From literary fiction to mysteries & thrillers, Book of the Month Club has it all. Discover every title chosen by Book of the Month in 2020.
Book of the Month is my favorite book subscription box. Every month, they choose five amazing titles for you to choose from, and voila! A blue box arrives at your door carrying one (or two or three) new books for you to read.
Even if you don’t have a Book of the Month Club subscription (yet), I think you’ll find value in looking at their curated list of new releases. No matter what genres you love to read, you’ll find great book choices in the Book of the Month 2020 selections.
Compiled together in one place, here is every book chosen so far by Book of the Month in 2020.
What is Book of the Month?
Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription 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 it.
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. On the other hand, if you want more than one 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 or be favorites from previous months.
Pricing
Book of the Month Club 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 of a 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 $10!
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 $10!
Book of the Year 2020
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
Growing up in a small black community in the Deep South, the Vignes sisters run away at age sixteen. Though identical twins, their lives end in completely different paths. One returns to live in their hometown while the other secretly passes as white. Bennett explores more than race, as she contemplates how the past affects future generations when their daughters’ lives intersect.
Book of the Year Finalists
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Abi Daré
This debut novel from up-and-coming author Abi Daré highlights the coming-of-age of a Nigerian woman. All Adunni wants to do is get an education, so that she can craft her own future. When her father sells her as the third wife to a local man, Adduni runs away to the city, only to become a servant to a wealthy family. Yet, Adunni finds that no matter her circumstances, she can still speak out for herself and all the other girls just like her. If you are looking for inspiration, The Girl with the Louding Voice might be the perfect choice among the Book of the Month February 2020 selections.
The Guest List
Lucy Foley
On a remote island, the perfect wedding turns deadly in this thrilling mystery. The high profile wedding between a television star and a magazine publisher is supposed to be the perfect event. Set off the coast of Ireland, all the stops have been pulled out. Yet once the guests arrive, past conflicts come into play and someone turns up dead. Reviews call it an edge-of-your-set page turner, so if you are looking for something gripping to distract you, this book has your name all over it.
Anxious People
Fredrik Backman
After a failed bank robbery, a banker robber on the run accidentally ends up with a room full of hostages at an open house. After letting all of the hostages go, the police storm the apartment, only to find it empty. Now the police must interview the dysfunctional group to figure out what exactly happened. Backman purposely plays on your assumptions and uses an unusual narration style that gives the story an allegorical feel (which I didn’t love).
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
V. E. Schwab
To escape a forced marriage, Addie LaRue makes a bargain with the devil in 1714. She gets to live forever, but she will be forgotten by everyone she meets. After 300 years, Addie has become resigned to her fate until she meets a young man who remembers her name. I loved everything about Schwab’s clever adult fantasy novel, which has the fast pacing of a YA novel that makes it easy to read. Adeline and Luc (short for Lucifer) made excellent sparring partners, and Henry’s addition to the story worked perfectly. An all-around joy of a read that I wholeheartedly recommend for your October Book of the Month selection.
BOOK OF THE MONTH 2020 SELECTIONS
Literary Fiction
A Burning
Megha Majumdar
After a careless Facebook comment, Jivan, a Muslim girl from the slums of India, is accused of a terrorist bombing. Lovely, the only one who can provide Jivan with an alibi, will lose everything if she comes forward. Meanwhile, Jivan’s gym teacher decides to use Jivan’s downfall to improve his own circumstances. Majumdar’s debut novel is described as a literary tour de force that will rip your heart out and make you want to change the world around you.
The Death of Vivek Oji
Akwaeke Emezi
One day, a mother in Nigeria opens her door to find the dead body of her son. Starting with Vivek Oji’s death, Akwaeke Emezi slowly unravels the explanation of why and how he died. Born to a distant Nigerian father and a loving Indian mother, Vivek has always struggled with his identity. He feels closest to his cousin Osita, who struggles to understand her cousin’s crisis. Exploring otherness and identity with sharp social commentary, The Death of Vivek Oji will be one of the most talked-about August 2020 book releases.
Transcendent Kingdom
Yaa Gyasi
In her fifth year studying neuroscience at Stanford, Gifty is determined to find the cause of suffering, studying depression and addiction in mice. The further she dives into the science, the more her childhood faith seems to call to her. Can faith or science alleviate the suffering she sees in her family of Ghanaian immigrants struggling with depression, addiction, and grief?
