Every month, I share my commentary on the Book of the Month selections and which ones I’d choose that month (ex: February 2019 selections). Putting these posts together got me thinking about creative ways to help Book of the Month members choose the monthly selection that is right for them. 

Then, I created The Ultimate Guide to the Book of the Month Judges as another way to help members choose the right selection for their reading taste. Many of the judges pop up over and over again, creating a track record of their selections…which you can analyze to figure out what types of books certain judges tend to choose and which judges are most compatible with your personal reading taste.

Last February (2018), Book of the Month announced a change to the structure of their judges (details here). They didn’t specifically say that the Book of the Month judges would change, but I noticed a large shift ever since that announcement. Many recurring judges disappeared and some new judges entered the fold. The types of books chosen as monthly selections also changed. So, this updated Judges Guide reflects this new landscape. 

Changes Since the February 2018 Announcement

• The number of judges has shrunk drastically (we are looking at a smaller time period, so some decrease makes sense).
• Judges predominantly focusing on serious literary fiction disappeared entirely.
• A psychological thriller is featured almost every month.
• Nonfiction selections have fallen considerably (i.e. there have only been 3 selections in the year since the structural change).
• Same with Young Adult (i.e. there has only been 1 selection in the year since the structural change).
• My favorite judges (Kim Hubbard, Sarah Weinman, and Laia Garcia) disappeared.

If you downloaded the template at the bottom of the post when I first released it, I recommend doing it again because you’ll find your results are very different! And, your results from this template will be far more useful. As with my last Judges Guide, I will update the template every month with the new selections and judges.

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.

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

The Ultimate Guide to the Book of the Month Judges

Lighter Literary Fiction

Elizabeth Mitchell (Readers Committee, Author, Editor, Journalist)

• She’s only had one selection so far, which didn’t work for me.
• Pick that Didn’t Work for Me: Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Skye Sherman (Brand Ambassador – Freelance Travel Writer & Blogger)

• I haven’t read either of her two picks to date
• Picks: Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman, Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

Thrillers

AJ Finn aka Dan Mallory (Author, Editor)
*Scandal surrounds Finn/Mallory right now (details here), so I’ll be interested to see if he ever reappears as a BOTM judge.

• He’s the author of mega-hit The Woman in the Window.
• Also selected The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, a psychological thriller.
• Pick that Didn’t Work for Me: November Road by Lou Berney (my review) 

Cristina Arreola (Bustle Books Editor)

• While she picks mostly thrillers, she did select Red Clocks by Leni Zumas, a literary dystopian novel in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale.
• Also selected The Child by Fiona Barton (a mystery) and Cross Her Heart, Sarah Pinborough’s sophomore novel. 
• Pick that Didn’t Work for Me: Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (my spoiler discussion) 

Elizabeth Sile (Judge Emeritas, Features Editor for Real Simple Magazine)

• She’s only had one selection so far, which I haven’t read.
• Pick: The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn (see above)

Laura Whitelaw (Readers Committee)

• She’s only had one selection so far, which I haven’t read.
• Pick: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Eclectic Judges

Brianna Goodman (Book of the Month Editorial Team)

• An equal mix of thrillers, literary fiction, and historical fiction.
• Her literary fiction tends to be serious and her historical fiction tends to be international.
• I haven’t read any of her picks.
• Picks: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager, The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar, Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver, The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay, The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo, The Winter Sister by Megan Collins

Etaf Rum (Brand Ambassador, Author, #Bookstagrammer)

• Debut author of the March 2019 novel, A Woman is No Man (a February 2019 BOTM selection).
• Creator of the @booksandbeans #bookstagram account, with over 150,000 followers.
• Also selected Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand.
• Pick I Liked: The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya (my review)

Liberty Hardy (co-host of Book Riot‘s All the Books podcast)

• Prior to the past year, she predominantly chose thrillers as her BOTM picks. But, over the past year, she’s chosen a little bit of everything (ex: literary fiction, memoir, brain candy, sci-fi, etc).
• The most frequent judge by far (she’s only missed 3 months over the past year!).
• I’m hit and miss with her.
• Picks I Liked: The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel (my review), Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington (my review), Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (my review), The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (my review), A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne (my review)
• Picks that Didn’t Work for Me: Final Girlsby Riley Sager, Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura David (my review), Circe by Madeline Miller (my review)

Samantha Irby (Author, Blogger)

• Author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
• So far, she’s chosen a Sci-Fi novel and a brain candy.
• I haven’t read any of her picks.
• Picks: The Oracle Year by Charles Soule, When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri

Siobhan Jones (BOTM Editorial Director)

• Along with Liberty Hardy, she’s the most frequent judge since the February 2018 structural change. 
• So far, she’s picked a mix of literary fiction and thrillers with one nonfiction thrown in.
• Also selected The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall, and A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum.
• Pick I Liked: The Line That Held Us by David Joy (my review)

Steph Opitz (Book Reviewer at Marie Claire)

• Mostly literary fiction and brain candy, with the occasional thriller and historical fiction thrown in.
• Picks I Liked: Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller (my review) and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (my review).
• Picks that Didn’t Work for Me: Marlena by Julie Buntin

Taylor Jenkins Reid (Author)

• Author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, one of my favorite books of 2017!
• She likes her fiction, but varies the type. She’s picked brain candy, fantasy, and historical fiction.
• Picks I Liked: How to Walk Away by Katherine Center (my review) and The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer (my review)

Who are MY go-to Book of the Month judges?

Taylor Jenkins Reid is my #1 judge…I liked two out of three of her picks! I hope she starts appearing more often.

Etaf Rum is in second place…but, I’ll have to keep an eye on this one as she’s only picked two books so far (I liked one of them). 

Who are MY no-go Book of the Month judges?

Elizabeth Mitchell and AJ Finn are my top no-go judges.

Elizabeth Mitchell is based on only one choice, though, so that could change moving forward.

How to find YOUR go-to and no-go Book of the Month judges

• Download my free template below.
• In the spreadsheet, look for the genre categories that you generally prefer. You can skip this step if you want to consider every single judge as an option for you.
• Look for Columns D, E and F (Read?, Liked?, Interested in Reading?). For each book you’ve read, use the dropdown menu change the “No” to “Yes”. Do the same for “Liked?” and “Interested in Reading?”
• Look in the Total Column (Column G) to find your go-to and no-go judges! The go-to’s are obviously the ones with the highest numerical total and the no-go’s are the ones with the lowest…and preferably negative numerical total (highlighted in yellow).

Using this guide, who are your go-to Book of the Month judges?

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