What We Are Reading
Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli
"If someone is looking for a book that will fire up a book group, look no further. Here we have Anuri, a young British-Nigerian woman who was the unwilling star of her white stepmother’s social media empire as a child. She is now 25 and striving to live her own life. It’s not so easy though, because the internet has a long memory and the damage done by living through the lens of social media can be equally extensive. Now she sees her young half-sister being led down the same path and she is determined to stop it, no matter the consequences. It’s absolutely heartbreaking at times, but told with exquisite care and feeling, refusing to demonize any of the characters. It offers plenty of thought provoking discussion points such as social media, influencer culture, mental health issues, family relationships, race, and plenty more. Of course, it’s also a great read for individual readers who are looking for coming of age stories or women’s fiction."
Looking for readalikes? Check out
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng,
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, and
Maame by Jessica George.
What's Hot This Month
If you are a fan of the TV series Yellowstone and its Western drama, check out these titles.
Featured Title
The Names by Florence Knapp
This novel asks a simple question: Can a name change the course of a life? Told in three separate parallel timelines, we follow what happens when Cora Atkins names her newborn son. Her husband, well respected in the community but viciously cruel in private, has made his opinion clear. Cora, of course, has her own preferences and Cora’s daughter offers up her own suggestion as well. Each name will shape the child’s life, and that of his mother, the choice reverberating through the years. It’s a delicate, layered story about fate, free will, trauma, and hope, a tale that will linger with readers long after reading.
What's New This Month
May brings the first of the buzzy summer reading titles starting with
The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei, a 5 under 35 award winner in 2025. This debut is a family drama in turn of the millennium Singapore.
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett is a darkly comic road trip novel about an elderly man on a mission to reunite with his high-school crush.
Eat The Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin is a queer take on Little Shop Of Horrors starring a flesh eating orchid that is equal parts romantic and terrifying.
In nonfiction there is
Karen, actor Kelsey Grammer’s stream of consciousness memoir about the life and death of his sister, who was murdered in 1975.
The Art Spy by Michelle Young shares the little known tale of Rose Valland, an art historian who spied on the Nazis during World War II and protected the works of art under her care.
For More Reading Suggestions:
- 10 Destination Romances for Spring Break from People
- The May List from IndieNext
- The Best Books of Summer Preview from Publisher’s Weekly
- 10 Books We’re Looking Forward to This Spring from NPR
- 20 Books You Might Have Missed (but shouldn’t) from Kirkus