Book of the Month Club Review and Coupon

I love reading so when I saw Book of the Month Club, I had to subscribe. Every month you'll receive a shortlist of five new books.  You get to choose the one you want from that list. So far none of the books have been ones I've read, though I have heard of most of them.

This is a bare bones subscription. You're getting a hardcover book plus a note and that's it. I actually prefer that over some of the more expensive book boxes that also have little trinkets. To me, the best part will always be the book.

The Cost: $16.99/month or get 3-months for $38.97 ($12.99/book) or a 12-month plan for $107.88 ($8.99/book).

What You Get: Each month a panel of Judges selects a limited number of exceptional books to offer to members. New Selections are announced on the first of the month, and members have six days to decide which book (or books) you would like to receive.

Every month you get five choices. Here are this months selections:

This month I chose Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell. I didn't choose it because her first name is so amazing, though. I chose it because when I was much younger I was halfway in love with the Marquis de Lafayette from reading copious amounts of books about the American Revolution. He's painted rather consistently as a hero-type and supportive of anything that defies what England wants.
Value: $15.89 on Amazon in hardcover

Blurb from Amazon:

Chronicling General Lafayette’s years in Washington’s army, Vowell reflects on the ideals of the American Revolution versus the reality of the Revolutionary War.  Riding shotgun with Lafayette, Vowell swerves from the high-minded debates of Independence Hall to the frozen wasteland of Valley Forge, from bloody battlefields to the Palace of Versailles, bumping into John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Lord Cornwallis, Benjamin Franklin, Marie Antoinette and various kings, Quakers and redcoats along the way. 

Drawn to the patriots’ war out of a lust for glory, Enlightenment ideas and the traditional French hatred for the British, young Lafayette crossed the Atlantic expecting to join forces with an undivided people, encountering instead fault lines between the Continental Congress and the Continental Army, rebel and loyalist inhabitants, and a conspiracy to fire George Washington, the one man holding together the rickety, seemingly doomed patriot cause.  

While Vowell’s yarn is full of the bickering and infighting that marks the American past—and present—her telling of the Revolution is just as much a story of friendship: between Washington and Lafayette, between the Americans and their French allies and, most of all between Lafayette and the American people.  Coinciding with one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history, Vowell lingers over the elderly Lafayette’s sentimental return tour of America in 1824, when three fourths of the population of New York City turned out to welcome him ashore.  As a Frenchman and the last surviving general of the Continental Army, Lafayette belonged to neither North nor South, to no political party or faction.  He was a walking, talking reminder of the sacrifices and bravery of the revolutionary generation and what the founders hoped this country could be. His return was not just a reunion with his beloved Americans it was a reunion for Americans with their own astonishing, singular past.

So far, BOTMC has been on target value-wise, saving a few dollars over regular price with the month-to-month subscription. Even better however, is a deal! You can subscribe for 45% off using code BOTM15. Now that is an incredible deal! I hope the code is still working, I can't check for myself. No expire date was indicated. I got a three month deal and it's worth it. I'm thinking of getting another three months just because.

Which book did you choose?

*affiliate link was used in this post.