Our 11 Most Anticipated New Reads of May 2020

Get Literary
April 27 2020
Share Our 11 Most Anticipated New Reads of May 2020

Word on the (virtual) street is that a lot of our fellow readers have been struggling to dive into books as readily as usual. Just in the nick of time, to help you (and all of us) break out of that rut, here are our most-anticipated May new releases. But first, allow us to present a few tips to help you prep for your next personal read-a-thon:

  • Buddy read or join a virtual book club so that you keep each other on track.
  • Binge-watch a show and get so absorbed that when it ends you HAVE to read the series it’s based on. Star Trek: Picard, for example.
  • Take it slow. If a chapter a day is all you can do, then do just that. 

Now, without
further ado, behold your month of May:

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

Big Summer
by Jennifer Weiner

Sabrina’s Pick

A plus-sized media influencer, a love-hate relationship with high school’s most popular mean girl, and an unexpected invitation to a high-society wedding sound like the recipe for a Mean Girls meets Revenge of the Bridesmaids mash-up. Jennifer Weiner’s Big Summer follows the witty, moving, and suspenseful story of Daphne Berg, a body-positive social media Instagrammer who is starting to bloom in her own skin when her ex–best friend, the most perfect girl in high school, invites her to be her maid of honor. Drue Cavanaugh and Daphne Berg have not exchanged words in seven years, so when Daphne finds herself answering to Drue’s beck and call under the guise of a waterfront Cape Cod mansion wedding with the promise of hot guys and brand partnerships, she begins to question the true motive of Drue’s invitation. Is everything as it seems? Weiner explores issues of appearance versus reality, female friendship, and family bonds in this riveting summer tale. You’ll be on the edge of your seat waiting to see how this story unfolds.

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Big Summer
Jennifer Weiner

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Sexy and satisfying, Big Summer is the perfect quarantine read.” —USA TODAY

“The beach read to end all beach reads.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Big fun, and then some. It’s empowering and surprising—a reminder to put down the phone and enjoy each moment for what it is.” —The Washington Post

A deliciously funny, remarkably poignant, and simply unputdownable novel about the power of friendship, the lure of frenemies, and the importance of making peace with yourself through all life’s ups and down. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good in Bed and Best Friends Forever, Big Summer is the perfect escape with one of the most lovable heroines to come to the page in years.

Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless.

Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song.

A sparkling novel about the complexities of female relationships, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most.

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Resistance
by Tori Amos

Heather’s Pick #1

If there’s a song that suits me better at the start of every work week than Tori Amos’s “I Don’t Like Mondays,” I’ve yet to hear it. My ears perked up, therefore, when I first heard she was releasing a book. I was completely SOLD when I learned the title: Resistance. The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter’s lyrics have always had a political bent, as she’s used her voice to call out injustices, but now she’s revealing more about what fuels her artistic process than ever before. Even better, in the book she’s set to share actionable advice for becoming a more engaged citizen. I’m excited to dig in.

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Resistance
Tori Amos

A timely and passionate call to action for engaging with our current political moment, from the Grammy-nominated and multiplatinum singer-songwriter and New York Times bestselling author Tori Amos.

Since the release of her first, career-defining solo album Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos has been one of the music industry’s most enduring and ingenious artists. From her unnerving depiction of sexual assault in “Me and a Gun” to her post-September 11 album, Scarlet’s Walk, to her latest album, Native Invader, her work has never shied away from intermingling the personal with the political.

Amos began playing piano as a teenager for the politically powerful at hotel bars in Washington, DC, during the formative years of the post-Goldwater and then Koch-led Libertarian and Reaganite movements. The story continues to her time as a hungry artist in Los Angeles to the subsequent three decades of her formidable music career. Amos explains how she managed to create meaningful, politically resonant work against patriarchal power structures—and how her proud declarations of feminism and her fight for the marginalized always proved to be her guiding light. She teaches us to engage with intention in this tumultuous global climate and speaks directly to supporters of #MeToo and #TimesUp, as well as young people fighting for their rights and visibility in the world.

Filled with compassionate guidance and actionable advice—and using some of the most powerful, political songs in Amos’s canon—this book is for anyone determined to steer the world back in the right direction.

