Welcome to my monthly feature “Book of the Month Selections: What Book Should You Choose?”! Every month, I provide commentary on the books that are chosen as that month’s Book of the Month selections that will hopefully help you choose your pick, and tell you which book(s) I’m going to choose. 

Does it seem to anyone else like Book of the Month is choosing more and more thrillers and romances and less literary fiction? Even though they went heavy on genres I don’t generally love this month, there was one main pick that I’d already read and really liked.

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links, but I’m also a paying customer.

Book of the Month September 2021 Selections

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Fiction – Psychological Thriller (Release Date: September 7, 2021)
304 Pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.24 on 610 ratings
Recommended By: Megan Miranda (Author of The Girl from Widow Hills)

Think you know the person you married? Think again…

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

My Thoughts:
Rock Paper Scissors is Feeney’s fourth novel (she’s also the author of Sometimes I Lie, His & Hers, and I Know Who You Are). The story is told from Adam and Amelia’s perspective, plus anniversary letters between them. Goodreads reviewers said it’s atmospheric, there’s a sense of dread, there are unreliable narrators, and they liked the ending / main twist. On the flip side, they mentioned its slow start, said the plot is a little farfetched (also messy and confusing), and that there are unsympathetic characters (isn’t this sort of standard in psychological thrillers?).

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Fiction – Romance (Release Date: September 14, 2021)
384 Pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.58 on 445 ratings
Recommended By: Rachael Burlette (BOTM Editorial Team)

When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman’s carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding…six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

My Thoughts:
This debut author is a professor of neuroscience, so she writes about the world of academia and women in a male dominated field from experience. Apparently The Love Hypothesis was originally written as Star Wars fan fiction (huh? at least this is what Edelweiss tells me). Goodreads reviewers liked the fake romance trope and said the banter is of the nerdy, Science-y type, there’s a #metoo element, and quirky characters. They also said the story was cute and fairly spicy. Many of the complaints were focused on the many miscommunications / obstacles to the romance and annoyance with Olive (specifically her unwillingness to accept that Adam could have feelings for her).

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
Nonfiction – Memoir (Release Date: September 7, 2021)
320 Pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.50 on 210 ratings
Recommended By: Natalia Dyer (Actress, Stranger Things)

An incandescent memoir from an astonishing new talent, Beautiful Country puts readers in the shoes of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world.

In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to “beautiful country.” Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian’s parents were professors; in America, her family is “illegal” and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.

In Chinatown, Qian’s parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of laughing at her jokes, they fight constantly, taking out the stress of their new life on one another. Shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books, coming to think of The Berenstain Bears as her first American friends. 

But then Qian’s headstrong Ma Ma collapses, revealing an illness that she has kept secret for months for fear of the cost and scrutiny of a doctor’s visit. As Ba Ba retreats further inward, Qian has little to hold onto beyond his constant refrain: Whatever happens, say that you were born here, that you’ve always lived here.

My Thoughts:
I just finished reading this debut memoir and it’s compelling and well-done. Wang graduated from Yale Law School and started a company with her husband that advocates for immigrant rights. Wang tells her story in an accessible way through a child’s lens (from age 7 through middle school). Her childhood observations were heart-breaking and powerful. She talks about the shame of poverty and finding solace in books. My one quibble is that, though I enjoyed her childhood perspective, I wish we’d gotten some of her perspective as a teenager, her experience transitioning to college, and some reflection on her childhood experience once she’d gotten older. A 4 star memoir!

The Neighbor’s Secret by L. Alison Heller
Fiction – Psychological Drama (Release Date: October 5, 2021)
336 Pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.92 on 37 ratings
Recommended By: Laura Hankin (Author of Happy & You Know It)

How well do you really know your neighbors?

With its sprawling yards and excellent schools, Cottonwood Estates is the perfect place to raise children. The Cottonwood Book Club serves as the subdivision’s eyes and ears, meeting once a month for discussion, gossip, and cocktails. If their selections trend toward twisty thrillers and salacious murder mysteries, it’s only because the members feel secure that such evil has no place in their own cul-de-sacs.

Or does it?

What happened to Lena’s family fifteen years ago was a tragic accident, and she will never admit otherwise. Devoted wife and mother Annie refuses to acknowledge—even to herself—the weight of a past shame. And new resident Jen wants friends, but as always, worry about her troubled son gets in the way.

When late-night acts of vandalism target the women of the book club in increasingly violent and personal ways, they will be forced to decide how far to go to keep their secrets. At least they all agree on what’s most important: protecting their children at any cost—even if it means someone has to die.

My Thoughts:
Heller is an attorney, which as I shared on the podcast, I think makes for a great author of fiction. Goodreads reviewers called it a slow burn mystery, smart, and darkly funny. They also said the characters are flawed, but also sympathetic, and the story keeps the reader guessing until the end. On the flip side, some reviewers mentioned a lack of tension and confusing points of view. Chandler Baker (author of The Husbands) called it “the rare thriller that actually leaves you feeling better about humanity” and Laura Hankin (author of Happy & You Know It) said it would be “perfect for Liane Moriarty fans.”

The Sweetest Remedy by Jane Igharo
Fiction – Romance / Contemporary Fiction (Release Date: September 28, 2021)
320 Pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.31 on 16 ratings
Recommended By: Denise Williams (Author of How to Fail at Flirting)

When a woman travels to Nigeria to attend the funeral of the father she never knew, she meets her extravagant family for the first time, a new and inspiring love interest, and discovers parts of herself she didn’t know were missing, from Jane Igharo, the acclaimed author of Ties That Tether.

Hannah Bailey has never known her father, the Nigerian entrepreneur who had a brief relationship with her white mother. Because of this, Hannah has always felt uncertain about part of her identity. When her father dies, she’s invited to Nigeria for the funeral. Though she wants to hate the man who abandoned her, she’s curious about who he was and where he was from. Searching for answers, Hannah boards a plane to Lagos, Nigeria.

In Banana Island, one of Nigeria’s most affluent areas, Hannah meets the Jolades, her late father’s prestigious family–some who accept her and some who think she doesn’t belong. The days leading up to the funeral are chaotic, but Hannah is soon shaped by secrets that unfold, a culture she never thought she would understand or appreciate, and a man who steals her heart and helps her to see herself in a new light.

My Thoughts:
Jane Igharo is a repeat author for Book of the Month (previous pick: Ties That Tether). Igharo is Nigerian and immigrated to Canada. The publisher says the Jolades give this story a Crazy Rich Asians vibe and that Igharo writes powerful women characters, including Hannah who is mixed race. Goodreads reviewers said it’s a journey of personal discovery, is narrated by multiple members of the Jolades family in addition to Hannah, has a bit of a romance element, explores Nigerian culture, and is delightful.

What Book of the Month September 2021 selection(s) will I choose?

I’m choosing Beautiful Country (a hard copy for my shelves) and adding on Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney. 

Make your Book of the Month selections by Monday, September 6th.

What book will you choose this month?

How to Join Book of the Month…

Book of the Month is a subscription service for people who like to try new books from a curated selection and like to read in hardcover format. Through Book of the Month, you can get a hardcover book for generally significantly less than you’d pay in a bookstore or through Amazon. And, you get to try something new that has been vetted by one of Book of the Month’s well-read judges!

Sign up for any of the subscription plans below and you get to choose one of five books selected by Book of the Month’s panel of judges (including a surprise guest judge). Book of the Month will then mail your chosen book to your house with a cute note. You also have the option to purchase additional books for $9.99 each and to skip a month if you want.

Sign up for a Book of the Month membership (NEW pricing below)!

New members will sign up for a membership that renews monthly:

A book of your choice for $14.99 / month
Add extra books to your shipment for $9.99 each
Skip any month you want
Free shipping, always

Pin this post…