The Book of the Month January 2021 selections are here! Decide which of the five books you want to add to your subscription box.
Book of the Month is my favorite subscription box. Every month, I choose between their five book selections, and voila! A blue box arrives at my door carrying one (or two or three) new books for me to read.
Every month, I highlight the five books chosen and let you know my thoughts on the chosen titles.
Even if you don’t have a Book of the Month subscription (yet), I think you’ll find value in looking at a curated list of new releases.
Take a look at the five books this month:
- A Faked Engagement
- Forbidden Love Among Slaves
- An Australian Thriller
- A Feminist Old West Tale
- A Native American Family Drama
Keep scrolling to see all the details about the Book of the Month January 2021 selections and to find out which one I’m adding to my subscription box.
What is Book of the Month?
Book of the Month is a monthly subscription book service highly popular among the book community. Trust me, once you try it, you’ll be hooked.
How it Works
Each month, a panel of judges chooses five books for you to choose from. The Book of the Month selections cover different genres and are always special edition hardcovers. Often, the chosen books haven’t been published yet, so you get to be one of the first people to read them.
At the beginning of the month, you choose one book to add to your box and shortly thereafter the little blue box arrives at your door. If you aren’t loving any of the selected books, you just skip that month and your credits will just roll over to the next month. Or, after your third box, you can choose from five member favorite books for your month’s selection instead.
On the other hand, if you want more than one book, once you’ve chosen your initial book, you can add-on up to two additional books at a discounted rate. These add-ons can be from the current month’s selection, be favorites from previous months, or be new releases specially included in the add-on catalog.
Pricing
Book of the Month runs two different pricing plans. On the monthly plan, you get one credit a month for $15. If you are willing to pay upfront, the yearly plan gives you 12 credits for $150, which averages out to $12.50 a book. For a hardcover new release, both prices are a steal.
Even better, when you include additional books into your box, they are only $10 each!
Book of the Month also offers 3, 6, and 9-month gift cards if you are considering purchasing it as a gift.
For new subscribers, Book of the Month’s homepage almost always has a special offer to get your first book for $10. But I can do you one better. If you are interested in joining, you can use my Book of the Month Club referral link to get your first book for $5 right now!
Bonus Features
But wait, there’s more. Once you’ve chosen your 12th book from Book of the Month, you join the BFF club and get a special Book of the Month tote.
After that, you’ll get a free add-on every year for your birthday month. Plus, when the end of the year rolls around, you get one of the top 5 Book of the Month selections from the year for free. That’s an additional two books each year for no additional cost.
What are you waiting for? Join Book of the Month and get your first book for $5!
January 2021 Book of the Month Selections
The Dating Plan
Sara Desai
With no interest in love, software engineer Daisy Patel decides that the easiest way to get her family off her back is to arrange a fake engagement to her childhood crush. With his inheritance dependent on his marriage, Liam Murphy finds Daisy’s proposal a win-win scenario. However, history and chemistry threaten to derail their meticulous plan.
The Prophets
Robert Jones, Jr.
A debut novel about the forbidden love between two slave men. On a plantation in the Deep South, Isaiah and Samuel’s love is a simple fact of life. When an older fellow slave begins to preach the master’s religion, Isaiah and Samuel’s union is suddenly considered a sin.
The Survivors
Jane Harper
Coming home to help his parents move, Kieran Elliott is haunted by old memories and past mistakes. His reckless teenage decision ended up costing the lives of three people during a storm. Now, a body is discovered on the beach of his hometown and the police think it might be connected to the previous deaths. Harper’s character-driven mysteries are always on the top of my to-read list.
Outlawed
Anna North
In 1894, seventeen-year-old Ada thinks life is going well when she gets married. When a year passes and she hasn’t had a child, Ada must flee her old life for fear of being burned as a witch. She takes up with the infamous Hole in the Wall Gang, lead by the charismatic Kid. Hoping to create a refuge for outcast women, the Kid has them go on a dangerous mission and Ada must decide how much she is willing to risk.
The Removed
Brandon Hobson
Fifteen years after their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed in a police shooting, the Echota family still keenly feels his death. With the family’s annual bonfire approaching, a chance to celebrate the Cherokee National Holiday and remember Ray-Ray’s death, Maria wants to gather her family back together. Combing the real and the spiritual, The Removed highlights the deep scars trauma causes to a family.
Not Feeling the January Books?
Sometimes, it happens. If none of the five January 2021 Book of the Month selections are calling your name, don’t despair. After your third box, you now have another option!
Previously, if you didn’t love the five choices, you would have to skip the whole month. Now, you can choose a member fave for your monthly box and then add-on up to two more books if you choose.
Member Faves:
January’s New Add-Ons
Recently, Book of the Month has started including a few extra releases on top of their five monthly selections. Once you have picked your main selection, you can choose to add-on one of these new books (or any past release) to your box.
January’s New Books:
My January Picks
If I didn’t already have a copy, The Survivors would have easily been my top pick from the January choices. I adored Jane Harper’s The Lost Man, and her newest book is one of my most anticipated reads of 2021.
Instead, I decided to go with Brandon Hobson’s The Removed. I learned so much about the issues facing modern Native American’s when I read Tommy Orange’s There There, and I hope Hobson’s book will do the same.
Because The Removed discusses such heavy topics, for my add-ons I went for lighter reads. In a Holidaze is not at all my style of book, but all my blogging friends have suggested I read it since it’s set in Utah. Additionally, I chose Reese Witherspoon’s book club pick from December, The Chicken Sisters, about two competing fried chicken restaurants.
With the end of the year, I got a fourth book in my January box. My BFF status allows me to get one of the five Book of the Year finalists for free. I’ve already read them all (except The Girl with the Louding Voice which is sitting on my nightstand), so I decided to pick up a copy of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue to give to my sister-in-law.
Which of the Book of the Month January 2021 Selections Are You Going to Pick?
What books can you not wait to get your hands on this month? Or are you skipping this month’s selections? As always, let me know in the comments!
More New Book Releases:
Elizabeth says
I love Book of the Month! This month I picked The Survivors. Because I am in the mood for thrillers my add ons were The Broken Girls and Goodnight Beautiful! Can’t wait. Just sitting down to start People Like Me from my December box.
Rachael says
I just finished The Survivors! I really liked it. It’s definitely moodier than People Like Her, but I enjoyed both of them. Can’t wait to break open my copy of The Broken Girls.