Step aside Oprah and Mark Zuckerberg, there’s a new book club on the scene and it doesn’t need a famous face behind it to make some noise. Book of the Month, which was originally founded in 1926 as a mail-order book sales club, is relaunching and currently in beta — request an invite, why dontcha — and combining the digital and analog worlds to make the most fuss-free sounding book club ever, no trips to the library or coffee shop meet-ups required.
This digital reboot is completely transforming this old-school service into one more relatable to millennials: one part monthly subscription service, one part social media platform. Here’s how it will work: every month, a panel of judges will select three to five fiction and nonfiction books with a focus on finding new writers and topics readers wouldn’t normally find on their own (hey judges, we’ve got a suggestion for you) Of those selections, one is automatically chosen for you. If you’re into the choice, the book will be shipped to you at the beginning of each month (if you’re not into your match, you have the option to select one of the other books). Then the book is shipped your way. This to-your-door delivery just might be the thing you need to *actually* read one book a month.
Once you’re done tearing through the pages, the virtual book clubbing can begin! Dive into discussions on the site’s forums to talk about all those crazy plot twists and character flaws with other members — we’re imaging something like a more in-depth version of Zuckerberg’s “A Year of Books” initiative, which is constrained to a single Facebook page. And since multiple book discussions are happening at once on BOTM, those of you who are finished-in-a-weekend kinds of readers can add on additional monthly selections to your haul for an additional $15 each. Now all we need is a good screen name to bounce around forums — we’ll just look to our fave YA heroines for some help with that one.
Will you be joining Book of the Month? Let us know in the comments.
