May brings a bounty of summer reads, with novels about dance and other art forms, historical sagas, several books about books, and much more!
5/2: Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
In a near-future United States, two women convicts are the top gladiators in the Chain-Gang All Stars reality TV death matches, competing for a chance of freedom. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
5/2: The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Over 75 years in Kerala, South India, three generations of one family seek the answers to a strange affliction in which at least one person in each generation dies by drowning. By the author of Cutting for Stone. (historical fiction)
5/2: The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
On the idyllic archipelago of Prospera, Proctor Bennett works as a ferryman, taking those at the end of their lives to an island where their memories are wiped and their bodies restored, ready to start again. But when Proctor ferries his father and hears his last words, he begins to realize all is not as it seems. (sci-fi/thriller)
5/2: The Half Moon by Mary Beth Kean
A couple living in a small town grapples with the complexities of marriage and dreams both realized and deferred over one dramatic week as they’re trapped in place by a blizzard. (general fiction)
5/2: Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
After Mickey, a young Black journalist, is laid off, she pens a scathing online letter about the magazine and then flees to her Maryland hometown to take stock and find a way forward. (general fiction)
5/2: Hula by Jasmine Iolani Hakes
A sweeping family saga follows three generations of Hawai’ian women as they engage deeply with their native Hawai’ian culture, while navigating fraught familial and community dynamics. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
5/2: La Tercera by Gina Apostol
After learning of her mother’s death, Rosario, a Filipina novelist in New York City, dives into her family’s labyrinthine history in search of an inheritance that may or may not exist. As she unravels the fragmented story of the Delgados, so too does she witness 200 years of Philippine history.
5/2: No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister
After a devastating event, Alice writes a debut novel that finds its way into the hands of nine readers who discover a change in perspective and new ways forward. (general fiction)
5/2: Swamp Story by Dave Barry
In the Florida Everglades, a motley crew converges: a woman who has found a long-lost treasure; the bad men looking for that treasure; a bait and beer shop owner who has fabricated video of a swamp monster; TikTokers search for the monster; and a presidential hopeful. (humorous fiction)
5/9: The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks
A novel about the making of a superhero movie, and the comic books and family memoires that inspired it. (general fiction)
5/16: Dances by Nicole Cuffy
Promoted to principal at the New York City Ballet, Black ballerina Cece Cordell celebrates this achievement of a dream, even as she considers derailing her career to search for her missing brother and reckon with what she’s given up to dance. (general fiction)
5/16: The Guest by Emma Cline
Opportunistic grifter Alex finds herself unmoored in the Hamptons after she is dumped by an older art dealer, and drifts from group to group ingratiating herself, even as inescapable tensions build. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
5/16: Human Sacrifices by María Fernanda Ampuero, translated by Frances Riddle
Short stories explore the price paid by those living on the margins so that others may live obliviously comfortable lives. (general fiction)
5/16: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
When June Hayward’s friend and fellow writer Athena Liu dies in a freak accident, June steals Athena’s manuscript; rebrands herself as Juniper Song; and passes herself off as Asian American. What could go wrong? A Peak Pick!
5/23: The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
Over the course of a year in Iowa City, a group of friends and lovers encourage, confront, and provoke one another at the crossroads of their futures. (general fiction)
5/23: The Lost Journals of Sacajawea by Debra Magpie Earling
A novel that recenters Sacajewea in her own story, from growing up in the Lemhi Shoshone, to kidnapping and forced marriage to a French Canadian fur trapper, and on to the Lewis and Clark expedition. A reclamation by a Native American author. (historical fiction)
5/30: The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Five friends since college gather at Big Sur, as they’ve done over the course of 30 years as part of a pact to celebrate and support one another through the challenges of adulthood. This year, though, a secret threatens to upend their pact. By the author of The Guncle. (general fiction)
5/30: Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang Eppig
Chinese pirate queen Shek Yeung fights to save her fleet from the powerful forces aligned against her as she navigates new motherhood and suffers crises of leadership. (historical fiction) A Peak Pick!
5/30: Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
In 1943, Americans Irene Woodward and Dorothy Dunford join the Red Cross and ship out to the Western Front of World War II where they’re tasked with service doughnuts and chastely lifting the spirits of soldiers. By the author of the Seattle Reads title The House of Broken Angels. (historical fiction).
5/30: The Light at the End of the World by Siddhartha Deb
A sweeping tale of rebellion, courage, and brutality across four pivotal moments in India’s tumultuous history: the near future, 1984, 1947, and 1859. (fiction)
5/30: The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
Reclusive children’s author Jack Masterson announces a contest on his home on Clock Island, and Lucy – who loved his books growing up – is one of four lucky contestants. A win will allow her to adopt a child and create the family she craves, but Masterson has more tricks up his sleeve. (general fiction)
~ posted by Andrea G.
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