Books We Can't Wait to Read: May 2023
Here is our monthly round-up of fiction and nonfiction books we are adding to our TBR lists ASAP.
FICTION
A History of Burning by Janika Oza — May 2 (Grand Central Publishing)
A History of Burning is 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.
Gone To The Wolves by John Wray— May 2 (FSG)
In his most absorbing and ambitious novel yet, John Wray dives deep into the wild, funhouse world of heavy metal and death cults in the 1980s and '90s. Gone to the Wolves lays bare the intensity, tumult, and thrill of friendship in adolescence--a time when music can often feel like life or death.
The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane— May 2 (Scribner Book Company)
Award-winning author Mary Beth Keane's new novel takes place over the course of one week when Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place. With a deft eye and generous spirit, Keane explores the disappointments and unexpected consolations of midlife, the many forms forgiveness can take, the complicated intimacy of small-town living, and what it means to be a family.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese — May 2 (Grove Press)
From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
Pure Cosmos Club By Matthew Binder — May 15 (Stalking Horse Press)
In this biting satire, Matthew Binder takes surreal aim at the poses and pretensions of high art and fashion. With ruthless wit, Binder chronicles the struggles of Paul, an eccentric artist, and his companion dog, a disabled, quiche-obsessed terrier-mix named Blanche. Together they negotiate hilarious scenes of bad parties, bizarre couture, deranged friends, shady deals, unrequited love, sabotage, and inscrutable art.
Berlin By Bea Setton — May 16 (Penguin)
Channeling the modern female experience with razor-sharp observation and a trenchant wit, Berlin announces Bea Setton as an electrifying new voice for her generation.
Dykette by Jenny Fran Davis — May 16 (Henry Holt)
An addictive, absurd, and darkly hilarious debut novel about a young woman who embarks on a ten-day getaway with her partner and two other queer couples.
The Guest by Emma Cline— May 16 (Random House)
A young woman pretends to be someone she isn't in this stunning novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang— May 16 (William Morrow & Company)
With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
Notes on Her Color by Jennifer Neal —May 23 (Catapult)
Florida kitsch swirls together with magical realism in this glittering debut novel about a young Black and Indigenous woman who learns to change the color of her skin
The Late American by Brandon Taylor—May 23 (Riverhead Books)
A novel of friendship and chosen family, The Late Americans asks fresh questions about love and sex, ambition and precarity, and about how human beings can bruise one another while trying to find themselves. It 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.
Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda— May 23 (MCD)
With blistering, incisive prose, the award-winning author Ivy Pochoda delivers a razor-sharp Western. Gripping and immersive, Sing Her Down is a spellbinding thriller setting two indelible women on a path to certain destruction and an epic, stunning showdown.
NONFICTION
Don’t Call Me Home By Alexandra Auder— May 2 (Viking)
A moving and wickedly funny memoir about one woman's life as the daughter of a Warhol superstar and the intimate bonds of mother-daughter relationships.
We Are Too Many: A Memoir [Kind Of] by Hannah Pittard — May 2 (Henry Holt)
We Are Too Many is an unexpectedly funny, unflinchingly honest, and genre-bending memoir about a marriage-ending affair between award-winning author Hannah Pittard's husband and her captivating best friend.
In Vitro by Isabel Zapata, translated by Robin Myers— May 9 (Coffee House Press)
In the tradition of Rivka Galchen's Little Labors and Sarah Manguso's Ongoingness, In Vitro draws from diary and essay forms to create a new kind of literary companion and open up space for nuanced conversations about pregnancy.
Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby—May 16 (Vintage)
Quietly Hostile makes light as Irby takes us on another outrageously funny tour of all the gory details that make up the true portrait of a life behind the screenshotted depression memes. Relatable, poignant, and uproarious, once again, Irby is the tonic we all need to get by.
Horse Barbie by Geena Rocero — May 30 (Dial Press)
The dazzling, heartfelt memoir of a trans pageant queen from the Philippines who went back into the closet to model in New York City--until she realized that living her truth was the only way to step into her full power.