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Summer Darlings
by Brooke Lea Foster

Courtney’s Pick

My most-anticipated release for May is Summer Darlings. First, just look at that cover! Maybe it’s the current social distancing situation, but I would love nothing more than to be dipping my feet into a pool while sporting an adorable retro red swimsuit just about now. Second, behind this inviting cover is a jaw-dropping story. The year is 1962 and Heddy Winsome, a would-be screenwriter, is the nanny for one of the wealthiest families at Martha’s Vineyard. As the summer progresses, and Heddy interacts with the residents on the island, she soon learns that no one is actually who they appear to be. In my opinion, this sounds like the perfect escapist read for the summer. 1960s Martha’s Vineyard? Secrets of the obscenely rich revealed? A nanny getting paid to watch this all unfold? Count me and my flip-flops in. Honestly, though, does anyone know where to buy a vintage swimsuit like that?

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Summer Darlings
Brooke Lea Foster

Set during the splendid summer days of 1960s Martha’s Vineyard, this page-turning debut novel pulls back the curtain on one mysterious and wealthy family as seen through the eyes of their nanny—a college student who, while falling in love on the elegant island, is also forced to reckon with the dark underbelly of privilege.

In 1962, coed Heddy Winsome leaves her hardscrabble Irish Brooklyn neighborhood behind and ferries to glamorous Martha’s Vineyard to nanny for one of the wealthiest families on the island. But as she grows enamored with the alluring and seemingly perfect young couple and chases after their two mischievous children, Heddy discovers that her academic scholarship at Wellesley has been revoked, putting her entire future at risk.

Determined to find her place in the couple's wealthy social circles, Heddy nurtures a romance with the hip surfer down the beach while wondering if the better man for her might be a quiet, studious college boy instead. But no one she meets on the summer island—socialite, starlet, or housekeeper—is as picture-perfect as they seem, and she quickly learns that the right last name and a house in a tony zip-code may guarantee privilege, but that rarely equals happiness.

Rich with the sights and sounds of midcentury Martha’s Vineyard, Brooke Lea Foster’s debut novel Summer Darlings promises entrance to a rarefied world, for readers who enjoyed Tigers in Red Weather or The Summer Wives.

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The Brideship Wife
by Leslie Howard

Alexandra's Pick

I’m a fan of all historical fiction—whether it’s royalty in 16th century England or unsung heroes in WWII’s Paris, I love to get swept up in a captivating historical tale. But my absolute favorite historical novels are those that teach me a part of history, particularly Canadian history, that I had never known before. That’s certainly the case for Leslie Howard’s The Brideship Wife. This debut novel delves into the true history of the British “brideships” that sent young women to the British colonies in order to marry eligible men. The unique thing about these brideships is that, while many of the women did end up marrying, some actually found independence in these new countries. This novel follows Charlotte who, after a disastrous party that puts her reputation at risk, decides to set out on The Tynemouth—a real-life brideship—for British Columbia. It’s entirely engrossing read, and I can’t wait to see how it ends!

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The Brideship Wife
Leslie Howard

Inspired by the history of the British “brideships,” this captivating historical debut tells the story of one woman’s coming of age and search for independence—for readers of Pam Jenoff's The Orphan's Tale and Armando Lucas Correa’s The German Girl.

Tomorrow we would dock in Victoria on the northwest coast of North America, about as far away from my home as I could imagine. Like pebbles tossed upon the beach, we would scatter, trying to make our way as best as we could. Most of us would marry; some would not.

England, 1862. Charlotte is somewhat of a wallflower. Shy and bookish, she knows her duty is to marry, but with no dowry, she has little choice in the matter. She can’t continue to live off the generosity of her sister Harriet and her wealthy brother-in-law, Charles, whose political aspirations dictate that she make an advantageous match.

When Harriet hosts a grand party, Charlotte is charged with winning the affections of one of Charles’s colleagues, but before the night is over, her reputation—her one thing of value—is at risk. In the days that follow, rumours begin to swirl. Soon Charles’s standing in society is threatened and all that Charlotte has held dear is jeopardized, even Harriet, and Charlotte is forced to leave everything she has ever known in England and embark on a treacherous voyage to the New World.

From the rigid social circles of Victorian England to the lawless lands bursting with gold in British Columbia’s Cariboo, The Brideship Wife takes readers on a mesmerizing journey through a time of great change. Based on a forgotten chapter in history, this is a sparkling debut about the pricelessness of freedom and the courage it takes to follow your heart.

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You’re Not Special
by Meghan Rienks

Sara’s Pick #1

Everyone likes to think they're special; that their trials and tribulations are somehow unique; and that no one could really understand what they're going through. Well, actress and YouTube star Meghan Rienks is here to disavow you of that illusion in the gentlest, funniest way possible: by showing you how she got through it all herself. Rienks grew up in a small town with little to do but talk into a camera from her bedroom, which is how she attained her YouTube fame. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. From tales about dating disasters to toxic friendships to stepping out on her own, Rienks will having you laughing, cringing, and feeling empowered to not feel alone in your own angst as she details the weird and wonderful turns her life has taken.

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You’re Not Special
Meghan Rienks

In her first-ever (sort of) memoir, the beloved actor and YouTube sensation gets personal about everything from mental health to drunken debaucheries.

As an only child raised in a town of less than 8,000 people and without a Starbucks in sight, Meghan Rienks has always been pretty good at entertaining herself. Then one day—cue the dramatic voiceover—her life changed forever.

On June 12th, 2010, Meghan was diagnosed with mononucleosis. Mono is basically just a really bad case of the flu, right? Wrong. To a party crazed sixteen-year-old, mono is social suicide. More than anything, it’s just plain boring. So, Meghan opened up her 2009 MacBook, used the webcam for something other than a bad Andy Warhol–style photobooth session, and recorded her first YouTube video. Since then, Meghan has shared the ups and downs of her life with the internet, documenting her teenage years for the whole world to see.

Now that she’s (mostly) through her awkward stage, Meghan’s here to tell you that it gets better. You’re not alone in the thoughts you think. Sometimes a bad hair day feels worse than a punch in the gut and asking a boy out seems about as difficult as achieving that perfect dewy glow. But despite what you’ve been told, your problems are not unique, your struggles have taken form in everybody else’s life too, and somebody else has felt the way you feel right at this very moment.

You’re not special. But you’re also not alone on the bumpy road to adulthood.

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Catherine House
by Elisabeth Thomas

Sara’s Pick #2

I love a good Gothic story, with characters trapped in an expansive but ever-ominous house, where they must contend with terrible secrets and their own fears. Okay, so maybe that’s going to hit a little close to home for some people at the current moment, but for a spooky-loving reader like me, there’s no creepy read I am more eager for this month than Catherine House. The titular school is one of great prestige, promising its students vast future success—but only if they agree to give up three full years of their lives, with no contact with the outside world. No friends, family, TV, Internet: just them and rural Pennsylvania. Ines is willing to make that sacrifice, but when her roommate Baby’s time at the school ends in tragedy, she realizes something darker is afoot. Author Elisabeth Thomas’s writing will lull you into this world with luscious descriptions and dream-like prose, right up until the trap is ready to spring. If you’re looking for an all-consuming thriller, pick up this story set in the hallowed halls of higher learning.

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Catherine House
Elisabeth Thomas

Sara’s Pick #2 I love a good Gothic story, with characters trapped in an expansive but ever-ominous house, where they must contend with terrible secrets and their own fears. Okay, so maybe that’s going to hit a little close to home for some people at the current moment, but for a spooky-loving reader like me, there’s no creepy read I am more eager for this month than Catherine House. The titular school is one of great prestige, promising its students vast future success—but only if they agree to give up three full years of their lives, with no contact with the outside world. No friends, family, TV, Internet: just them and rural Pennsylvania. Ines is willing to make that sacrifice, but when her roommate Baby’s time at the school ends in tragedy, she realizes something darker is afoot. Author Elisabeth Thomas’s writing will lull you into this world with luscious descriptions and dream-like prose, right up until the trap is ready to spring. If you’re looking for an all-consuming thriller, pick up this story set in the hallowed halls of higher learning.

