The publishing calendar starts to heat up in May, as shelves start to fill with titles the industry hope to see readers packing into their summer vacation luggage. This May is especially noteworthy, as some big name authors who have been away from the bestseller lists are back with new works, and others who are departing with new series or characters. And of course, there’s no shortage of genre fiction from well-beloved names and a few new talents on horizon that editors hope will capture readers’ interest.
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--Crime readers have long expected Michael Connelly to release a spring book, but this year marks the debut of a new detective from the Edgar winning author. Nightshade introduces LA County Sheriff detective Stilwell, ‘exiled’ to picturesque and sleepy Catalina Island off of the SoCal coast. It being Connelly though, murder lurks under the surface. Nightshade is out May 20. The Florida coast holds its own crime-wise, as proven by Carl Hiaasen’s newest, Fever Beach. Featuring crooked congressmen, billionaire philanthropists, a nutcase too crazy for the Proud Boys and many more that give the Sunshine State its je ne se quoi. Booklist calls Fever Beach Hiaasen’s funniest book yet--it’s out May 13. And speaking of funny, stand-up comic Nate Bargatze releases Big Dumb Eyes: Stories From a Simpler Mind, a collection of ‘folksy stories, anecdotes and pet peeves’ according to Publisher’s Weekly. The original comedic folksy master, Mark Twain, gets a doorstopper of a biography from Ron Chernow (of Hamilton fame). Early reviews have been glowing, with Publisher’s Weekly calling it ‘the new definitive biography’ and Booklist hailing it as ‘a monumental achievement.’ Mark Twain is on shelves May 13.
--Literary fiction fans can look forward to some favorites this month. Latin American legend Isabel Allende journeys from 1860s San Francisco to 1890s Chile with her eponymous heroine in My Name Is Emilia del Valle; another Latin American story, this time in modern day Puerto Rico, is recounted in Jeanine Cummins’ Speak to Me of Home. Wally Lamb pulls the heartstrings with a tale of family tragedy and redemption in The River Is Waiting, while Ocean Vuong’s sophomore novel, The Emperor of Gladness, wrestles with the trauma of war and addiction. Both are out mid-month. Those that like their fiction to have a bit more suspense can look forward to Brendan Slocumb’s newest thriller set in the normally sedate world of classical music; The Dark Maestro features a Black cello protégé whose stunning rise is brought to halt when his family is forced to go into witness protection. In order to reclaim his career, he has to sidestep the FBI and bring the criminals to justice himself. Booklist calls it ‘another winning music-themed thriller.’ And Chris Pavone, who had a big hit with Two Nights in Lisbon, turns his attention to the city that never sleeps and a glamourous building hiding a lot of unsavory characters in The Doorman. It’s out May 20.
--If you’re planning a summer vacation, publishers are ready with vacation-worthy reads. Perhaps a trip to a graduation or some campus tours? Alex Finlay’s Parents Weekend offers a nightmare-worthy mix of missing students and secret family traumas. A family road trip? Kevin Wilson, ‘the beloved author of offbeat family fiction (Booklist)’ has Run for the Hills, a journey of newly found family. Or maybe a lazy summer at the lake? Carley Fortune’s One Golden Summer fits the bill for summer romance.
Here's the full list of titles for May. Happy reading!
Allende, Isabel - My Name is Emilia del Valle
Backman, Fredrik - My Friends
Bargatze, Nate - Big Dumb Eyes: Stories From a Simpler Mind
Center, Katherine - The Love Haters
Chernow, Ron - Mark Twain
Connelly, Michael - Nightshade
Cummins, Jeanine - Speak to Me of Home
Doyle, Glennon - We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life’s 20 Questions
Fayne, Rickey - The Devil Three Times (WISCONSIN BOOK FEST EVENT)
Finlay, Alex - Parents Weekend
Flowers, Ashley - The Missing Half
Fortune, Carley - One Golden Summer
Fraser, Caroline - Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers
Gillig, Rachel - The Knight and the Moth (Stonewater Kingdom Book 1)
Grant, Mira - Overgrowth
Herring Blake, Ashley - Dream On, Ramona Riley
Hess, Amanda - Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
Hiaasen, Carl - Fever Beach
Horowitz, Anthony - Marble Hall Murders (A Susan Ryeland Mystery)
Johnson, Craig - Return to Sender: A Longmire Mystery
King, Stephen - Never Flinch
Knapp, Florence - The Names DEBUT
Koontz, Dean - Going Home in the Dark
Lamb, Wally - The River is Waiting
McFadden, Freida - The Tenants
Pavone, Chris - The Doorman
Ryan, Kennedy - Can’t Get Enough
Slocumb, Brendan - The Dark Maestro
Vuong, Ocean - The Emperor of Gladness
Wilson, Kevin - Run for the Hills
Young, Michelle - The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland