I got this 1958 hardcover from a local thrift shop. It's the history of the Book-of-the-Month Club, and includes sections on how the titles were chosen, as well as a list of selections, dividends, and alternates from 1926-1957. Some of it's a bit dry, but I found some amusing tidbits, including one about the problems with early versions of imitation leather covers; apparently, this had "a propensity for declaring itself in hot weather". There's a note about an inventor who claimed to be able to "deactivate" the smelly bindings, but his process "... not only failed of its olfactory purposes but the equipment showed an unfortunate tendency to explode and scatter bits of Shakespeare and Tennyson around the room". Who knew publishing could be so exciting? {wry grin}

The section on the selection process had some entertaining bits as well, including some of the books that didn't make the cut: "Probably their most conspicuous lapse of judgment in recent times was the C grading of Herman Wouk's later Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Caine Mutiny." So nobody's perfect!

My family had a Book-of-the-Month Club subscription when I was a kid, and I recall the thrill of some of the surprise "dividend" books...

I'm adding this to the Biographies of Things bookbox (bookbox journal here). Hope someone enjoys it!

Rec'd as part of MaryZee's Biographies of Things Book Box (Link) but I won't be keeping this one and it will be sent on to the next participant.

☺ Happy Traveling, Book! ☺

Released as part of MaryZee's "Biographies of Things" Book Box (Link). On its way to DebNance in Texas!

USPS Tracking # 9549 0154 1316 9163 2598 45

☺ Happy Traveling, Book! ☺

Looks like an interesting piece of social history. Made a brief stop at my house.

This book came to me as part of the Mary Zee's Biography of Things bookbox. While I did flip through it, I am not going to hang on to it and will send it back on its way to the next recipient in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Okay, so I got the book box back pre-pandemic. Pandemic sucked out much of my enthusiasm for anything and I have never logged any of the books.

I am finally feeling ready to start another round of the book box. PM me if you are interested. This book has only been seen by a few people, so it will be included.

This book is in the Biography of Things book box and on its way to new adventures.

Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.

Received in the Biographies of Things BookBox.

I will find another place to release this book.

Released in the Bookish Bookbox

Please enjoy!

The Bookish book box is getting ready to travel again, which means that I have to journal all the ones that came back last year and determine if some have gone too many rounds and need to be pulled. This book has been the rounds and met almost all of the Bookcrossers signed up for this book box and the other book box I am compiling. It will find a new way to see the world.

This book is one of many being passed along to potential readers at the 2023 Kensington Day of the Book Festival by members of BookCrossing in Washington DC (BCinDC).

Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.

This book wasn't chosen by any of the attendees at the Kensington Day of the Book Festival, so it came home with me. I was re-releasing books to give away at the Gaithersburg Book Festival and one glance at the title told me I needed to keep it to read.

Onto Mt. TBR it goes. Thanks, fellow BookCrossers!

Will be giving this book to freezone when I'm done reading.