Today is the first Tuesday in May, which marks the beginning of the publishing month. (For those who don’t know, publishers release most of their new books on Tuesdays.) And my, oh my, is May shaping up to be a great month for books. You can definitely tell we’re heading into the summer reading season, with more and more big releases from new and established authors each week. In this list of the 15 best new books of May 2019, you’ll find something to add to your TBR no matter what your favorite genre. So pull up Goodreads (here’s a link), and let’s dig in!
The Bride Test 
The Farm 
The Guest Book 
Rough Magic 
Light from Other Stars
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (May 7)
Khai Diep is convinced he’s defective because his autism makes it hard to negotiate feelings. His mother’s convinced that if she returns home to Vietnam, she can find a wife for her beloved son. Esme Tran is biracial and feeling out of place in Ho Chi Minh City, so when she’s given the chance to go to America and meet a possible matrimonial match, she can’t say no. You can expect big emotions in this swoonworthy neurodiverse romance from the author of last year’s standout hit, The Kiss Quotient.
How to read it: Add The Bride Test on Goodreads // Purchase The Bride Test on Amazon
The Farm by Joanne Ramos (May 7)
Fan of The Handmaid’s Tale? This one is for you. At the Farm, a luxurious retreat in the stunning Hudson River Valley, women become Hosts to children for the ultra-rich: meaning, surrogate mothers. Jane could really use the enormous financial reward that Hosts get, so she applies and is ecstatic to be selected. But once there, Jane begins to doubt the Farm’s mission, her daughter’s life beyond the resort, and her own future. Leaving the farm–and that money behind–seems impossible, but is Jane capable of the unthinkable?
How to read it: Add The Farm on Goodreads // Purchase The Farm on Amazon
Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler (May 7)
A father and daughter dream of the universe and time in this cosmic work of fiction. It’s 1986 and eleven-year-old Nedda has her goals set high: she wants to be an astronaut. Her family lives in a coastal Florida town where families with loved ones involved with NASA dwell, like her father, a professor who has recently been laid off by the organization. Still grieving the tragic loss of Nedda’s baby brother, he embarks on a quest to extend Nedda’s childhood forever, an experiment with shocking effects on his family and community. Interwoven with the 1986 timeline is Nedda’s life as an astronaut here and now. This powerful, provocative, and heartfelt novel is a gut-punch to the feels.
How to read it: Add Light from Other Stars on Goodreads // Purchase Light from Other Stars on Amazon
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake (May 7)
A sweeping historical novel, The Guest Book is a must-read for fans of multi-generational sagas. In The Guest Book, Sarah Blake weaves the story of the once-wealthy, once-powerful Milton family beginning with the it-couple Kitty and Ogden circa 1935. From there, the Miltons spiral into ruin until at present day, Ogden and Kitty’s grandchildren grapple with being forced to sell their family’s home on an island in Maine. Blake’s novel is a nuanced look at privilege in America and an engrossing picture of how far families can rise (and fall) in a matter of years.
How to read it: Add The Guest Book on Goodreads // Purchase The Guest Book on Amazon
Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer (May 7)
Lara Prior-Palmer’s page-turning memoir focuses on her experience riding in the toughest horse race in the world. At 19, Prior-Palmer stumbles on a grueling ten-day endurance test on horseback among the mountains of Mongolia. While other racers train for years to be able to compete, and many never finish it, Prior-Palmer makes it her goal, having always loved horses. Rough Magic is her riveting testimony to her time in the race, for which she was the first woman and youngest contestant to win. Could Rough Magic be this year’s Educated?
How to read it: Add Rough Magic on Goodreads // Purchase Rough Magic on Amazon
Middlegame 
Furious Hours 
Disappearing Earth 
The Unhoneymooners 
The Night Before
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire (May 7)
The latest from award-winning fantasy writer Seanan McGuire promises to be another eerie, magic-tinged treat. In Middlegame, McGuire spins the story of not-quite-human siblings Roger and his twin sister, Dodger. Both are gifted with powers and share the same creator, Reed, who has big plans for Roger and Dodger, like training them at the level where they can assume more power for him. A stunning character study set in an enchanted world, Middlegame is an alchemy all its own. Plus, look at that cover! (For more great sibling stories, check out my list of the best brothers and sisters in literature, here on the blog.)
How to read it: Add Middlegame on Goodreads // Purchase Middlegame on Amazon
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep (May 7)
There have been a few popular hits in the true crime genre over the past few years (Bad Blood, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, to name two), and I’m betting that Casey Cep’s stunning Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee will be another true crime book that takes the world by storm. Furious Hours unearths the shocking story of the murderer who inspired Harper Lee to try writing an In Cold Blood of her own. In the 1970s, Harper Lee was still a young author struggling with early fame when she took an interest in the case of Reverend Willie Maxwell, on trial for allegedly murdering his five family members to get insurance money. Lee left her safe haven in Alabama to travel to New York to witness the case with the intention of writing a book about the crime. Casey Cep investigates Lee’s lost masterpiece in Furious Hours, bringing the sensational trial that rocked America to life.
