Welcome to October, the month of witches & ghouls, tricks & treats! I love October because it finally starts to get cooler in South Texas. Which means I can break out my sweatpants! Woo!

I also love that it’s an excuse to watch all my witchy & magical movies., But the best thing about October is that it’s the perfect month to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea (or wine) and read about magic or/and witches!

October Picks

Magic Lessons

Travel back to 1600s Salem in this standalone prequel to The Rules of Magic and Practical Magic. Each of the books in the Practical Magic realm are standalones, but I recommend reading them in order of publication.

Leave the World Behind

This ominous, genre-bending novel gets real weird real fast after a blackout strands two families in a vacation home. It’s said to be a slow build and is also Jenna’s pick for October.

The Girl in the Mirror

A Debut for anyone needing to close their 2020 challenge. This snarky thriller is full of suspense. It contains sexual content but is say to be a great psychological thriller.

Ties that Tether

Another debut! This fast paced romance is a fast read.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue

A life of immortality is not all it’s cracked up to be when no one remembers who you are. That is, until someone does. Said to have a non-linear timeline and LGBTQ themes.

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New Add-on’s

My Picks

This month was really hard for me to decide. I knew I was going to add Magic Lessons, Invisible Girl and The Invisible Life of Addie Larue. All three were in my most anticipated list for October releases, so those were auto adds to my box.

That just left me with either filling my two boxes or just going with those three. I honestly did a coin toss between Ties that Tether and Leave the World Behind. Leave the World behind is more a mystery/thriller and I normally prefer thrillers to romance anyways. I actually really want to read The Girl in the Mirror but was told an ARC was being sent to me so I skipped adding it into my BOTM box. Instead I decided to use that space to add a YA book that I have had my eye on. Ink in the Blood was added to BOTM a while back. Since it deals with fantasy and magic, I thought it would be perfect for this month.

Lastly, in addition to these five books, I did add Deadly Education to my box. It’s no longer available on BOTM most likely due to the criticism that the book has some racist undertones, specially when talking about dreadlocks. I have yet to read the book and honestly after doing some research on the controversary, I’m still going to read the book. I prefer not to make decisions based on other peoples judgement and potential hearsay but would like to make my own conclusions based upon reading the story.

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I hope this helped you to narrow down your options for your Book of the Month Box, or just gave you some new reads to add to your list. Comment below or head to my instagram @speakingof_books and tell me what you put in your box!

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WHAT IS BOOK OF THE MONTH?

For those who haven’t heard of Book of the Month club or BOTM, it is a subscription program, similar to audible or other box subscription services, where you get (you guessed it) a new book every month. Each month members are given 5 different books to choose from.  BOTM generally focusing on debut and emerging writers, and is known for having helped launch the careers of some of the most acclaimed authors in American literary history. In an attempt to read more books outside my favorite genres without having to siphon through all the duds, I decided to sign up for the monthly subscriptions. It costs me $14.99 per month, I choose 1 of the 5 books on the first of every month,  and it’s delivered straight to my door. You can skip any month or roll your credits over to the next month, at any time. Since I started getting BOTM in 2018, I’ve really enjoyed some of the new authors I’ve been exposed to. If you’re interested in joining BOTM, I’ve added my referral code to the bottom of this post, which if you use, you’ll be able to get a discount on your first month (book)!

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Interested in joining Book of the Month?

Get your first book for $9.99 using code May5 when you sign up using my link! Either click HERE or enter the url into your browser: https://book-of-the-month.ixmz.net/kvzez https://book-of-the-month.ixmz.net/c/1803400/761424/9782