Leave the World Behind
Rumaan Alam
While vacationing at a home rental in a remote part of Long Island, a white couple is surprised when a Black couple shows up claiming to be the homeowners. They say they are fleeing from a mass blackout and disaster in New York City. Most reviewers found this genre-bending family drama thrilling. I could not force myself past the horrible walking thesaurus of an intro to even start on the suspenseful storyline. You’ll have to see for yourself if you choose this book for your October pick.
Memorial
Bryan Washington
Benson and Mike have hit a crossroads in their relationship, not sure why they are still together. When he finds out his estranged father is dying, Mike rushes to his father’s side in Osaka. Mike’s departure leaves Benson stuck with Mike’s strict Japanese mother Mitsuko, in an arrangement that strangely enough helps Benson clarify what he wants in life. Book of the Month calls it funny and heartbreaking but warns that the author doesn’t use quotation marks.
Valentine
Elizabeth Wetmore
The morning after Valentine’s Day 1976, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramirez wanders into Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house, a victim of a brutal rape. When justice is slow coming, the fierce women of Odessa, Texas, decide that maybe they should take justice into their own hands. This character-driven piece is said to have a slow start but builds to an intensely thought-provoking conclusion. If you are prepared for a heavy read, this is the pick for you in April.
Writers & Lovers
Lily King
Aspiring writer Casey Peabody is determined to make her dreams of a creative life come true. Even though she is not waiting tables and living a lonely life, she believes life has more for her. Then she falls in love with two men at the same time, causing her already precarious life to shatter even more. Listed as a cerebral millennial tread. Book of the Month editor Brianna Goodman says she loves the realistic portrait King paints of how dreams and reality don’t also meet as we expect.
The Office of Historical Corrections
Danielle Evans
A collection of five short stories and one novella taking a sharp look at race, grief, and history. In the title story, a government agency is responsible for helping Americans separate fact from fiction. Other stories include a student remaking herself after an offensive viral post, an actress facing her mother’s mortality and her own, a woman who discovers an abandoned boy on a bus.
Topics of Conversation
Miranda Popkey
Miranda Popkey’s debut novel is written as a series of conversations the unnamed narrator has throughout her life. Although unconnected, each conversation lays bare a secret fear the narrator has at that time. Covering motherhood, sex, loneliness, envy and more, Topics of Conversation packs a punch into its small page count. Book of the Month warns that it’s not a novel about plot but a “cerebral” and “salacious” story of ideas.
The Knockout Queen
Rufi Thorpe
If you want a dark young adult story about the horrors of high school, The Knockout Queen has you covered. While she might be gorgeous, Bunny’s towering height doesn’t add up to popularity. Instead, she lives on the fringe of high school with her best friend Michael, a closeted gay teen who is beginning to meet older men online. Until an act of violence tears their friendship apart. If you’re tired of light and fluffy, this deep teenage story is your best choice this month.
Contemporary Fiction
American Dirt
Jeanine Cummins
In Mexico, bookstore owner Lydia is charmed to meet Javier, a man who shares her taste in books, only to find he is the local drug lord. When her husband exposes Javier’s secrets, the wrath of the cartel falls upon her family. Lydia and her son Luca must flee from his wrath – all the way to American soil. Of all the Book of the Month January 2020 selections, I’m most surprised by this one. Although it’s was the most hyped release of 2020, Cummins has been at the center of a firestorm about cultural appropriation and who gets to tell what stories.
A Good Neighborhood
Therese Anne Fowler
In a gentrifying North Carolina neighborhood, the clash between new and old has deadly consequences. Professor Valerie Alston-Holt has lived in Oak Knoll for decades. It’s where she raised her son Xavier, who is off to college soon. But things go horribly wrong when her new neighbors, the Whitmans, move in. Brad Whitman’s monstrosity of a house damages the root system of Valerie’s precious oak tree, an unforgivable offense in Valerie’s eyes. Yet despite the differences in race, class, and lifestyles, Xavier falls in love with Whitman’s stepdaughter. Far from a light read, the ending hit me hard, ringing a bit too realistic. A fitting choice for the Book of the Month March 2020 selections.
