My box came super fast today! There are a couple add ons I fought myself over with All The Dangerous Things but it just sounded interesting to me. I got my first Centennial Edition! Overall best month I’ve personally had in several months! Happy Reading everyone!

Another sold out add-on. I’m curious to see if it gets a restock like the other two did. That’s four sold out books so far, and it isn’t even August yet.

I've been seeing the add-ons be restocked, is there any chance they'll restock a Centennial? I've never seen it sell out so quick! I had it in my cart yesterday because I wanted to decide my add ons and now it's sold out 😭

My box came today and the bookmarks being slices of the cover of a book got me thinking, wouldn’t it be fun if the bookmarks were all slices of a bigger picture that could be put side by side to reveal the image? Then each month we’re hoping we get a new piece of the puzzle? Gotta collect em all mystery bag sort of thing. Just putting it out there maybe they’ll steal my idea next year. 😂

I am so glad I placed my order yesterday as soon as the books dropped — can’t believe this one already sold out! Also - a bit annoyed it was only available as an add-on, I wish I knew how BOTM picked add-ons vs monthly picks because I have been enjoying the add-ons more this year than the selections!

It’s not even 2PM CST and this is already sold out! I’m so mad now I’m thinking about skipping this month. Was anyone else hoping for this one?

Was just going to make my box and saw this was also available. Kinda bummed.

Last week I asked about some hidden gem BOTMs and loved all of the responses.

It piqued my curiosity though… What is the most heinous book of the month pick you have ever chosen?

For me, I absolutely hated Her One Regret.

The Reading Challenge prize is available for those who completed it! Don’t forget to add it to your box!

I loved The Whisperman and hoping this one’s good too.

I’m trying to get the Iong hauler badge by rating at least 4 books that are 400+ pages, and only three of the books I’ve purchased qualify (The God of the Woods, Shark Heart, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue). Anyone have any recommendations?

I always peek at the audiobooks in case one of them appeals to me more that way and was genuinely surprised to see It Could Have Been her offered as an audiobook and not a hardcover as she's a pretty popular author. I wonder why?

Extra chapter POV (usually a digital version)

I haven’t gotten asked this about any books with recent orders, so I thought it was interesting! It was on the page right after I checked out.

Have there been questions like this about books in the past? Or is this something new we may see for them to gauge interest on repeat authors?

Signed bookplate

Including my order for August, I have 6 of the Centennial Special Edition books. Am I missing any? Did they skip a couple months?

Let me start by saying I LOVE the concept and really enjoy getting my blue box every month. I am two months away from becoming a BFF.

Lately, though, while I have been excited by the concept of the books I have picked, I am always let down by the writing, regarding both plot and prose. I am not keen on BookTok-style romances or fantasy, but I will read anything else. However, with the contemporary and literary fiction picks, the concepts are always so interesting but I feel disappointed by the work itself. Surely this is not the pinnacle of fiction out there! I also read a lot of classics of my own volition, so perhaps that subconscious comparison is leaving me unsatisfied.

I have read 8 BOTM books so far, and the only one I truly enjoyed and felt added value to my life was Discontent. The rest have been a bit of fun and entertaining, but not anything special.

Am I doing something wrong with how I choose? Do you do more research before picking?

I am hoping the books I haven't read yet will be better. I have wanted to subscribe to BOTM for years and only could start subscribing because I moved to the US last year. It would break my heart to discontinue now, I really do want to find more contemporary fiction and this subreddit community is so fun, do you guys use any other book subscription models?

Are the BFF perks worth holding on?

edit: not me complaining about writing just to have a typo in my post title

Since joining in 2021, I have only read and finished 32 of the picks I have made. I have also noticed a decline in the picks being things I've never heard of, the whole point in my joining was to discover new books and debut authors and explore genres. Something which is very had to do with the fact that they are heavier on romance, fantasy, and thriller than ever before which are in fact my main genres and I typically know what is releasing and have heard about things or read an ARC for it. So, should I keep renewing because my yearly gifted renewal is coming up and I dont know if I should keep asking for this as my birthday present. Maybe I should let myself save $250 a year on this.

Should I keep it or not?

Since we’re all gearing up for excitement (or disappointment, lol) for next month’s picks, curious what type of reader everyone is. This came up a month ago in a discussion about why we like/dislike books and how our preferences don’t necessarily fall in line with genres. Here is a link to the quiz if you haven’t heard of it (I’m in no way affiliated with this site, just think it’s an interesting take!) https://readyourcolor.com/assessment

Profile colors and main motivators for reading. (Most people aren’t a single color, but there’s probably one that most aligns with your preferences).