If you’re ready to add to your ever-growing reading list then read on. There are so many great books coming out this month. Get ready to dive into a captivating literary journey and indulge in the exciting diversity of May’s picks. You might even uncover some hidden treasures among the selections!
A History of Burning by Janika Oza: An epic, sweeping historical debut novel spanning continents and a century, and how one act of survival can reverberate through generations. At the turn of the twentieth century, Pirbhai, a teenage boy looking for work, is taken from his village in India to labor on the East African Railway for the British. One day Pirbhai commits an act to ensure his survival that will haunt him forever and reverberate across his family’s future for years to come. An unforgettable tour de force, an intimate family saga of complicity and resistance, about the stories we share, the ones that remain unspoken, and the eternal search for home.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese: From the New York Times–bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial new epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
Sugar, Spice, and Can’t Play Nice by Annika Sharma: Payal is a girl on the verge―of living a life she’s always dreamt of, becoming a rising star in fashion, and…of marriage?! When her parents insist she marries fellow Londoner and serial dater Ayaan Malhotra in order to save their company, Payal has a stick it to her dysfunctional family but put her hard-earned fashion success on hold…or get engaged to save her family’s fortune and rescue her own dream-come-true life.
Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa: Aristotle and Dante meet The Hate U Give meets The Sun Is Also A Star: A stunning YA contemporary love story about a Mexican-American teen who falls in love with an undocumented Mexican boy.
Homebodies: A Novel by Tembe Denton-Hurst: Homebodies is a thrilling debut novel about a young Black writer whose world is turned upside down when she loses her coveted job in media and pens a searing manifesto about racism in the industry. Mickey Hayward dreams of writing stories that matter. She has a flashy media job that makes her feel successful and a devoted girlfriend who takes care of her when she comes home exhausted and demoralized. Homebodies is a testament to those trying to be heard and loved in a world that refuses to make space, and introduces a standout new writer.
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley: From the New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter comes a thrilling YA mystery about a Native teen who must find a way to bring an ancestor home to her tribe.
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah: Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far removed from America’s own.
Lucky Girl A Novel by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu: Longing for independence, a young sheltered Kenyan woman flees the expectations of her mother for a life in New York City that challenges all her beliefs about race, love, and family.
Late Bloomers A Novel by Deepa Varadarajan: An Indian American family is turned upside down when the parents split up thirty-six years into their arranged marriage in this witty, big-hearted debut. After thirty-six years of a dutiful but unhappy arranged marriage, recently divorced Suresh and Lata Raman find themselves starting new paths in life. Suresh is trying to navigate the world of online dating on a website that caters to Indians and is striking out at every turn—until he meets a mysterious, devastatingly attractive younger woman who seems to be smitten with him. Lata is enjoying her newfound independence, but she’s caught off guard when a professor in his early sixties starts to flirt with her.
Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi: Warrior Princess: That’s what Nigeria’s father calls her. He’s raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. Nigeria is homeschooled and vegan and participates in traditional rituals that connect her and other kids from the group to their ancestors. But when her mother—the perfect matriarch to their Movement—disappears, Nigeria’s world is upended. She finds herself taking care of her baby brother and stepping into a role she doesn’t want. From award-winning author Ibi Zoboi comes a searing, powerful coming-of-age story about discovering who you are in the world—and fighting for that person—by having the courage to remix the founding tenets of your life to be your own revolution.
Dances: A Novel by Nicole Cuffy: A provocative and lyrical debut novel follows a trailblazing Black ballerina who must reconcile the ever-rising stakes of her gruelling career with difficult questions of love, loss, and her journey to self-liberation, from a sensuous new voice in fiction.
The God of Good Looks by Breanne McIvor: Bianca Bridge has always dreamt of becoming a writer. But Trinidadian society can be unforgiving, and having an affair with a married government official is a sure-fire way to ruin your prospects. So when Obadiah Cortland, a notoriously tyrannical entrepreneur in the island’s beauty scene, offers her a job, Bianca accepts, realizing that working on his magazine is the closest to her dreams she’ll get. This entertaining, transportive, and luminous debut novel follows a young Trinidadian woman finding her voice and a new kind of happy ending.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history.
Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal: The wildly entertaining, sharply observed story of three women who work in the homes of Singapore’s elite and band together to solve a murder mystery involving one of their own.
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor: A novel of intimacy and precarity, friendship and chosen family, The Late Americans is Brandon Taylor’s richest and most involving work of fiction to date, confirming his position as one of our most perceptive chroniclers of contemporary life.
When the Vibe Is Right by Sarah Dass: Set in lush, gorgeous Trinidad, this is a novel about finding love in the most unexpected places.
Even If the Sky is Falling by Taj McCoy; Farah Heron; Lane Clarke; Charish Reid; Sarah Smith; Denise Williams: When an international warning siren accidentally goes off, convincing everyone that a meteor shower may just be the end of life as they know it, six couples—friends, exes, crushes and rivals—must take shelter. Inhibitions are abandoned, confessions are made and love blossoms, but what happens when the world doesn’t end?
I believe this month’s list is truly diverse and will take you on a journey across various genres, which is very exciting. Let me know your thoughts and which ones are your favourites
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What do you think?