15 Books to Add to Your Reading List in May

April showers brought a downpour of new books to check out in May, including a few highly anticipated beach reads from Emily Henry, Jennifer Weiner, Jasmine Guillory and more.

By Tierney Bricker May 04, 2022 2:27 PMTags
E-comm: May books

We love these products, and we hope you do too. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of the revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!

We don't know about you, but we feel the need, the need for a beach read.

And fortunately for readers, May is stacked with some of the season's most anticipated releases, including new books from Emily Henry, Jasmine Guillory and Emma Straub. Oh, and did we mention we're also receiving the latest from Nancy Thayer, Jennifer Weiner and Holly Black? The literary gods are smiling down on us this month. Whether you are looking for a swoonworthy rom-com or a young adult fantasy adventure, we've got just the addition for you to add to your beach bag as the temps begin to rise. 

So, as we head into the summer reading season, you should definitely start stocking up by buying physical copies of our picks or—because, you know, technology—pulling them up on Kindle Unlimited or through a free trial of Audible. Like, who needs a dinner companion when you have a book?

photos
How Similar Is Anna Wintour to Miranda Priestly? The Anna Book Sheds New Light

Here are 15 picks to add to your reading list this month:

 

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Swoon City, population: Us. We fell head over heels in love with the People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read author's latest offering and dare we say she is the millennial Nora Ephron? Oh, we went there and we bought beachfront property. Prepare to feel giddy over the banter between ruthless literary agent Nora Stephens and brooding book editor Charlie Lestra when the contentious pair both find themselves in Sunshine Falls, N.C. for a month. The small town doesn't stand a chance against their spark. (May 3)

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

So, a time travel version of 13 Going on 30 is something we never knew we needed, but now can't live without, thanks to Straub's transportive—literally!—novel. Alternating between the present-day and the '90s, the books details Alice's experiences as a 16-year-old girl and a 40-year-old woman watching as her father, the single parent who raised her, is dying. Yes, tears will be shed, but there is comfort to be found in the nostalgic references and the irresistible magic of a "What if?" being answered. (May 3)

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

One of our reigning rom-com queens is back with another beach bag-ready adventure that just so happens to be a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast. Overworked and underpaid, Isabelle is ready for a promotion at the publishing house she works for. But getting it is easier said than done when she is tasked with turning up at notoriously beastly author Beau Towers' Santa Barbara home and convincing him to turn in his very late manuscript. Sure, you know what is going to happen and it's a tale as old as time, but that doesn't make it any less fun getting there. Oh, the power of Guillory's storytelling! (May 3)

Book of Night by Holly Black

The wait is over for the bestselling YA author's adult debut, a thrilling modern fantasy that is perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman. Clear your schedule for a day or two as you won't be able to put down Book of Night once you crack it open, entering a dark world where some people can control and command their own shadows. At the center of the story is con artist Charlie Hall, whose plans to leave behind her life of stealing go awry when she is roped into finding a missing item—the infamous Book of Night, rumored to be full of the darkest sorts of shadow spells and rituals. The non-stop twists and last-minute reveals will have you counting down until the release of the second installment, a feeling longtime fans of Black are all too familiar with. (May 3)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

The Red, White & Royal Blue author makes their YA debut with this charming queer romance set in the fictional town of False Beach, Ala. High school senior Chloe Green is just 100 days away from being named valedictorian, leaving town and never looking back. But then her rival—the most popular girl at school—Shara Wheeler kisses her on prom night and promptly disappears, seemingly leaving behind mysterious pink clues. Suddenly, the chase is on for Chloe, Shara's longtime quarterback boyfriend and the boy next door. Like Dua Lipa once sang, one kiss is all it takes. (May 3)

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

In this dazzling debut, Cañas delivers a supernatural Gothic story set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence. After her father is executed, Beatriz accepts a marriage proposal from Don Rodolfo, ignoring rumors surrounding his first wife's sudden demise. But his countryside estate Hacienda San Isidro is far from the sanctuary she envisioned, rather a haunted house that might just be her doom. Yeah, this one will keep you up at night, muttering "one last page." (May 3)

Summer Love by Nancy Thayer

Four strangers are bonded for life when they rent bargain-basement rooms in an old hotel near the beach and embark on the summer of their lives. Twenty-six years later, Ariel, Sheila, Wyatt, and Nick reunite in Nantucket, at the place where they met, which is now owned by Nick. As old secrets come to light, the next generation discovers the magic of the island in this big-hearted book so vivid you'll almost be able to smell the ocean air as you turn each page. (May 3)

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasglow and Liz Lawson

Everyone in Castle Cove was wondering where Alice Ogilvie disappeared to for five days after her basketball star boyfriend Steve dumped her. Then his new girlfriend and Alice's ex-BFF Brooke Donovan vanished—and didn't return. With the police convinced Steve is responsible for Brooke's death, Alice and her tutor Iris Adams team up to prove his innocence, turning to the works of Agatha Christie for guidance. Naturally. (May 3) 

The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews

Imagine if HGTV and a murder mystery met, fell in love and unexpectedly produced a rom-com. That is the vibe of Andrews' latest, which finds a widowed home restorer reluctantly agreeing to star in a home renovation competition show opposite a handsome rival in order to save her business. But when the demolition reveals evidence that ties her to the mysterious disappearance of a young wife and mother years before, the decision to flip or flop takes on a much more serious meaning. (May 3)

The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner

Should you find yourself stuck on a family trip in the coming months, may you take comfort in knowing your group likely isn't as complicated as Sarah Danhauser's dysfunctional clan. Surprised to find herself planning her step-daughter's rushed wedding to her pandemic boyfriend, Sarah returns to her fam's Cape Cod estate to stage one last event before her mother sells her beloved childhood home. Unexpected reunions ensue, secrets are revealed and relationships are tested in this witty testament to the power of family from one of the masters in the art of the beach read. (May 10)

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

The bestselling authors of TheSoulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners are back with another adventure that is the perfect escape to kick off your summer reading season. Lily, the daughter of notorious treasure hunter Duke Wilder, discovers the power of second chances when she begrudgingly teams up with her first love to follow one of her absentee father's hand-drawn maps through the desert to a potential hidden trove. (May 17)

The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey

Do you already obsessively listen to every episode of Fischer and Kinsey's Office Ladies podcast? Well, then we have a release just for you. (That's what she said.) In this intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the iconic NBC sitcom you likely fall asleep watching every night, the co-stars share never-before-seen photos and endless stories about their time at Dunder-Mifflin. (May 17)

American Royals III: Rivals by Katharine McGee

Royal watchers, we've got just the read for you. Relationships are challenged, strangers become friends and rivals become allies in the bestselling series' third outing, which will find everyone's loyalties to the crown tested after a meeting of monarchs. (May 31)

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

A summer without a juicy young adult mystery from Goodman would be like going to a bonfire without s'mores. Disappointing! This year, we're heading to Camp Alpine Lake, the place attendee-turned-counselor Goldie Easton considers her home and the lifeline of the small town she grew up in. But the elite establishment is rocked when a townie with a connection to Goldie turns up dead in the water, bringing secrets to the surface that will change everything. Talk about a summer bummer. (May 31)

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna

The second installment in the epic young adult fantasy series picks up six months after the events of last year's The Gilded Ones, with Deka freeing the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera. But after discovering who she really is, the real battle has just begun for Deka and her army as they must stop a dark force waging war on the kingdom while also contending with a mysterious symbol that disarms her newfound powers. Catch up now before Forna's planned trilogy is turned into the next major movie franchise. (May 31)

Feeling the need for more reads? Check out our April picks.