The Last Story of Mina Lee
Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Margot Lee has always struggled to understand her mother Mina, a Korean War orphan and undocumented immigrant. After Mina’s suspicious death, Margot begins to dig into the life of her single mother. Contrasting Mina’s first year in Los Angeles with Margot’s present-day discoveries, The Last Story of Mina Lee tells the dramatic mother-and-daughter story of immigrant life in America.
The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes
Elissa R. Sloan
Elissa R. Sloan’s debut novel hints at the dark side of superstardom. Overnight, Cassidy Holmes and her band The Glossies become a pop phenomenon. But with success comes overbearing media attention, band drama, and utter loneliness that eventually results in Cassidy’s suicide. Jumping back and forth between past and present, The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes is being hailed as a heartbreaking novel reminiscent of Daisy Jones & The Six.
Ties That Tether
Jane Igharo
As a child, Azere promised her father on his deathbed that she would marry a Nigerian man. Now that she lives in Canada, she feels like she’s gone through the entire Nigerian dating pool. When Azere finally falls in love with a white man, she isn’t sure how to tell her mother or whether family loyalty and identity need to be sacrificed for love.
Happy & You Know It
Laura Hankin
To make ends meet, Claire accepts a job as a playgroup musician for wealthy New York City moms. As she gets to know her employers – Whitney the up-and-coming social media influencer, Amara the new stay-at-home mom, and Gwen the old-money experience mom – Claire learns these perfect moms are far from perfect and loves them more for it. Book of the Month calls Happy & You Know It a snarky fast read that sounds perfect for quarantined moms.
This Close to Okay
Leesa Cross-Smith
On a rainy October night, recently divorced Tallie Clark sees a man hovering on the edge of a bridge. Tallie convinces him not to jump and instead come home with her for a cup of coffee, not disclosing the fact that she’s a therapist. Over the weekend, Tallie makes a safe place for Emmett in this powerful story of strangers changing each other’s lives.
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
Lori Nelson Spielman
Two hundred years ago, Filomena Fontana cast a curse on her sister and, ever since, no second-born daughter has ever found love. Now a trio of cursed daughters head to Italy with their great-aunt to help her find love on her eightieth birthday and finally break the curse.
When We Were Vikings
Andrew David MacDonald
At twenty-one, Viking enthusiast Zelda finds out her brother Gert has been supporting them with rather questionable methods. Thus, Zelda sets off on a quest to become legendary. Born with fetal alcohol syndrome, Zelda is determined to be independent. Her first step: to get her first real job. Quirky and charming seem to be the most common phrases describing this debut novel.
See All the Top Books of 2020!
Romance
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
Josie Silver
Following the success of her last novel, One Day in December, Josie Silver lands among the Book of the Month March 2020 selections with an intriguing what-if scenario. After the death of her fiance, Lydia eventually begins to move on and love again. Unexpectedly in her dreams, she gets a chance to live the life she would have had with her fiance. Which life, and love, should she choose? Make sure to grab the tissues, because this emotional read is likely to make you cry.
Atomic Love
Jennie Fields
At the height of World War II, Rosalind Porter was an eminent physicist working on the Manhattan Project caught in a passionate affair with a colleague. Five years later, she’s living an obscure and heartbroken life in Chicago. When the FBI asks her to help investigate the sale of nuclear secrets and her old flame suddenly wants to reconnect, Rosalind gets caught in a sexy Cold War spy game.
Beach Read
Emily Henry
May 19, 2020 – If you are in the mood for a lighthearted steamy romance, Beach Read will be the top pick of the month for you. During the summer, two polar opposite writers find themselves in neighboring beach houses both stuck with writer’s block. Augustus Everett writes literary fiction with unhappy endings while January Andrews writes bestselling romance complete with the necessary happy endings. In desperation, they make a deal. He will write a happily-ever-after story while she pens a serious piece of literature.
In a Holidaze
Christina Lauren
With her love life in shatters, Maelyn Jones is devastated to find this will be her last Christmas spent at her family’s snowy Utah cabin. As she drives away, a car crash sends her into a time loop to relive the same Christmas vacation over and over again. Now she must figure out how to end the time loop so she can live happily ever after.
This Time Next Year
Sophie Cousens
When Minnie meets Quinn at a New Year’s Eve party, it’s clear they have nothing in common except being born at the same time in the same hospital. Quinn is a privileged party boy who has been handed everything in life while Minnie is a hard worker struggling with the realities of life. As they keep encountering each other over the next year, they realize maybe their differences make them fit together better. This opposites-attract romance is suggested as a quirky light read perfect for the holidays.
