Considering my BOTY bonus read

One of the benefits that I’ve enjoyed from Book of the Month Club is their Book of the Year(BOTY) prize which gives both authors and readers a nice little treat during this time of year.

BOTM members vote from a list of twenty titles from the past year from which five are chosen as the main contenders. The winner is announced by the end of February, which gives that particular writer a cash prize (the runners-up get one as well) as well as an extra bit of publicity.

For BOTM members, we get to choose a free special edition of either the winner or the other contenders for our March box.

 In my case, I have three of the nominees from Book of the Month but have only finished one. Layne Fargo’s The Favorites is stuck on one of my in progress reading piles ( got to unpause that book!) and Bury My Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab was a holiday gift so too soon for that book!

The book that I finished (and voted for) was First Time Caller by B.K. Borison, an enchanting novel inspired by the classic romcom Sleepless in Seattle. Single mom Lucie gets more than she bargained for when her daughter makes a call to a local radio show, asking for help in setting her mother up with a Mr. Right.

Since the radio show in question is in dire need of a ratings boost, DJ Aiden reluctantly agrees to make the search for Lucie’s perfect partner an ongoing series. 

As time goes by, however, both Lucie and Aiden find themselves tuning into each other’s hearts rather than seeking out a new love. Can this on-air romance become a n off the charts hit or be banished to the emotional ratings basement there?

It’s a delightful read, even if Sleepless in Seattle is not your favorite Nora Ephron movie(more of a You’ve Got Mail gal myself). Nonetheless, First Time Caller would make an excellent film about life, love and awkward moments between friends and lovers yet for now, it plays well in the mental matinee of your heart:

That being said, this leaves me with a choice of two books here; the first being Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy.

Set on a remote island used to house a seed bank(storage for seeds needed for replanting in case of food emergencies), Dominic Salt and his trio of children are now the only residents left due to the dangers of rising sea levels.

When a mysterious woman named Rowan washes up on shore, her arrival stirs up fear and tension. Even as the family helps their new guest to recover, a number of secrets and lies are battened down for their mutual protection.

As it turns out, Rowan has a few secrets of her own to look after as well. With the threat from the ocean putting them all in peril, can Rowan and Dominic work together to save what they all hold dear?

This does sound intriguing and I did hear plenty of critical praise from readers and reviewers alike about this book. Also, this story is from a newer genre called climate fiction (I think you can guess what that’s all about) and I would like to give that a try.

Plus, the island setting is actually based on a real research protected island (Macquarie Island, home to penguins also) which adds a realistic cherry on top of this saltwater story sundae:

The choice is Florence Knapp’s debut novel, The Names. The story is divided into three separate time lines as the newborn son of British couple Cora and Gordon experiences life with one of the three names available for choosing on his birth certificate.

If his mother had given him Julian, he would have been raised in Ireland with his  maternal grandmother yet if given his father’s name, would be living in his paternal home under rather harsh circumstances.

His older sister Maia wanted to name him Bear, which might’ve been the best choice of all but which name really does lead him and his loved ones down a future path that is best for all?

Debut novels are a weakness of mine and this one has a very creative premise indeed. The themes of family dysfunction combined with the notion that one’s name can make or break you is not an easy balancing act for any writer but from what I hear, Knapp achieves this with a rather deft touch.

Both of these books are quite literary in terms of style and happen to be celebrity book club picks(WDS is a Reese’s Book Club, The Names was a Read with Jenna selection). Choosing between them is tricky yet either one should provide some serious food for thought and a quality meal at that:

The choice between two well written books to get for free is a luxury these days to be sure yet I simply don’t want to grab at something because it’s readily available.

Choosing a book is an investment in your time and headspace( not to mention a shelf spot) and while I do read for fun , I also want to spend my mental coin wisely. No doubt either title will be well worth it. However, I will probably wait and see which of the five BOTY nominees win before making my final decision.

In the meanwhile, this does give me something to look forward to at the end of this short month and while I’m rooting for First Time Caller, my congratulations are for all of the books up for this award this time around.

The saying about so many books, so little time is totally true especially for folks with subscription boxes. When it comes to those monthly selections however, creativity is not just found between the pages-it can make bookish storage quite the art form worth admiring: