The Book of the Month October 2023 selections are here! Decide which of the books you want to add to your subscription box.
Book of the Month is my favorite subscription box. Every month, I choose between their curated book selections, and voila! A blue box arrives at my door carrying one (or two or three) new books for me to read.
Except for a curve ball they threw in March 2022.
Instead of five books, Book of the Month says it will vary its selection count. I guess they want to keep us on our toes.
Still, every month, I will highlight the 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.
Keep scrolling to see all the details about the Book of the Month October 2023 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 at least 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 $17. If you are willing to pay upfront, the yearly plan gives you 12 credits for $168, which averages out to $14 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 this 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 at a discounted price!
October 2023 Book of the Month Selections
Wellness
Nathan Hill
In the 1990s, Jack and Elizabeth met as ambitious college students, both dreaming of finding places for themselves in Chicago’s thriving underground art scene. Now, twenty years later, Jack and Elizabeth find that amidst the struggles of parenting and married life, they feel like they barely know each other. Between Facebook feuds and mindfulness cults, the pair each do the hard work to better understand themselves or they will risk losing each other in Oprah’s September Book Club pick.
Starling House
Alix E. Harrow
Bad luck seems to run through Eden, Kentucky, and Opal certainly has had her fair share. An orphan and a high school dropout, Opal works as a part-time cashier hoping to save enough money to escape Eden and set up a better life for her younger brother. When offered some extra cash to help out at the town’s famous spooky mansion, Opal digs into the secrets of Starling House and the author who used to own it.
The Leftover Woman
Jean Kwok
Fleeing her abusive husband, Jasmine Yang arrives in New York from China with no money but a fierce determination to do anything to find the daughter stolen from her due to China’s one-child policy. Meanwhile, publishing executive Rebecca Whitney has a perfect job, marriage, and the most adorable adopted Chinese daughter. When a scandal at work threatens to ruin her marriage, Rebecca and Jasmine find themselves on a shocking collision course.
When I’m Dead
Hannah Morrissey
On a stormy October night, medical examiner Rowan Winthrop must investigate the death of her daughter’s best friend. Only to come home to find her daughter Chloe has disappeared. As Rowan and her husband follow clues trying to find Chloe, they learn their daughter is keeping secrets from them. Secrets that make Rowan realize that karma is coming back to them for their own past actions.
The Unmaking of June Farrow
Adrienne Young
June Harrow has lived her whole life in a small North Carolina town followed by rumors after her mother disappeared and she was raised by her grandmother. When June begins seeing and hearing things, she desperately seeks a way to break an old family curse. Until her grandmother dies and June realizes that she might not be hallucinating as she walks through the mysterious door to start an adventure encompassing both her past and her future.
The Unsettled
Ayana Mathis
In 1985, Ava Carson and her son Touissant move into a dilapidated Philadelphia homeless shelter. Having fled Alabama as a teen, Ava is determined to love her son differently than her sharp-tongued mother, Duchess, treated her. When Touissant’s father, Cass, reappears, Touissant fears his instability and dreams of moving back to Alabama where Duchess has struggled to keep her town a beacon of Black freedom.
Not Feeling the October Books?
Sometimes, it happens. If none of the October 2023 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:
October’s New Add-Ons
Recently, Book of the Month has started including a few extra releases on top of their 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.
October’s New Books:
My October 2023 Picks
I was intrigued by Book of the Month’s October selections since most of them were unknown to me.
For my first choice, I went with Jean Kwok’s latest novel, The Leftover Woman. Kwok’s Searching for Sylvie Lee has been on my to-read list for years since it was a Read with Jenna Book Club pick. The Leftover Woman sounds like a complicated look at adoption and marriage that could make a thought-provoking read.
For my second choice, I went with Nathan Hill’s Wellness. Oprah Winfrey chose Wellness as her September book club pick and Oprah’s book club picks are consistently excellent reads. The older I get, the more I seem to enjoy books about complicated marriages and relationships, and Wellness seems to fit that bill perfectly.
Lastly, I decided to venture outside my comfort zone a bit and choose Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds, which was an add-on offered last month. I’ve been hearing good things about this tale of a Colonial servant girl who escapes into the wilderness and must find a way to survive.
Which of the Book of the Month October 2023 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:
Ashley says
Hello!
I’m a regular visitor to you site, first time poster! Thank you for all the work you do- it definitely adds to my TBR list!!!
I ordered the Unmaking of June Farrow and enjoyed it (unfortunately not as much as Spells for Forgetting, but still a good read). I’m thinking I may add on Starling House to my order next month as that also caught my eye.