May 2018 Book Releases You Should Add to Your Shelves ASAP

Jamel Brinkley’s compelling debut story collection explores moments in the lives of brothers, sons, and friends, whose struggles with and desires for connection unfurl into sensitive reflections on race, masculinity, and the nature of humanity. (May 1)

To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org

Sheila Heti’s complex new novel examines questions of motherhood and parenthood with potent curiosity and sharp prose. Mark Grief (Against Everything) offers, “Motherhood is a riveting story of love and fate, a powerful inspiration to reflect, and a subtle depiction of the lives of contemporary women and men, by an exceptional artist in the prime of her powers.” (May 1)

To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org

This is the story of a daughter and her mother. It’s also a memoir, a love story, and a tale of high-flying stunts. It recounts an adventure toward and through fear as Tessa Fontaine performs as an escape artist, fire-eater, and snake charmer with the World of Wonders, a traveling sideshow. (May 1)

To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org

Rachel Kushner’s latest novel is set in California’s Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, where Romy Hall is serving two consecutive life sentences. At turns tragic, dynamic, brutal, and wise, this novel explores uniquely personal stories while also probing essential questions about contemporary life and connection. (May 1)

To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org

These vibrant new essays from Paul Theroux traverse the globe and explore both geographical and literary landscapes, with a sampling of interesting profiles included too. (May 8)

To buy: $28, amazon.com; indiebound.org

Sergio de la Pava’s propulsive and unputdownable new novel Lost Empress is populated by a fascinating cast of characters—including Nina Gill, the new owner of a failing football team determined to turn things around, and Nuno DeAngeles, a prisoner at Rikers Island with a plan up his sleeve—who make their way through a hilarious, high-stakes world. (May 8)

To buy: $29.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org

When David Hedges is contacted by his ex-wife, Julie Fiske, to help with her daughter’s college plans, he relocates to Boston, where he dives headfirst into his ex-life—the life he very nearly almost had—with Julie and her daughter, Mandy, in this funny, heartfelt, and utterly winning novel by Stephen McCauley. (May 8)

To buy: $25.99, amazon.com; indiebound.org

This story, which takes place over the course of one day and tells the emotional story of a trauma that has serious repercussions, is part of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s seasonal series that also includes the books Autumn and Winter. (May 8)

To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org

The complexities of motherhood are at the heart of Rumaan Alam’s moving new novel, which explores issues of family, race, adoption, and privilege through the lens of one family’s poignant journey. (May 8)

To buy: $26.99, amazon.com; indiebound.org

This collection of nine personal essays from the author of the novels Empire Falls and Everybody’s Fool includes a commencement speech, funny stories, and more than a few wise reflections on the craft of writing. (May 8)

To buy: $25.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org

When their parents move away, 14-year-old Nathaniel and his older sister, Rachel, are left behind in the care of people they believe to be criminals. Set in London in 1945, this new novel from Michael Ondaatje (who also wrote the novels The English Patient and Anil's Ghost) explores the unraveling of memory and mystery in the long shadows cast by war. (May 8)

To buy: $26.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org

Julia Fine’s dynamic new novel What Should Be Wild is a darkly comic tale with doses of magic and suspense. It follows a young woman named Maisie Cothay who possesses an unusual personal power and who, when her father vanishes, must venture out to navigate a world beyond the bounds of home. (May 8)

To buy: $26.99, amazon.com; indiebound.org

At turns familiar and strange, the poems in Graham Foust’s new collection, Nightingalelessness, are built from the stuff of the everyday and prompt readers to look anew at the things often taken for granted. (May 14)

To buy: $15.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org

A 4-month-long canoe trip down the 2,000-mile-long Yukon River is the centerpiece of this dynamic new book by Adam Weymouth. It explores the history of salmon, the science of life, and the dangerous effects climate change is having on even seemingly untouched landscapes. (May 15)

To buy: $26.43, amazon.com; indiebound.org

Wide-ranging and deeply felt, Last Stories is a collection of the last 10 stories published in the half-century career of the late Irish novelist William Trevor, whose broad body of work also includes the novels Love and Summer, Fools of Fortune, and Felicia’s Journey. (May 15)

To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org

The lives of two young couples—Paul and Jenny, Michael and Rebecca—collide and erupt into turmoil in this suspenseful new novel by Randall Klein. In it, a crisis strands Paul and Michael at separate points in the city and prompts them to try to make their ways home. (May 22)

To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org

Eli “Berg” Koenigsberg moves to a small Northern California town to recover from an unexpected injury and encounters deeper struggles with chronic pain and addiction in this quietly powerful debut novel about community, suffering, and hope from Daniel Gumbiner. (May 22)

To buy: $18, store.mcsweeneys.net; amazon.com; indiebound.org

Armand, the main character in this novel (which is written by Dag Solstad, translated by Steven T. Murray, and unusually structured as footnotes to a book), is a Norwegian foreign officer who navigates personal opinion and professional duty in the midst of family tragedy. (May 29)

To buy: $15.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org

The latest collection of stories from humorist David Sedaris promises a thought-provoking foray into the subjects of mortality and aging accompanied by all the laughs we’ve come to expect from Sedaris’ sharp and shocking signature style. (May 29)

To buy: $28, amazon.com; indiebound.org

As you’re reading these 13 genius and altogether delightful short stories by Helen DeWitt, you may not have any idea where you’ll end up, but you can read assured, because the destination, however unexpected, is always a fascinating, expansively erudite thrill. (May 29)

To buy: $22.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org