Last updated: 17 September 2026
By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture
One book a month, read properly
My book of the month is one book, read cover to cover and written up with the flaws left in: what works, what drags and which edition to buy. So far the picks have run from a history of the 1926 General Strike to a free Mozilla zine and back to Orwell.
This page links to posts that contain affiliate links. If you click through and buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.
Section 01 / The editions
Every book of the month so far
Newest first, with the month each one ran and a line on why it made the cut.
Nineteen Eighty-Four
I went back to the book I was made to read at sixteen. It is stranger, funnier and more irritating than I remembered. The thirty-odd pages of Goldstein's book are still a slog, and I name the edition I would actually buy.
Editions and prices: Nineteen Eighty-Four book page
Imagine Intel
The month the pick cost nothing. It is a 100-page zine about creative work and AI, free to download as a PDF. It grew out of five six-hour sessions in and around Los Angeles with 91 artists, technologists and thinkers.
The Future in Our Past
Where the series started. Verso published this 160-page history of the nine-day 1926 General Strike for its centenary. Then the authors go back to the docklands, coalfields and warehouses to ask what the strike means a century on.
Formats and prices: The Future in Our Past book page
Section 02 / The rules
How I pick the book of the month
It is one book a month, and only one. The default is the CoolCuration shortlist of the greatest books ever written, which is where Orwell came from. But a new release or a free publication can take the slot when there is a good reason to read it now. That is how a centenary history and a Mozilla zine got in ahead of the classics.
Every pick gets read properly before I write a word. The write-up then says what the book is about and why it is worth your time this month. Where a book also has its own page on the site, that page holds the formats and dated prices. So the write-up can stay opinion, and the book page can stay fact.
There is no score out of five. Giving a canonical novel four stars reads as a bit silly, so I name what is weak instead. Orwell gets told off for the Goldstein chapter, for example, with a quote from Isaac Deutscher to back it up.
Now and then I also write a themed reading list. Those are separate posts rather than editions, because the series is about sitting with a single book for a month.
Section 03 / Further reading
More books on CoolCuration
CoolCuration has pages on around sixty books, mostly design, art and music titles. These are a good place to start, along with the audiobook picks if you would rather listen.
For the background to the picks, go to the sources I used. The Orwell Foundation keeps its own page on Nineteen Eighty-Four. Verso publishes The Future in Our Past. And the National Archives holds the record of the 1926 strike itself.
Book of the month FAQs
What is the CoolCuration book of the month?
It is one book I read each month and write up in full, flaws included. The book of the month started in June 2026 with The Future in Our Past.
When does a new book of the month come out?
From August 2026 the new pick goes up on the 25th of each month. The June and July 2026 editions went up on 28 June and 3 July.
Is every pick a novel?
No. June was a history of the 1926 General Strike and July was a free zine from the Mozilla Foundation. August was Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Where can I buy the books?
Each write-up links to Bookshop.org and Amazon UK where the book is on sale. Those are affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission if you buy. The July pick was a free PDF, so there was nothing to buy.
Do you give the books a score?
No. There is no star rating on the book of the month. Where a book has weak spots, the post names them and says whose criticism it is.
Is a themed reading list part of the series?
No. The series is one book per month. A themed list, like the women's health books post, stands on its own.
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