Bookworm: Book of the Month changed my reading life

Just a sample of my BOTM books.

It may have been just under five years since I last wrote a Bookworm post, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t reading. That, for me, would be like not breathing.

Ever since I learned to read thanks to “Go, Dog. Go!” by P. D. Eastman when I was 3, reading has always been my Happy Place. When I have moments to myself — with my Prince by my side, of course — I put music on and curl up with my latest book du jour.

In The Time Before, I could spend (and did spend) an afternoon browsing bookstore shelves — and once spent a record three hours wandering every square inch of The Strand with a friend who’d never been to the beloved NYC bookshop. That day resulted in a pirate’s ransom haul of books, including one on a slick uptown pimp, and remains one of my Top 5 days I’ve had in my city.

Since January of 2016, I’ve done a yearly reading challenge, in which I aim to read at least as many new-to-me books as the year we’re in. This year, for example, my review hashtag was #20in20 on my social media pages, where I document the challenge and my capsule reviews of each book.

In typical #booknerd fashion, I tend to go over that target most years. This year was no different thanks to Book of the Month. I’m a bit ashamed that I, a voracious reader for (gulp) 40 years now, wasn’t aware of BOTM — which was founded in 1926! — until a Post coworker told me about it during one of our many book chats last year.

I immediately signed up for it the second our conversation was over — and can honestly say that while I still pop into local bookstores when I’m able and download books on my Kindle, BOTM completely changed my reading life.

It put brand-new, hardcover books at my fingertips, with tomes by everyone from well-established writers to buzzy debuts across a wide-range of genres and topics. And I love the BOTM community and reading its reviews of each monthly choice, whether it be from an average reader like myself, a celebrity or an author.

And I cannot tell a lie: The swag is top-notch, too. You get free bookmarks every month, and after you’ve received your 12th box, you get a great tote bag (something I’m a sucker for) that has a special pocket for your BOTM book. My January box will include a candle for finishing a club challenge, and there’s opportunities to get free books as well.

I had vowed upon the dawning of this dumpster fire of a hate-filled year to seek out more diverse writers and stories, both fiction and non-fiction. I want to educate myself with other voices, perspectives and genres, and that’s a goal Book of the Month and its broad mix of monthly choices definitely helped with.

BOTM, which, by the way, in no way sponsored this post, was honestly the best gift I’ve ever given myself. It truly keeps on giving the whole year.