My July 2016 Book of the Month Club selection is here! — Actually all of the July selections are here, along with a free summer gift offer & giveaway!

If you haven’t heard, Book of the Month (BOTM) is a subscription that sends you a new hardcover book as chosen by a panel of judges every month. You’ll be given a choice between five different book selections which will be revealed on their site on the first of the month.

The books will include a broad range of genres and offer a mix of both fiction and nonfiction titles. The Book of the Month team reviews thousands of submissions from dozens of publishers, and works closely with the BOTM judges to select exceptional books that they think members will enjoy.

Subscriptions are $16.99/month or less with multi-month commitments (as low as $8.99/month for the annual plan). — Through July 31st, new subscribers can save 30% on a 3-month subscription AND score a FREE “Summer Survival Kit” consisting of an exclusive Book of the Month beach bag & custom sunglasses. — Just use coupon code “SUMMER30“.

Let’s check out my July 2016 Book of the Month Club box (and more)!

The box was a little larger this month due to the inclusion of a bonus item. (Yay!)

A peek inside.

Bonus – All subscribers (regardless of which book they selected) received a fun twisty straw as a little bonus this month. 🙂 The back of the card gave details on how to win 3 free months of BOTM by posting a photo of yourself using the straw on Instagram.

As always, the book itself was shrink-wrapped to a sturdy piece of cardboard to keep it from getting damaged in transit.

The box included a note from Maris Kreizman, one of the guest judges for July, who chose the book I received — “The Girls” by Emma Cline.

The Girls by Emma Cline – I’ve read Helter Skelter and a few other accounts of the Manson murders, so it’s not surprising that I’d be interested in a book with very similar parallels to the Manson Family. The Girls is also based in California in the late 60’s and involves a group of young girls who fall under the spell of Russell, a very Manson-like cult leader. The young protagonist in the story actually shares a name with my daughter (Evie), which I’m not sure how I feel about quite yet. 😉 (Don’t grow up to be lured in by any creepy cults, Ev!)

I also received the other four Book of the Month selections for July, which I’ll list below… (Psst — Giveaway is at the end of the post!)

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner – From Amazon: At thirty-nine, Manon Bradshaw is a devoted and respected member of the Cambridgeshire police force, and though she loves her job, what she longs for is a personal life. Single and distant from her family, she wants a husband and children of her own. One night, after yet another disastrous Internet date, she turns on her police radio to help herself fall asleep—and receives an alert that sends her to a puzzling crime scene.

Edith Hind—a beautiful graduate student at Cambridge University and daughter of the surgeon to the Royal Family—has been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Her home offers few clues: a smattering of blood in the kitchen, her keys and phone left behind, the front door ajar but showing no signs of forced entry. Manon instantly knows that this case will be big—and that every second is crucial to finding Edith alive.

Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam – From Amazon: As close as sisters for twenty years, Sarah and Lauren have been together through high school and college, first jobs and first loves, the uncertainties of their twenties and the realities of their thirties. 

Once, Sarah and Lauren were inseparable; for a long a time now, they’ve been apart. Can two women who rarely see one other, selectively share secrets, and lead different lives still call themselves best friends? Is it their abiding connection—or just force of habit—that keeps them together?

Love That Boy by Ron Fournier – From Arianna Huffington, BOTM guest judge: Fournier, a father of three, is a seasoned political journalist, with decades spent covering or overseeing coverage of national politics. As he admits, it’s “an ego-inflating career that I often put ahead of my wife and kids.” His wakeup call comes when his son, Tyler, is diagnosed with Asperger’s at age 12. The boy is socially awkward and — to Fournier’s deep disappointment and frustration — doesn’t share his father’s love of sports. With the diagnosis, Fournier at last begins to confront a hard, essential truth. “When a parent’s expectations come from the wrong place and are pressed into service of the wrong goals, kids get hurt,” he writes. “I discovered this late in my job as a father.”

For Fournier, the breakthrough comes when he and Tyler discover a shared passion for presidential history. At his wife’s urging, father and son set out on a series of road trips — bonding tours, really — visiting presidential sites across the country.

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel – From Amazon: A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.
 
Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

Through July 31st, new subscribers can save 30% on a 3-month subscription AND score a FREE “Summer Survival Kit” consisting of an exclusive Book of the Month beach bag & custom sunglasses, as shown above. — Just use coupon code “SUMMER30” at checkout.

***GIVEAWAY***

Here’s your chance to win a FREE 3-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION to Book of the Month!
Just enter via the form below. Good luck! 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate links. Giveaway open to US residents only, 18+. Prize fulfillment to be handled directly by Book of the Month. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to confirmation email and claim their prize. If I don’t get a reply, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate and/or referral links.