Book of the Month May 2025 Selections

The Book of the Month May 2025 selections are here! Decide which of these books you want to add to your subscription box.

Book of the Month is my favorite subscription box. Every month, I choose between their curated book selections, and voila! A blue box arrives at my door carrying one (or two or three) new books for me to read.

Each month, Book of the Month chooses between five to seven hardcover books you can choose from. Rather listen to an audiobook? Book of the Month has those, too! Now you can opt for audiobooks as your monthly pick or add them on at any time during the month.

Every month, I will highlight the books chosen and let you know my thoughts on the chosen titles. 

Even if you don’t have a Book of the Month subscription (yet), I think you’ll find value in looking at a curated list of new releases.

Keep scrolling to see all the details about the Book of the Month May 2025 selections and to find out which one I’m adding to my subscription box.

Book of the Month is a monthly subscription book service highly popular among the book community. Trust me, once you try it, you’ll be hooked.

How it Works

Each month, a panel of judges chooses at least five books for you to choose from. The Book of the Month selections cover different genres and are always special edition hardcovers. Often, the chosen books haven’t been published yet, so you get to be one of the first people to read them.

At the beginning of the month, you choose one book to add to your box and shortly thereafter the little blue box arrives at your door. If you aren’t loving any of the selected books, you just skip that month and your credits will just roll over to the next month. Or, after your third box, you can choose from five member favorite books for your month’s selection instead.

On the other hand, if you want more than one book, once you’ve chosen your initial book, you can add-on up to four additional books at a discounted rate. These add-ons can be from the current month’s selection, be favorites from previous months, or be new releases specially included in the add-on catalog.

Book of the Month runs two different pricing plans. On the monthly plan, you get one credit a month for $17. If you are willing to pay upfront, the yearly plan gives you 12 credits for $168, which averages out to $14 a book. For a hardcover new release, both prices are a steal.

Even better, when you include additional books into your box, they are only $10 each! 

Book of the Month also offers 3, 6, and 9-month gift cards if you are considering purchasing it as a gift.

For new subscribers, Book of the Month’s homepage almost always has a special offer to get your first book for $10. But I can do you one better. If you are interested in joining, you can use this Book of the Month Club referral link to get your first book for $5 right now!

But wait, there’s more! Once you’ve chosen your 12th book from Book of the Month, you join the BFF club and get a special Book of the Month tote.

After that, you’ll get a free add-on every year for your birthday month. Plus, when the end of the year rolls around, you get one of the top 5 Book of the Month selections from the year for free. (Note: They didn’t do the Book of the Year in 2023 so I’m not sure if they are still doing this bonus, though it is listed as a benefit on the website.) That’s an additional two books each year for no additional cost.

What are you waiting for? Join Book of the Month and get your first book at a discounted price!

As a child, Dan Garvie narrowly escaped an encounter with a serial killer. Now a criminal profiler, Dan returns to his small island community when his father dies under mysterious circumstances. Determined to find the truth behind his father’s death, Dan begins to wonder if the monster who haunts his nightmares is still lurking in the shadows.

Publication Date: 13 May 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Tired of her life as a bartender in Maine, thirty-year-old Freya Arnalds decides to return home to New York to stay in the home she inherited from her parents. Although Freya tries to lay low, she keeps running into old acquaintances, ex-boyfriends, and former friends. When she discovers her teenage niece is living in the home, the two strike up a bond as they try to recover from the tragedies that tore the family apart.

Publication Date: 6 May 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Soon after her son’s birth, Cora and her young daughter Maia set out to officially register the baby’s birth. Gordon expects that Cora will name the baby after him like generations of his family have done. Yet, Cora is tempted to name the baby Julian and Maia wants to name her brother Bear. The Names is a thoughtful story that showcases how each potential name – and the abusive father’s reaction to each name – changes the family’s trajectory.

Publication Date: 6 May 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In 1993, Séverine Guimard, a spoiled daughter of a French diplomat is days away from graduation when she is kidnapped by Corsican rebels demanding independence. Deciding her best hopes for survival is to charm her captors, Séverine finds herself beginning to agree with to agree with their cause. Suddenly Séverine is the spokesperson of their cause in a summer of passion and terror that can only end in disaster.

Publication Date: 27 May 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In a land where being modified means certain death, Wren Darlington must hide the fact that she is the most powerful mod ever to exist. A careless mistake lands her in the hands of the enemy where she must joins their most elite training program in disguise. Under the eyes of her commanding officer Cross Redden, Wren must hide her true identity and decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to change the world.

Publication Date: 6 May 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In a gripping memoir of the high costs of war, Karie Fugett shares the story of her husband’s return from war with serious injuries. High school dropout Karie is living out of her car when her boyfriend Cleve suggest they get married. Within months they are married and Cleve ships off to Iraq with his Marine unit. When his humvee is hit by an IED, Cleve returns home alive but gravely injured. As Karie adjusts to her role as a caregiver, Cleve is haunted by his experience in Iraq, turning to painkillers to dull his physical and emotional pain.

Publication Date: 6 May 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Recently, Book of the Month has started including audiobooks as another option for your monthly picks. Instead of choosing a hardcover copy, you can choose one of these audiobooks as your main selection this month.

May’s Audiobooks:

Sometimes, it happens. If none of the May 2025 Book of the Month selections are calling your name, don’t despair. After your third box, you now have another option!

Previously, if you didn’t love the five choices, you would have to skip the whole month. Now if you have BFF status, you can choose a member fave hardcover for your monthly box and then add-on up to four more books if you choose.

Member Faves:

Book of the Month also includes a few extra releases on top of their monthly selections. Once you have picked your main selection, you can choose to add-on these new books (or any past release) to your box. 

May’s New Books:

Sadly, I am not finding the May picks very inspiring. But since I really want the Fredrik Backman book, I decided to choose The Names by Florence Knapp. The premise does sound intriguing and since Jenna Bush Hager picked it for her May book club, I’m hoping it’s good.I couldn’t resist picking up a copy of Fredrik Backman’s My Friends. Backman sentimental reads always stir the heart and make for create conversations. Sometimes his tendency to paint individuals in broad brushstrokes and generalizations irritates me so fingers crossed I enjoy this one.

Finally, I decided to give Sarah Penner one more shot. I absolutely loved The Lost Apothecary and I equally loathed The London Séance Society. Magical realism isn’t always my thing so it’s a toss up how much I love this story about witches on the Amalfi coast.

Which of the Book of the Month May 2025 Selections Are You Going to Pick?

What books can you not wait to get your hands on this month? Or are you skipping this month’s selections? As always, let me know in the comments!

More New Book Releases:

• Book of the Month April 2025
• Book of the Month June 2025
• May 2025 Book Releases
• The Complete List of 2025 Book Releases
• Book of the Month: All the 2024 Selections

Recommended