How to read it: Add Furious Hours on Goodreads // Purchase Furious Hours on Amazon
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (May 14)
I’ve always been fascinated by disappearances, probably because it’s unsettling that there are still lines we can cross through and into the unknown even today in our hyper-connected, GPS-mapped world. That’s one reason why I’m excited for Julia Phillips’ Disappearing Earth, a highly anticipated debut novel about two girls who go missing in the wild terrain at the northeastern tip of Russia. Disappearing Earth follows the girls’ family, the sputtering police force, and tragic community fallout in the months after the sisters vanish. This chilling look at the human effect of the disappearance is rocked with emotion and lyrical writing. This is a debut not to be missed.
How to read it: Add Disappearing Earth on Goodreads // Purchase Disappearing Earth on Amazon
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (May 14)
Thank the world for Christina Lauren, the best friend writing team behind a snazzy series of fun contemporary romances starring relatable heroines. In their latest, Olive is dreading her perfect twin sister’s wedding, not least because it means she has to spend time with the groom, Ethan, who she’s never got along with very well. After everyone in the wedding except Olive and Ethan gets food poisoning, they accept the offer to take the free trip to Hawaii meant for the new bride and groom. Once there, Olive convinces Ethan to pretend like they’re newlyweds in front of her new boss, but is their chemistry fake, too? I love a good relationship of convenience romance, and I have my calendar marked for The Unhoneymooners.
How to read it: Add The Unhoneymooners on Goodreads // Purchase The Unhoneymooners on Amazon
The Night Before by Wendy Walker (May 14)
Good luck being able to put Wendy Walker’s new thriller down. In this suspenseful mystery, Laura has left New York City behind to start over in the small Connecticut town where she and her sister, Rosie, still resides. While staying with Rosie, Laura presses on with dating, figuring she shouldn’t give up on love, at least not yet, as her worried sister looks on. After Laura doesn’t come home from a date with a man she met online, Rosie begins a frantic search to find Laura, fearing the worst for her troubled younger sister—and the guy she was supposed to meet. Walker’s known for hard-hitting thrillers, and this clear-your-schedule read promises to be another unmissable novel from an emerging author of suspense fiction.
How to read it: Add The Night Before on Goodreads // Purchase The Night Before on Amazon
Mythic Journeys 
The Rationing 
Orange World 
The Confessions of Frannie Langton 
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered
Mythic Journeys: Myths and Legends Retold – edited by Paula Guran (May 14)
I love a good anthology, and Mythic Journeys: Myths and Legends Retold is exactly why. This collection of short fiction allows you to sample new writers and discover different subgenres of fantasy. The theme running throughout Mythic Journeys are retellings of classic myths and legends from around the world, and with powerhouse writers like Neil Gaiman, Ann Leckie, Ken Liu, and Catherynne M. Valente contributing, how can you pass this one up?
How to read it: Add Mythic Journeys on Goodreads // Purchase Mythic Journeys on Amazon
Orange World by Karen Russell (May 14)
One of the most original voices in fiction returns with Orange World. Karen Russell is the acclaimed author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove, celebrated for her absurdist voice, irreverent style, and sharp critiques of society. In her smart new collection Orange World, readers get eight new stories from Pultizer Prize finalist Russell. If there’s one short story collection not to miss in 2019, it’s Orange World.
How to read it: Add Orange World on Goodreads // Purchase Orange World on Amazon
The Rationing by Chris Wheelan (May 21)
It looks like The Rationing is the victim of a misleading book description as plenty of early readers are thinking this political thriller is a medical thriller. Nope, or, at least, not quite. Wheelan’s novel takes you inside the seats of government power in this riveting read about a world in crisis. As an illness sweeps the globe, the drug that cures the disease falls in short supply and then finally goes out of stock. What happens next? Wheelan imagines how the White House and Congress would handle the catastrophe. This novel takes you through a “What if?” crisis that reads freakishly accurate. For political junkies and thriller fans alike.
How to read it: Add The Rationing on Goodreads // Purchase The Rationing on Amazon
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins (May 21)
Sara Collins announces her arrival in the historical thriller genre in this wrenching debut. The Confessions of Frannie Langton immerses readers in a London courtroom as a freed slave and servant, the titular Frannie Langton, is on trial for murdering her elite employer and his wife. Yet Frannie claims to have no memory of the event, nor how she got covered in her master’s blood. She tells us her journey from a childhood on a Jamaican plantation to the upper-crust homes of wealthy Londoners. In a starred review, Kirkus writes, “Collins’ debut novel administers a bold and vibrant jolt to both the gothic and historical fiction genres, embracing racial and sexual subtexts that couldn’t or wouldn’t have been imagined by its long-ago practitioners.”
How to read it: Add The Confessions of Frannie Langton on Goodreads // Purchase The Confessions of Frannie Langton on Amazon
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Headstark (May 28)
End the month on a high note with this dual-memoir by the creators of the popular podcast, My Favorite Murder. In Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark share wisdom from surviving anxiety, mental illness, eating disorders, and being a woman. This unusual book blends true crime with personal reflection and feminist analysis as Kilgariff and Hardstark give thoughtful, on-point advice about, well, staying sexy and not getting murdered.
How to read it: Add Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered on Goodreads // Purchase Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered on Amazon