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My Kind of People
by Lisa Duffy

Megan’s Pick

Say hello to your first (virtual) beach read of the summer! Lisa Duffy’s third novel, My Kind of People, is all about the power of community and the courage to start over. On Ichabod Island, 10-year-old Sky tragically loses her adoptive parents in a car accident and is left in the custody of her parents’ best friend, Leo. Along with his husband, Leo moves from New York to the island to care for Sky. There, Sky, Leo, and other island locals navigate tumultuous relationships, make surprising friendships, and uncover shocking secrets. You’ll be immersed in this small New England island town, and in true Lisa Duffy fashion, My Kind of People will captivate you with its cast of close-knit characters, pull at your heartstrings, and leave you feeling hopeful and whole.

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My Kind of People
Lisa Duffy

From the author of The Salt House and This Is Home comes a profound novel about the power of community and a small town’s long-buried secrets as a group of New England islanders come together for a recently orphaned girl.

On Ichabod Island, a jagged strip of land thirteen miles off the coast of Massachusetts, ten-year-old Sky becomes an orphan for the second time after a tragic accident claims the lives of her adoptive parents.

Grieving the death of his best friends, Leo’s life is turned upside down when he finds himself the guardian of young Sky. Back on the island and struggling to balance his new responsibilities and his marriage to his husband, Leo is supported by a powerful community of neighbors, many of them harboring secrets of their own.

Maggie, who helps with Sky’s childcare, has hit a breaking point with her police chief husband, who becomes embroiled in a local scandal. Her best friend Agnes, the island busybody, invites Sky’s estranged grandmother to stay for the summer, straining already precarious relationships. Their neighbor Joe struggles with whether to tell all was not well in Sky’s house in the months leading up to the accident. And among them all is a mysterious woman, drawn to Ichabod to fulfill a dying wish.

Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Ann Leary, My Kind of People is a riveting, impassioned novel about the resilience of community and what connects us all in the face of tragedy.

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More Than Love
by Natasha Gregson Wagner

Emily’s Pick #1

Right now, I’m on the lookout for emotional books filled to the brim with dynamic character interactions and life revelations that will keep me reading the day away. More Than Love is one of those books. This memoir from Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of late Hollywood actress Natalie Wood, describes her early childhood memories of her mom, and what it was like to experience Hollywood royalty from so close up. At the story’s core is Natalie’s tragic sudden death by drowning while aboard a yacht in 1981 and the scandalous media and crime narrative that followed, with a cloud that has hung over her stepfather, Robert Wagner, ever since. Above all, this is a heartfelt, bittersweet ode from a fiercely devoted daughter to the adored mother she lost when just a child—and it makes me want to call my own mother right now and thank her for everything.

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More Than Love
Natasha Gregson Wagner

The heartbreaking, never-before-told story of Hollywood icon Natalie Wood’s glamorous life, sudden death, and lasting legacy, written by her daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner.

More Than Love is a memoir of loss, grief, and coming-of-age by a daughter of Hollywood royalty. Natasha Gregson Wagner’s mother, Natalie Wood, was a child actress who became a legendary movie star, the dark-haired beauty of Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause, and West Side Story. She and Natasha’s stepfather, the actor Robert Wagner, were a Hollywood it-couple twice over, first in the 1950s, and then again when they remarried in the 70s.

But Natalie’s sudden death by drowning off Catalina Island at the age of forty-three devastated her family, made her stepfather a person of interest, and turned a vibrant wife, mother, and actress into a tragic figure. The events of that weekend have long been a mystery, and despite the rumors, scandalous media coverage, and accusations of wrongdoing, there has never been an account of how the tragedy was experienced by her daughter. For the first time Natasha addresses the questions surrounding that night to clear her beloved stepfather’s name.

More Than Love begins on the morning after her mother’s death in November 1981 when eleven-year-old Natasha hears the news on the radio that her mother’s body has been found off the coast of Catalina after her parents had spent the weekend on the family boat, The Splendour.

From this profound and shattering loss, Natasha shares her memories of her earliest bonds with her mother; her warm, loving, and slightly chaotic childhood as the daughter of two stars; the lost and confused years of her adolescence; and her halting attempts to move forward as a young woman.

Beautifully told, More Than Love is an emotionally powerful tale of a daughter coming to terms with her grief, as well as a riveting portrait of a famous mother and a vanished Hollywood.

