Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription box. Each month, 5 curators pick out their favorite new hardcover books, and you can choose which one you want to receive on the first of the month. You can also add up to 2 additional books for only $9.99 each.
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About this Box
The Subscription Box: Book of the Month
The Cost: $14.99 a month
The Product: Subscribers get to pick from a selection of hardcover books each month. Skip any month you aren't interested in. Add up to two additional books for $9.99 each.
Ships to: The US for free
Book of the Month September 2019 Review
This month, subscribers picked from the following 5 books:
I'm reviewing This Tender Land:
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger - Retail Value $26.99 (found here for $21.60)
Book Summary from Amazon:
A magnificent novel about four orphans on a life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression, from the bestselling author of Ordinary Grace.
1932, Minnesota—the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O’Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.
This story is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Odie and his brother Albert have found themselves in a Native American boarding school after the death of their father. The abuse at this school is unbearable, and after a devastating act of nature, they decide to escape with two other children, Mose and Emmy. The children steal a canoe and set off for St. Louis, in the hope they can find a new home with Odie and Alberts's extended family. This story is told through a now old Odie, as he recollects this great adventure to his grandchildren.
I would feel silly if I didn't mention how much this book reminded me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It also has a distinct Grapes of Wrath flavor and a large dash of The Odyssey. The fact that this book is about a group of children makes it both light-hearted at times but also extra heavy, depending on the situation they find themselves in. During their journey along the river, they encounter the best and the worst of what humanity has to offer, though fate always seems to intervene at the right time and provide them with exactly what they need when it really counts.
This isn't a book simply about a physical journey for these children. It is also a coming of age story and a spiritual sojourn through the light and dark sides of humanity. Who or what is God? What defines family? How can good people do bad things? What or where is home?
If you enjoy reads that are somehow both slightly sad and yet hopelessly charming, I would give this one a try. You can tell it was a labor of love for this author and its 450 pages should keep you captivated from cover to cover.
And Book of the Month includes a bookmark every month.
If you picked this book this month, please let me know what you think of it!
Verdict: The book I picked for the September Book of the Month was an epic told through the eyes of 4 children. It was sad, funny, captivating, hopeful, and every other emotion you can even think of. The end was satisfying and I found myself missing Odie, Albert, Mose, and Emmy after I finally closed the book for the last time. Was this a book I would have chosen from the bookstore? No, probably not. But that is the beauty of this subscription! I do have plans to check out the highly recommended Ordinary Grace from the same author.
To Wrap Up:
If I sign up now can I get this book? No, but you can select from the new October collection!
Check out all of our Book of the Month reviews and see what other book subscriptions made our favorites list!
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