A vibrant blue box full of treasure is delivered to my front door every month. By the time the box arrives, I have been anticipating the moment when I can open the illustrious blue box for a couple of weeks. I open the box with as much excitement as YouTube kids unboxing toys. I carefully remove my chosen books and drool over the dazzling covers. Then, my monthly reading commences. I am positively giddy. 

How, you might ask, do I have a curated book delivery service? I joined the subscription service Book of the Month (BOTM) one year ago smack dab in the middle of the pandemic. Facing a summer at home with the family, joining subscription services was a coping mechanism for me. I tried a few. BOTM is the only one remaining. This “box” was my friend Ashley’s idea. We both love to read, and we text one another regularly about what we’re reading. She had joined a month earlier, and she was loving the books she had received at bargain prices. Of course, she convinced me to join. I downloaded the app. Don’t we love an app? It only took $9.99 and a brand new novel was coming my way.  

Now that you know the background of my Book of the Month obsession, let me gush about the app. It is so user-friendly and holds the secret to hundreds of much-loved titles. Here’s how it works: Each month, the BOTM team picks four or five new releases for each BOTM member to choose from. If that weren’t enough, BOTM offers many “add-ons” such as other new releases, member favorites, books of the year, thrillers, romances, fiction, memoir, fantasy, mystery, etc. A member can choose up to three books for their monthly box. And, they are all hard cover! 

Let me share how it has propelled me into full-blown crush status. You know how crushes are all about anticipation and excitement about seeing that person or talking to that person? You know how you check your text messages or your social media repeatedly for some indication that the person is thinking of you, too? Okay, so that is exactly how I feel and many other BOTM members feel when the end of the month rolls around. The end of the month means the new book choices are going to pop up on the app. We even have a giant Facebook group that is entirely built around book predictions for each month! I find myself refreshing the app over and over the last week of the month, eager to see the new choices. I talk about it with my member friends just like I used to analyze tiny cues from boys I liked. We update each other and take pictures of our box order to share our picks for the month. It is genuinely so fun. 

The last year has been a doozy, globally and personally. This blue box of books has been a gift every month, and it has opened up something positive to focus on amid all the drama and difficulty. I have found so many new releases and unusual choices that I wouldn’t have stumbled upon otherwise. If you love to read or if you are ready to get back into reading, I encourage you to give BOTM a try, and just maybe you might develop a tiny crush, too. 

Not sponsored.