10 Books To Read In May

Check out these books released this May featuring titles based on actual science and data, whether that involves the chemistry of yeast or the reality of immigration. The fiction, meanwhile, provides portals to worlds more coherent than our current one. There are so many good excuses to keep reading!

1. All Adults Here Now: a novel by Emma Straub (May 4): Straub’s best book yet explores community, trauma and the lifelong work of parenting. In the Hudson Valley town of Clapham, NY, 68 year old widow Astrid witnesses a bus accident that kills a woman she didn’t like very much. Seeing a life cut short prompts Astrid to tell her grown children about her new relationship. The complications that unfold make excellent book club discussion. 
2. The Bird Way: a new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent and think by Jennifer Ackerman (May 5): After reading Ackerman (“The Genius of Birds”), you may listen harder to the various chirps, cheeps and coos coming from your backyard. Her new book reminds us that we have a lot in common with birds. Like us, they are capable of deception and manipulation, not to mention cooperation, culture and communication. 
3. Dirt: adventures in Lyon as a chef in training, father and sleuth looking for the secret of French cooking by Bill Buford (May 5): If you liked Buford’s 2006 book “Heat”, you’ll love this new title. Buford turns west, from Italy to France, moving his wife and 3 year old twins to Lyon to learn the secrets of the perfect baguette.
4. The Book of V.: a novel by Anna Solomon (May 5): This title tells the stories of three women, propelled across three different centuries by three different motives. That’s a huge canvas, but Solomon works best in large scale. Solomon’s examination of the biblical Esther, and how her story informs various waves of modern feminism, is a great, big juicy read.
5. In Praise of Walking: a new scientific exploration by Shane O'Mara (May 12): As social distancing leaves gyms and outdoor swimming pools empty, many people around the world are turning to the oldest form of transportation for fitness, anxiety relief and even community (six feet apart). O’Mara, a professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College in Dublin, believes that we should keep it up. According to science, walking is fundamental to our bodies, yes, but also our mental well being.
6. A Children's Bible: a novel by Lydia Millet (May 12): Evie’s brother Jack is obsessed with his juvenile bible, believing it may be a survival guide for climate change. Author Millet is obsessed with Christian imagery, using allegories to make sense of timely themes. She accomplishes this with the story of Evie and Jack, two of 12 children on a forced lakeside family vacation who soon have to contend with big problems.
7. These Women: a novel by Ivy Pochoda (May 19): Pochoda’s fourth novel is an L.A. noir murder mystery. The stories of six women intersect with that of a serial killer, but this isn’t your average thriller. The gory details of the unsolved murders are less important than the women living on the fringes who are affected by the crimes.
8. Rodham: a novel by Curtis Sittenfeld (May 19): In this novel, we meet Hillary Rodham as she begins Yale Law School, just before she meets Bill Clinton and embarks on a steamy relationship. But Sittenfeld, whose 2008 “American Wife” contained some surprises about another first lady, Laura Bush, has a few in store for this one, too, including a happy ending.
9. ​​One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: the epic struggle over American immigration by Jia Lynn Yang (May 19): Here Yang takes a powerful look at immigrant strictures put in place in 1924 that were revoked by the 1965 Immigration and Equality Act. Yang, a former deputy national security editor at The Washington Post, makes a case for why we must continue the fight to keep and expand that act, while weaving her own family story into her research. 
10. Fairest: a memoir by Meredith Talusan (May 26): Born a “sun child,” or an albino, Talusan was raised in the Philippines as a boy. Immigrating to the United States as an adolescent, Talusan passed as white and went to Harvard, exploring sexuality, privilege and a deep desire to become a woman. In this “journey across gender,” Talusan communicates the captivating story of what it means to be true to one’s self.