The Boyfriend Project
Farrah Rochon
After finding out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with not one, but two other women, Samiah is done with dating. She quickly befriends the “other women,” London and Taylor, and the three band together to swear off men for six months. Of course, she then meets the perfect man. If you are missing hanging out with your girlfriends during the pandemic, this millennial tale might be the perfect choice for you. Read more →
One to Watch
Kate Stayman-London
Successful plus-sized fashion blogger Bea Schumacher has everything in life but love. When her favorite Bachelorette-inspired reality show wants her to be the star, she says yes on one condition. She absolutely will not fall in love. Described as both brainy and steamy, if a beach read is calling your name this month you might want to choose this book.
Head Over Heels
Hannah Orenstein
With her dreams of becoming an Olympic gymnast cut short, Avery Abrams is hesitant to get back into the gym. When a new coach Ryan asks her to help train a promising young gymnast, Avery reluctantly accepts. Sparks fly between the two coaches until a shocking scandal in the gymnastic community changes everything.
Historical Fiction
The Book of Longings
Sue Monk Kidd
Acclaimed author Sue Monk Kidd imagines a bold narrative about a fierce, intellectual Jewish woman named Ana. Although expected to marry an older widower, Ana instead marries Jesus, who eventually becomes one of the most influential individuals in history. Kidd is a remarkable writer and if she can weave that fine line between respect and creativity, her story could be a new book club favorite.
The Library of Legends
Janie Chang
When Japanese bombs start falling in Nanking in 1937, Hu Lian and her university classmates must walk 1,000 miles to safety in China’s interior. The group is given a secret task, to guard The Library of Legends, an ancient collection of myths. Along the way, Lian begins to fall in love with a wealthy fellow student and realizes that one of the tales from the Library of Legends seems to be awakening the spirits of the story. Mixing historical fiction with some magic, The Library of Legends is sure to be a charming choice for your April Book of the Month.
Magic Lessons
Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman returns with a prequel to her bestselling book Practical Magic. In the 1600s, Hannah Owens discovers a baby abandoned in the New England woods. Hannah chooses to raise Maria as her own and teach her about “The Unnamed Arts.” When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts, and invokes the curse that will last generations. If your timid about choosing the third book in a series you haven’t read, you can read Magic Lessons as a standalone novel, or choose to add-on both Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic into your October box.
The Paris Hours
Alex George
Over the course of a single day in 1927, four ordinary people in Paris have their lives intertwine in surprising ways. Between a former maid of Marcel Proust, a puppeteer, a journalist and an artist who meets Gertrude Stein, a rich tale of love emerges in the City of Lights. With cameos from famous artists of the time, The Paris Hours aims to envelop you in the pre-war Paris art scene.
Mystery & Thriller
The Night Swim
Megan Goldin
Rachel Krall, the host of a popular true-crime podcast, gets more than she expected when she investigates a rape trial in a small town. A mysterious woman named Hannah is stalking Rachel, leaving Rachel notes begging her to investigate the death of Hannah’s sister twenty-five years ago. Could that cold case be connected to the current trial? I’m thrilled Book of the Month chose The Night Swim for the August selections because I thought it was one of the best thrillers of the summer.
The Holdout
Graham Moore
I love a good legal thriller, and I’m excited to see one among the Book of the Month February 2020 selections. In a tense murder trial, black high school teacher Bobby Nock is accused of the murder of the wealthy white student with whom he was having an affair. At the time, juror Maya Seale swings her fellow jurors to acquit. Ten years later, a documentary is highlighting the famous case. When a fellow juror turns up dead in Maya’s room, Maya must prove her innocence.
You Are Not Alone
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
The bestselling writing duo is back with another psychological thriller, and their third time being picked by Book of the Month. After Shay Miller witnesses a suicide in New York City, she ends up connecting with the woman’s glamorous friends. But Shay doesn’t realize is that they might be just as interested in her as she is in them. With the recommendation coming from Sarah at Sarah’s Bookshelves, you know it must be a good one.
