What to Read in May 2025

Let’s just jump straight into my summer reads recommendations. Which I will add to in the coming months as I make my way through ARCs and see what shows up on the shelves.

I’ve already read a few of this summer’s releases and there are four that I am going to recommend.

My most emphatic recommendation is for The Geographer’s Map to Romance by Indian Holton, which is number two in the Love’s Academic series, but officially you don’t have to read them in order or read more than the one, at all. I loved the over-the-top The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love too, but Geographer is new and—I thought—even better. Now, if you are not in to writing that is purposefully exaggerated and brimming with Victorian British, steamy romance, fantastical earth science, literary references, steam punk (mildly), then maybe take a pass. But… come on!

I am also recommending A Family Matter by Claire Lynch. It will be published in June in England and America and is a very tightly written story about a man who is gravely ill and a married woman who falls in love with a woman in the 80s and how their stories weave together across the decades. I thought it was beautifully written, even though it takes time to warm up.

Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang is an unhinged read that I believe will hit just right with Gen Z (or Zoomers. Whatever). It starts out as a mistaken-identity social influencer book and ends up pretty much in cult horror. It ramps up over and over until you feel out of control. I enjoyed it. I think younger people will appreciate it even more. It makes a great pairing with Apple Cider Vinegar, the new Netflix streaming series.

I have read this summer’s hottest title, and that would be Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Already, the reviews are polarized. Henry incorporated more women’s fiction, one of the two story-lines not being a steamy romance. Some people don’t like that, at all. You couldn’t have sold me on that ahead of time, but I actually thought this was Henry’s best so far. And it’s not because of the two story lines; it’s because I think her writing is improving. If you want paperback, pick up Funny Story from last summer.

I happened to set up the Summer Reading Ideas display at the bookshop the other day, too. It’s a small space, so I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone with the classic reads, but I did throw Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen up there. I hear people say “I always meant to read Jane Austen” all the time, and this is perhaps her most classic (though I actually like Emma best). This, too, makes a great pairing with the 1995 or 2005 TV and movie versions, Austenland (2013), and of course Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001). My favorite book adaptation so far is Eligible (Curtis Sittenfeld, and, obviously, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Helen Fielding, which someone has pointed out to me recently is quite out of date).

I would also throw in there Miss Iceland by Audur Ava Olafsdottir, Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, and Universal Love by Alexander Weinstein, three of my fave reads from summer 2024. (Okay, one wasn’t summertime. Whatever.)

Things I might point you to for summer reading even though I have not read them.

The Dream Hotel, Laila Lalami
Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best, Jennie Egerdie
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
Swordheart, T. Kingfisher
Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (or Onyx Storm if you have read that far already)
Want, Gillian Anderson
The God of the Woods, Liz Moore
How to Solve Your Own Murder, Kristen Perrin
Good Material, Dolly Alderton
The Wedding People, Alison Espach
Monk and Robot, Becky Chambers
Tilt, Emma Pattee
Bandit Queens, Parini Schroff
Children of Solitude, Michael G. Williams
The Cemetery of Untold Stories, Julia Alvarez
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, Lisa See
Olympus, Texas, Stacey Swan
Good Dirt, Charmaine Wilkerson
Water Moon, Samantha Sotto Yambao
The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You, Neko Chase

Or if you’ve fallen behind on your must-reads (like, if you missed it, maybe you should read it this summer):

James, Percival Everett (I have read it. Liked it.)
All Fours, Miranda July
North Woods, Daniel Mason (I have read. Love it.)
Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell (I have read. Love it.)
Intermezzo, Sally Rooney
The Bee Sting, Paul Murray
Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner
Night Watch, Jayne Anne Phillips
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher
The Imperial Radch Trilogy, Ann Leckie
Orbital, Samantha Harvey (I have read. Liked it.)
The Vegetarian, Han Kang (I have read. Liked it.)
I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, Lorrie Moore
Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh
The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera

As for Mothers Day reads, I will be reading these:

Mother-Daughter Murder Night, Nina Simon
The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan

Do you have any other Mothers Day book ideas? Mom-themed? All I can think of is Prophet Song, a book about motherhood that I adore, but is quite heavy.

For my graduation recommendations, you are going to have to wait a second. I am appearing on Kate Bowler’s Bookstagram for the Regulator with my recommendation and a baby-sized tour of the shop. I’ll mention it when it happens.

As for the new publications in May…

Broken Souls and Bones (Stonegate #1), L. J. Andrews
The Tenant, Frieda McFadden
One Golden Summer, Carley Fortune
My Friends, Frederik Backman
The Knight and the Moth (Stonewater Kingdom #1), Rachel Gillig
Rewind It Back, Liz Tomforde
The Emperor of Gladness, Ocean Vuong
It’s a Love Story, Annabel Monaghan
The Love Haters, Katherine Carter
A Curse Carved in Bone (Saga of the Unfated #2), Danielle L. Jensen
The Missing Half, Ashley Flowers
The Names, Florence Knapp
The Raven Scholar, Antonia Hodgson
The Man Made of Smoke, Alex North
Run for the Hills, Kevin Wilson
The River Is Waiting, Wally Lamb
The Incandescent, Emily Tesh
The Martha’s Vineyard BEach and Book Club, Martha Hall Kelly

New to paperback:

All Fours, Miranda July
The Book of Doors, Gareth Brown
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, Hwang Bo-Reum

I had a great reading month in April (making up for March, maybe). Most of what I read was at least good, and I discovered a few new authors/series that I am a little crazy about. I was especially happy with the self-pubbed sensation (which is now at Hachette), the Books of Babel. And then I had this ARC for the most recent Love’s Academic book. I am so into this series and will be reading Holton’s other stuff before this series has a chance to continue. It is just so. much. fun!

Murder by Memory, Olivia Waite
The Slighty Spooky Tale of Fox and Mole, Cecelia Heikkela
Lovebirds, Hananah Zaheer
Hot Dog, Doug Salati
Senlin Ascends (Books of Babel #1), Josiah Bancroft
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love (Love’s Academic #1), India Holton
The Geographer’s Map to Romance (Love’s Academic #2), India Holton
Modern Poetry, Diane Seuss
A Family Matter, Claire Lynch

This month I will be reading:

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, Monoquill Blackgoose
Paradise, Abdulrazak Gurnah (with Theft)
Godkiller (Fallen Gods trilogy #1), Hannah Kaner
The Rigor of Angels, William Egginton (possibly with Anima Rising, Christopher Moore)
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver (with David Copperfield, Charles Dickens)