally get three books in my box each month. Mainly because an add-on is an additional $9.99 and when getting newer books this is a steal. However, for some older books or classics, you can generally find them cheaper at Amazon, Bookoutlet, or Book Depository.
Most of these books I have full reviews of and I’ll be linking them if you want to see my full thoughts on a particular book. Feel free to reach out to me to on Instagram @speakingof_books or by commenting below to ask me more questions around Book of the Month Add-Ons.
If you’re interested in joining book of the month click HERE to sign up and get your first book for $9.99.
Add-On Recommendations
All recommendations are listed in no particular order!
Last note before I get into the picks, these are the picks available as of August 21, 2020. There will be additional ones added at the start of September that I have not included. I do my best to post updated articles every three months or so. All books recommend are books I have read and there may be other books available that I cannot recommend simply because I have yet to read them! You can see my recommend post from March HERE!
Contemporary Fiction
Beyond on the Point is a fabulous story of three women and their military journey. As a military brat I could relate to this book a lot with stories my mother told me. It’s amazingly written and you can see my full review HERE!
A Women is No Man is going to be a classic. This book along with A Good Neighborhood will spark a fire in your soul. I have reviews for both HERE & HERE!
Both Happy & You Know It and Where’d You Go Bernadette are fun reads you won’t want to put down. They’re on the lighter side than the others listed here. You can see my review of Happy & and You Know It HERE!
Full disclosure I’m currently reading The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes but I’m already loving it and will post my review once finished!
Historical Fiction
I will never stop recommending these first two books. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo & The Hearts Invisible Furies are two of my all time favorite books. See my reviews for The Seven Deaths of Evelyn HERE and for The Hearts Invisible Furies HERE!
The Night Tiger and The Library of Legends are the perfect mix of Asian history and magically realism. If you like one you’ll probably like the other. See my review for The Night Tiger HERE and HERE for The Library of Legends. 
Literary Fiction
There are a lot of really great options in Literary Fiction, but these are some of my absolute favorites. I read The Girls a few years ago, not from Book of the Month, but if you like cults or learning about Manson then this book is for you. It’s a fabulous tale of how easy it is to get caught up in a cult and a ‘retelling’ of what happened with the Manson family. I don’t have a review of the book, but it’s on my list of backlist books to write up about.
The Mothers and The Water Dancers are both brilliant books. If you’re looking to add more POC stories and authors into your mix than these two are amazing. I have a full review for The Mothers HERE and for The Water Dancer HERE!
The Animators is an interesting story, which I didn’t think I liked at first. It’s a heavier story but it’s written so uniquely. This is another one that is on my Review Backlist.
Nothing to See Here is another quirky and unique. It’s fast paced and a little bit of magic realism. See my full review HERE! Perfect Little Worlds is by the same authors and another good little read.
A Ladder to the Sky is a John Boyne read. If you love John Boyne or like The Hearts Invisible Furies than you’ll love this book!
In addition these three are classic literary fiction books and the beautiful covers are the perfect addition to any library.
Fantasy
I will start by saying I really love Fantasy and Magic books, so if don’t like that then these are probably not for you.
Ninth House is the first book in Leigh Bardugo’s newest series. Some folks didn’t like this book because they didn’t see much plot, and while the beginning is slow, it’s really a lot of world building for the rest of the series. I loved it.
Circe is another book that had mixed reviews. I really enjoyed it though. It was a nice break from the main Greek gods, and the mixed in fantasy aspect was unique. I have a full review of it HERE! The Philosopher’s Flight is another fantasy historical fiction but set in WWII. The magic system is really unique and this is the first book in the series of two. Both of which I loved. You can see my full review HERE!
The Rules of Magic is for my Practical Magic fans. It’s the prequel to Practical Magic and it’s a perfect Halloweenish read!
Sourdough, I highly recommend! It’s a quirky, quick read, with a touch of magical realism. I’m not sure what it is about this book but I just adored it, but fair warning you’re going to want some snacks while reading this. See my full review HERE!
Things in Jars is interesting. I enjoyed it but it’s really a hit or miss. It’s written more in prose and is fairly lyrical, but is a solid mystery with a lot of magic realism aspects. After I got use to the writing I really enjoyed the story but the writing style isn’t for everyone. See my full review HERE!