People Like Her
Ellery Lloyd
Instamom Emmy Jackson is known for telling it as it is to her millions of Instagram followers. She knows exactly how to monetize every intimate detail of her life. Written by a husband and wife writing duo, People Like Her trades chapters between Emmy and Dan, as their marriage begins to strain when Emmy’s online narrative pulls further from the truth. Meanwhile, an obsessed fan begins stalking the family, furious that Emmy has it all.
The Wife Upstairs
Rachel Hawkins
Dogwalker and petty thief Jane sees her next mark in Eddie, the mysterious man in the neighborhood. As they fall in love, Jane is haunted by the story of his deceased wife, Bea, the wealthy owner of an interior design company who drowned in a boating accident with her best friend. I’ve already read this modern retelling of Jane Eyre and it fell flat for me.
The Girl in the Mirror
Rose Carlyle
Twin sisters Iris and Summer are practically identical, though Iris has always been jealous of Summer’s good luck. When Summer invites Iris to help the family sail to the Seychelles, the two sisters are swept to sea and only one returns. Iris now has the chance to take over Summer’s perfect life and hopefully produce the first family heir to secure her father’s inheritance. How long can Iris deceive everyone in Summer’s not-so-perfect life? And what happened to Summer?
A Good Marriage
Kimberly McCreight
When millionaire Zach Grayson is arrested for the murder of his wife Amanda, he enlists his friend Lizzie Kitsakis to defend him. However, as Lizzie dives more into Amanda’s secrets, she begins to wonder: What if Zach is actually guilty. The truth of their picture-perfect marriage also makes her question whether her own marriage can be saved. A salacious legal thriller that could be just what you need to spice up your May reading.
The Last Flight
Julie Clark
Fleeing an abusive husband, Claire Cook has planned for months for the perfect escape. A chance meeting at the airport results in Claire switching tickets and identities with another woman. When Claire’s original flight crashes, everyone thinks she’s dead. Now is her chance to remake herself as Eva. But Eva had her own secrets.
Pretty Little Wife
Darby Kane
In an idyllic college town, a beloved high school teacher goes missing. It’s the third unexplained disappearance in three years and police are scrambling to find a connection. The whole town is in an uproar about his disappearance … everyone except his wife. She knows he’s dead because she killed him. She just doesn’t know where the body went. A twisted domestic thriller that is said to be a quick and extra-creepy read.
Winter Counts
David Heska Wanbli Weiden
On the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, everyone turns to vigilante Virgil Wounded Horse when the police or tribal council can’t help you. When Virgil’s nephew is framed for drug possession, Virgil and his ex-girlfriend take on the drug cartels that are dumping heroin into the reservation.
Hour of the Assassin
Matthew Quirk
Former Secret Service Agent Nick Averose now works as a security consultant. His job: to think like an assassin and test the vulnerabilities of the highest officials. When running a test on a former CIA director, he finds the man attacked. Nick is obviously being used as a scapegoat. Can Nick prove his innocence and stop the conspiracy he has become tied up in? Book of the Month rarely runs thrillers of the political variety, so you know this must be a grip the edge of your seat kind of book.
Discover the Best Thrillers of 2020!
Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson
In this mind-bending science fiction debut novel, Micaiah Johnson takes on the multiverse. Cara is the ultimate traverser, able to travel easily through parallel timelines since her counterparts have the habit of dying – a prerequisite for multiverse travel. As Cara collects crucial data to study the multiverse, she is shocked when one of her few remaining doppelgangers is mysteriously killed.
Things in Jars
Jess Kidd
In Victorian London, female detective Bridie Devine faces her hardest case yet – the kidnapping of a young girl. The hidden daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick, Christabel is rumored to have supernatural powers. Along the way, Bridie teams up with a giantess housemaid and a tattooed ghost to solve the mystery. Originally published last April in the UK, this Gothic mystery gets its US debut next month.
Horror
The Sun Down Motel
Simone St. James
In 1982, hoping to earn enough money to move to New York City, Viv Delaney takes a job as a clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York, only to mysteriously disappear. Thirty-five years later, Viv’s niece Carly Kirk returns to the Sun Down Motel to investigate her aunt’s disappearance. Siobhan Jones, Book of the Month’s editorial director, calls it “a proper spookfest” and loved the combination of Stephen King-esque horror, domestic thriller, and amateur detective story.
