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.

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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 January 16, 2021. There will be additional ones added at the start of February 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 and my September update HERE!

Book of the Month has added a new feature to both their website and app, where you can add books to a ‘To Be Read’ shelf. So I decided to also add a new TBR section within each genre for my recommendations as well. These denote books that I picked and have yet to read and/or ones that are on my BOTM TBR. This will hopefully help give you a better idea around what you should choose!

Thriller

Personally I feel that Winter Counts got shafted during the 2020 BOTM, Book of the Year awards voting. I adored it. It’s a little bit of a gritter read but the added history and viewpoints from our Native American lead was fabulous! The Blinds is another book I feel that doesn’t get enough attention. It is a mix between your average thriller and something totally unexpected. If you are a thriller fan than it’s for you!

REVIEWS : Winter Counts | The Last Flight

Thriller TBR

I’ve had my eye on November Road for a while and it’s sitting on my BOTM TBR shelf. Hopefully I can add it on in February. Palace of Treason is a new addition to BOTM but I ready the first book in this series and I’m anxious to read this one as well.

Mystery

Long Bright River on it’s surface is a mystery, but it’s also a deep look into the drug epidemic. It’s a fantastic story and it was one of my favorite reads from 2019. Jane Harper’s newest book The Survivors is a bit of a slow burn and once again at it’s surface it is a mystery book. However, Harper really does an excellent job of depicting grief, regret, and loss. This is a great audiobook as well.

REVIEWS : Long bright river | The Survivors

Mystery TBR

Another one that has been on my list to read, and is now living on my BOTM TBR shelf.

Horror

Don’t boycott me, but I wasn’t a huge fan of Mexican Gothic, you can see my review for it HERE, but honestly I’m just not that big into ‘Gothic’ novels. I’ll also say that Riley Sager’s older books are my favorites. Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied are tied for ‘my favorite Riley Sager’ book, while Home Before Dark was and is my least favorite of his.

Soren Sveistrup’s are also high up on my horror recommendation although The Chestnut Man was better than The Whisper Man in my humble opinion, so if you can only choose one go for The Chestnut Man. Keep in mind that Sveistrup’s is Swedish and his books generally have The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo vibe.

REVIEWS : Mexican Gothic | Lock every door | Home Before dark The Chestnut Man | The Whisper Man

Legal Thrillers

This is not a huge category on BOTM but it is a ‘go-to’ category for me. While I liked Miracle Creek, the endings of both A Nearly Normal Family & The Holdout really made them stand out for me.

REviews: A Nearly Normal FAmily | The HoldOUT

Romance

My first Christina Lauren book was an excellent read to get me in the Holiday spirit last year. I probably would recommend getting this a little closer to December though as it’s definitely a Holiday read.

The Boyfriend Project takes place in Austin and is about a women in tech. I as a San Antonio native, who also happens to be a women in tech, related to alot in this book. But overally its a fun romance with a good amount of substance. While I pretty much love all of Katerine Center’s books Things You Save in a Fire is my favorite of hers.

The League of Extraordinary Women is a must read for Romantic historical fiction lovers. I’m just hoping the newest book in the series Portrait of a Scotsman is a BOTM pick this spring.

REviews: IN a holidaze | The boyfriend project | Things You save in a fire Bringing down the duke | A Rogue of one’s Own

Historical Fiction

The Hearts Invisible Furies, The Seven Husband’s of Evelyn Hugo, and The Great Believers were 3 of my favorite books of 2019 and I constantly recommend them. Magic Lessons is perfect for witchy lovers & The Vanishing Half was my pick for the BOTM book for the year award for 2020!

The Library of Legends & The Night Tiger are perfect if you like Asian folklore and a little bit of magic sprinkled into your historical fiction.

Circling the Sun was the most recent pick for our Let’s Read Rant Repeat Bookclub. Set in Africa, this beauty has been on my shelf for at least a year. Following Beryl Markham, the first women to fly nonstop from Europe to North America, this is the story of a women way before her time!

Reviews: Magic Lessons | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo The Hearts Invisible Furies | The Library of Legends |The Vanishing HAlf

Contemporary Fiction

All of these books are amazing stories. That’s it! But seriously each of these books are absolutely beautifully written and I recommend them all the time.

Reviews: A Woman is no Man | Beyond the Point | The Last Story of Mina LEe

Literary Fiction

The Life of Pi, Little Women, & The Kite Runner are classics and the BOTM editions are so pretty and a great addition to anyone’s home library.

Nothing to See Here is a quirky little story that I don’t hear enough about, It’s party magical realism part family drama, and I loved it. The Animators is another I don’t hear about much and while it’s a heavier read, it tackles topics of friendship and success.

Valentine grapples with the brutal rape of a young girl in a small Texas town during the 80s. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but this and The Mothers were two of my favorite reads from 2020.

reviews: The water dancer| nothing to see here | Valentine | The Mothers

Literary Fiction TBR

I am the worst at reading Literary Fiction. While so many literary fiction books appeal to me, I have to be in the mood to actually read them. So I have a huge LF TBR backlist from BOTM. I’m actually reading The Prophets currently so be sure to check back in a few weeks for my review.

Fantasy

For my Greek myth lovers Circe & Piranesi are amazing reads! I loved them both so much. Spinning Silver and The Rules of Magic are prefect for those who prefer their fantasy books with a little bit of magic and fairytales. Ninth House, the first in the Alex Stern series, tackles the secret organizations of Yale University while mixing in all sorts of magic.

Sourdough is the story of a tech girl who stumbles upon a magical batch of sourdough bread starter. It’s fabulous, it’s short, and I don’t hear enough praise for it.

Reviews: Sourdough | Circe

Fantasy TBR

I loved N.K Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy and can’t wait to read her newest book.

Science Fiction

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is socal media meets aliens, maybe. If you followed the story about the Monoliths appearing randoming and are fasinated by it, than this is the series for you!

The Power is basically a reverse Handmaid’s Tale which features a ton of strong female characters.

Reviews: An absolutely remarkable thing

Young Adult

YA is the genre with the most books I have not read but the ones I have read I loved.

reviews: ANNA K

Young Adult TBR

Memoirs

I am not a huge memoir reader but I’m trying to branch out a bit. While drastically different, Notes on a Silencing & The Girl Who Smiled Beads are the only two that I enjoyed reading and would recommend.

Reviews: Notes on a Silencing

Narrative Non-Fiction

Wow, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone should be a standard read for anyone. Especially with the cluster we all call 2020. It’s funny, relatable, and I saw myself in way to many pieces of it. I’m 9/10th of the way through it and stop by in a few weeks for my full review.

True Crime

Even as a true crime junkie, Killers of the Flower Moon is the only one I would highly recommend. I did read My Friend Anna and while the story itself is interesting the execution wasn’t there for me.

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!