Lastly, Spinning Silver is sort of a Rumpelstiltskin retelling that is just magical!
Thriller
Alright, so I love Thrillers, but with that I’m super picky about them as well. I’ve read most of the thriller’s BOTM has put out and these two are the ones that stand out to me.
Not many people have talked about The Blinds but it’s a really good thriller and I think more people should read it. The Women in the Window is also fabulous, and I think Amy Adams will be staring in it soon.
Mystery
Simone St. James is great. Just read this one, it’s so much better than The Sundown Motel.
Long Bright River, a crime mystery is also amazing. Trigger warning this deals a lot with addiction. See my full review HERE!
I debating putting The Anomaly. I liked it and but just felt the ending left me with a lot questions. It also read more like a screenplay rather than a novel. See my full review HERE!
Romance
First off, Katherine Center you can get her three newest books through BOTM. I have all three of these and while they’re all really great, How to Walk Away is by far me favorite! See my review for What You Wish For HERE!
Bringing Down the Duke is so funny. The perfect mix of comedy and romance. I can’t wait for the second book in this series to come out next month! See my full review for this HERE!
If you like the Bachelor than you will love One to Watch! See my full review for it HERE!
Beach Read and The Boyfriend Project are both great romance reads. I don’t normally like romances but these are the perfect amount of depth and fluff. See my review for Beach Read HERE and The Boyfriend Project HERE!
Science Fiction
I was on the fence about a lot of the Science Fiction picks. Blake Crouch’s books I liked but didn’t love and I know a lot of people didn’t like them. Also Severance & Early Riser have been on my shelf forever I just have not sat down and read them, even though I’ve heard great things.
Golden State and The Municipalists have really great premises but were just meh for me. But I have reviews for Golden State HERE and for The Municipalists HERE if you’re interested.
I highly recommend both Ready Player One & The Martian. I read both maybe 5 or 7 and didn’t get them from BOTM originally but they’re both really great reads.
An Absolutely Remarkable THing is fabulous. Set in modern day The Carls just show up one day. It’s all about social media and how the world responses to things they don’t understand. I have the second book in the series on my nightstand to read but haven’t made it there yet. Also this one is great if you’re not a huge Sci-fi fan, my friends who really only read mysteries and rom-coms have all loved this books. See my full review HERE!
The Power is a little weird to start but once you get past the initial pieces of the book, you will be blown away by this story. Set in an alternative universe were women have the power, and especially teenage girls have a ton of physical power, this book is perfect for today.
Memior
I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m not a huge memoir fan. I feel weird rating another person’s life stories and mostly they bore me. I will say that I have been wanting to put Hunger in my box for a while and I could not get into The Beauty in Breaking and Leaving the Witness was just barely a three star read for me. See my review for it HERE!
The Girl Who Smiled Beads and Wild Game are the only two I can actually recommend. The former being something I read a few years ago and being blown away by the little book. Wild Game was a good read for me mainly because I find the relationships between mothers & daughters to be fascinating.
True Crime
I love true Crime! Just use that as a caveat. Anything by Erik Larson I’m into, though I have his newest book from BOTM it’s a beast so I have not read it yet. American Predator is perfect if you like to read about serial killers, which I love! My friends joke about how much I know about serial killers.
Killers of the Flower Moon is an amazing tale of the Osage Murders and Tribe. After the Eclipse is a wonderful coming of age story but also the story of uncovering a murderer 12 years later.
The only one I wouldn’t recommend is My Friend Anna. I was stoked to read more about Anna Delvey but this ended up being more about Rachel and how Anna put here in a bad place. It was meh for me, but I have a review for it HERE!
Narrative Non-Fiction
Once again I don’t read a tonf of non-fiction so I can only recommend two of these books. I was not into Untamed which I tried to listen to on audio but found myself bored. I also really want to read The Stranger in the Woods. I’ve heard great things about it and it sounds extremely interesting.
Big Friendship and Maybe You Should Talk to Someone I feel everyone should read. Big Friendship really puts your relationships into perspective and as an avid promoter of learning Love Languages & Enneagrams to get to know people better. Reviews for both of these books are on my backlist.
I hope you found a book that you are truly excited about in this post and enough to fill your little blue boxes! Let me know which other BOTM books you love by commenting below or by messaging me on Instagram @speakingof_books. Don’t forget to follow me to get weekly updates and new reviews!
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