Home Before Dark
Riley Sager
Maggie Holt has always lived in the shadow of her father’s bestselling horror book – a “true” story of their twenty days living in a haunted house when she was five. Having inherited the infamous house from her father, she is determined to fix it up. Ghosts aren’t real, so there’s nothing to worry about. Jumping between her father’s novel and Maggie’s return to the house, Sager keeps you on edge the whole time. With creepy happenings and crazy twists and turns, Home Before Dark will be a perfect thriller to choose this month.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A gothic thriller set in 1950s Mexico. Sign me up! Noemí Taboada receives a frantic letter from her cousin accusing her new husband of trying to poison her. To help, Noemí travels to their estate in the Mexican countryside. She doesn’t fear her cousin’s husband or father-in-law, or the creepy house that is giving her nightmares.
The Shadows
Alex North
Paul Adams left home long ago, driven out by an infamous murder. His best friend Charlie Crabtree committed a shocking murder of a mutual friend and then disappeared. Now Paul’s back to care for his ailing mother when a copycat strikes. From the author of The Whisper Man comes this creepy thriller sure to give you nightmares.
Young Adult
Anna K
Jenny Lee
A modern-day take on Anna Karenina, Anna K is living the high life in Manhattan. While her brother is dealing with a sexting scandal and her sisters is recovering from an injury, Anna has it all. Until she meets the Alexia “Count” Vronsky, a typical playboy who bounces around from boarding school to boarding school doing whatever he feels like. When these opposites attract, Anna must decide how much she is willing to risk for a relationship without losing herself in the process. Listed as a gritter Gossip Girl with a half-Korean lead, Anna K will appeal to any readers who to imagine the lives of the obscenely rich.
These Violent Delights
Chloe Gong
Chloe Gong’s debut young adult novel is a clever retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In 1920s Shanghai, a blood feud between two rival gangs causes chaos in the city. Eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai has returned home to embrace her place as heir to the Scarlet Gang. When a contagion starts sweeping the streets, Juliette must work with her first love, Roma Montagov from the rival gang, to solve the mystery.
Nonfiction
The Splendid and the Vile
Erik Larson
Bestselling author Erik Larson turns his attention to Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister as he unites a nation in the face of the horrors of the London Blitz. With thorough in-depth research, Larson brings Churchill to life – sharing details on his political and personal life. At over 600 pages, you need to love history books to appreciate this thick tome. As long as you are expecting an informative read instead of a thrilling read, you’ll find this an excellent read.
Caste
Isabel Wilkerson
When you think of castes, India’s strict caste system likely comes to mind. Isabel Wilkerson argues that America has its own hidden caste system, a hierarchy that has influenced the United States both historically and currently. Using fascinating stories, Wilkerson points out that on top of race and class, our understanding of caste systems must also change if we are to better ourselves as a nation. Read more →
The Beauty in Breaking
Michele Harper
In her poignant memoir, Michele Harper shares what it has been like being a Black woman in a predominantly male and white career as an emergency room physician. Recently divorced, Harper started her first job in New York City where she learned how to heal her own wounds through examples from her patients.
Big Friendship
Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
Long-time friends and podcast co-hosts Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, reveal how their friendship has endured over the years. With hilarious honesty, the two give a rundown on how to find, keep, and sustain life-changing female friendships.
Tightrope
Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Looking back at his childhood in rural Yamhill, Oregon, Nicholas Kristof realized that over half of his classmates ended up dead from drugs, alcohol, suicide, or recklessness. Husband and wife team Kristof and WuDunn set out to detail the damage poor government policies have inflected on working-class American families.I was surprised to see this among the Book of the Month January 2020 selections. Much denser than the usual fare, Book of the Month added a caution that “Numerous facts/figures/uses of historical and/or policy data make this book a challenging read.” Yet, this nonfiction read is also described as a thorough and thought-provoking look at America by two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.
BOOK OF THE MONTH 2020: BY MONTH
January 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month January 2020 post.
February 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month February 2020 post.
March 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month March 2020 post.
April 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month April 2020 post.
May 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month May 2020 post.
June 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month June 2020 post.
July 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month July 2020 post.
August 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month August 2020 post.
September 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month September 2020 post.
October 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month October 2020 post.
November 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month November 2020 post.
December 2020
For more details, visit the Book of the Month December 2020 post.
What are your favorite selections from Book of the Month in 2020?