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The Down Days
by Ilze Hugo

Holly’s Pick

The premise of The Down Days is eerily similar to the pandemic conditions we've been living under—complete with mandatory face masks! But this disease is different. In fact, it's not much of a disease at all, but rather an outbreak of uncontrollable laughter, inevitably resulting in death. The worst part? No one knows how you catch it. Set in South Africa, The Down Days follows several characters as they navigate life within a quarantined city during their deadly outbreak. Faith, one of the city’s corpse collectors, agrees to help a desperate young girl find her lost younger brother. But as she investigates, she begins to wonder if the boy was ever real at all. Meanwhile, Sans, a trader of illicit goods, falls victim to distraction as a dream-like woman floats between his reality and subconscious. When his gang money goes missing, he's left searching for both answers and his own sanity. This story is told over the course of a week as Sans’ and Faith's lives intertwine. Multiple characters attempt to uncover how the laughter begins and how to stay safe as they question which reality they should trust.

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The Down Days
Ilze Hugo

In the vein of The Book of M comes a fast-paced, character-driven literary apocalyptic novel that explores life, love, and loss in a post-truth society.

In the aftermath of a deadly outbreak—reminiscent of the 1962 event of mass hysteria that was the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic—a city at the tip of Africa is losing its mind, with residents experiencing hallucinations and paranoia. Is it simply another episode of mass hysteria, or something more sinister? In a quarantined city in which the inexplicable has already occurred, rumors, superstitions, and conspiracy theories abound.

During these strange days, Faith works as a fulltime corpse collector and a freelance “truthologist,” putting together disparate pieces of information to solve problems. But after Faith agrees to help an orphaned girl find her abducted baby brother, she begins to wonder whether the boy is even real. Meanwhile, a young man named Sans who trades in illicit goods is so distracted by a glimpse of his dream woman that he lets a bag of money he owes his gang partners go missing-leaving him desperately searching for both and soon questioning his own sanity.

Over the course of a single week, the paths of Faith, Sans, and a cast of other hustlers—including a data dealer, a drug addict, a sin eater, and a hyena man—will cross and intertwine as they move about the city, looking for lost souls, uncertain absolution, and answers that may not exist.

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Ask Again, Yes
by Mary Beth Keane

Heather’s Pick #2

As the daughter of cops myself, I was immediately drawn to this touching novel about two NYPD officers, Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, whose families end up living next door to each other. As the years pass and their children grow up together, the two families’ lives become inextricably linked, for better and for worse, in ways they never could have predicted. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that this book—new in paperback—will take you on an emotional journey you won’t soon forget. If you enjoy shows like This Is Us and Parenthood, you need Ask Again, Yes in your life.

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Ask Again, Yes
Mary Beth Keane

One of the most beloved novels of the year, the 2019 Tonight Show Summer Reads pick and “magnificent” (NPR) New York Times bestseller offers “profound insights about blame, forgiveness, and abiding love” (People) about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the friendship between their children, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness.

Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne, sets the stage for the explosive events to come.

“A beautiful novel, bursting at the seams with empathy” (Elle), Ask Again, Yes is a deeply affecting and “smartly told” (Entertainment Weekly) exploration of the lifelong friendship and love that blossoms between Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, born six months apart. One shocking night their loyalties are divided, and their bond will be tested again and again over the next forty years. Heartbreaking and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes is a gorgeous portrait of a relationship haunted by echoes from the past, yet marked by tenderness, generosity, and grace.

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
by Suzanne Collins

Emily Pick #2

I’m actually an OG Suzanne Collins fan, having followed along since her debut series, Gregor the Overlander—I haven’t looked at a laundry room the same way since—so I’m always on the lookout for what fast-paced, intelligent concepts she has coming next. The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes (prequel to the The Hunger Games series) delves into President Snow’s story as he mentors a District 12 contender in the 10th annual hunger games. I always love a good villain origin story, and I have all the faith that this one will make any Hunger Games re-reads even more heartbreaking now.

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Suzanne Collins

Emily Pick #2 I’m actually an OG Suzanne Collins fan, having followed along since her debut series, Gregor the Overlander—I haven’t looked at a laundry room the same way since—so I’m always on the lookout for what fast-paced, intelligent concepts she has coming next. The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes (prequel to the The Hunger Games series) delves into President Snow’s story as he mentors a District 12 contender in the 10th annual hunger games. I always love a good villain origin story, and I have all the faith that this one will make any Hunger Games re-reads even more heartbreaking now.

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