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Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings. I’m showing off the
upcoming book releases that caught my eye. I can’t wait to read these books!
May 2021 Book Releases
SORROWLAND BY RIVERS SOLOMON
Adult Fantasy / Horror
May 4, 2021
Vern—seven months pregnant and
desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised—flees
for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to
raise them far from the influence of the outside world.
But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman.
Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she
unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of,
her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.
To understand her metamorphosis and to protect
her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the
future—outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of
the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.
Why I’m excited to
read it: This is my
most-anticipated release of 2021. I can’t pass up a cult story or a character
who lives in the woods. Goodreads calls this book “a genre-bending work of
Gothic fiction.” Also, look at that cover. Is that a hand coming out of the
ground? Yuck. I love it. I want this book right now.
LUCK OF THE TITANIC BY STACEY LEE
Young Adult Historical Fiction
May 4, 2021
Southampton, 1912:
Seventeen-year-old British-Chinese Valora Luck has quit her job and smuggled
herself aboard the Titanic with two goals in mind: to reunite
with her twin brother Jamie—her only family now that both their parents are
dead—and to convince a part-owner of the Ringling Brothers Circus to take the
twins on as acrobats. Quick-thinking Val talks her way into opulent first class
accommodations and finds Jamie with a group of fellow Chinese laborers in third
class. But in the rigidly stratified world of the luxury liner, Val's ruse can
only last so long, and after two long years apart, it's unclear if Jamie even
wants the life Val proposes. Then, one moonless night in the North Atlantic,
the unthinkable happens—the supposedly unsinkable ship is dealt a fatal
blow—and Val and her companions suddenly find themselves in a race to survive.
Why I’m excited to
read it: This is my
second-most-anticipated release of 2021. (May is an excellent month for books.)
I’m excited to read this one because it’s loosely inspired by the true story of
six Titanic passengers of Chinese descent. I love when authors
base their fiction on real life events. It makes the fiction more real. Also,
shipwrecks are endlessly fascinating to me. Probably because I can’t swim and
oceans are deep. That’s a nightmare situation right there.
FINDING JUNIE KIM BY ELLEN OH
Middlegrade Contemporary Fiction
May 4, 2021
Junie Kim just wants to fit in.
So she keeps her head down and tries not to draw attention to herself. But when
racist graffiti appears at her middle school, Junie must decide between staying
silent or speaking out.
Then Junie’s history teacher assigns a project
and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their
unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. Junie comes to admire
her grandma’s fierce determination to overcome impossible odds, and her
grandpa’s unwavering compassion during wartime. And as racism becomes more
pervasive at school, Junie taps into the strength of her
ancestors and finds the courage to do what is right.
Why I’m excited to
read it: This book got
my attention because it’s been compared to Inside
Out And Back Again by Thanhha Lai,
which is a beautiful novel-in-verse about Vietnamese immigrants. Inside
Out is based on the author’s own life. It sounds like Finding
Junie Kim will be similar. The story was inspired by the life of Ellen
Oh’s mother in Korea.
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Adult Thriller
May 11, 2021
Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young
novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he's teaching in a
third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what's left of his self-respect;
he hasn't written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan
Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn't need Jake's help
because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to
dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the
plot.
Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own
career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker's first
novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died,
presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting
writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.
In a few short years, all of Evan Parker's
predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is
wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his
glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying,
anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.
Why
I’m excited to read it: When I was
getting my MFA, I wondered about this exact scenario! I never wrote anything
worth stealing, so I wasn’t worried about myself, but I did wonder what would
happen if a professor stole a talented student’s work. How would the student
prove it? What would happen to the professor? I guess I can read this book and
find out.
THE SHAPE OF THUNDER BY JASMINE WARGA
Middlegrade Contemporary Fiction
May 11, 2021
Cora hasn’t spoken to her best
friend, Quinn, in a year.
Despite living next door to each other, they
exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of
her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of
what her brother did.
On the day of Cora’s twelfth birthday, Quinn
leaves a box on her doorstep with a note. She has decided that the only way to
fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all
their lives forever—and stop him.
In spite of herself, Cora wants to believe. And
so the two former friends begin working together to open a wormhole in the
fabric of the universe.
Why I’m excited to
read it: Well, I was
not expecting the wormhole! I wonder if the characters will actually be able to
create it. I’m interested in this book because of the complicated relationship
between the friends. It’s probably hard to maintain a friendship with someone
whose brother murdered your sister. Jasmine Warga’s novels are loved by the
book community and tend to get very good reviews. I’m excited to see what the
hype is about.
MADAM BY PHOEBE WYNNE
Adult Historical Fiction
May 18, 2021
For 150 years, high above rocky
Scottish cliffs, Caldonbrae Hall has sat untouched, a beacon of excellence in
an old ancestral castle. A boarding school for girls, it promises that the
young women lucky enough to be admitted will emerge “resilient and ready to
serve society.”
Into its illustrious midst steps Rose Christie:
a 26-year-old Classics teacher, Caldonbrae’s new head of the department, and
the first hire for the school in over a decade. At first, Rose is overwhelmed
to be invited into this institution, whose prestige is unrivaled. But she
quickly discovers that behind the school’s elitist veneer lies an impenetrable,
starkly traditional culture that she struggles to reconcile with her modernist
beliefs—not to mention her commitment to educating “girls for the future.”
It also doesn’t take long for Rose to suspect
that there’s more to the secret circumstances surrounding the abrupt departure
of her predecessor—a woman whose ghost lingers everywhere—than anyone is
willing to let on. In her search for this mysterious former teacher, Rose
instead uncovers the darkness that beats at the heart of Caldonbrae, forcing
her to confront the true extent of the school’s nefarious purpose, and her own
role in perpetuating it.
Why I’m excited to
read it: It’s being
compared to The Secret History and The
Stepford Wives. A mash-up of my favorite murderous stories? YES,
please. I love that it’s set in a castle and that there’s a mystery surrounding
a former teacher. Usually boarding school books focus on the kids. I’m ready
for some teacher drama.
THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED BY JOHN GREEN
Young Adult Nonfiction / Essays
May 18, 2021
The Anthropocene is the current
geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and
its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded
from his groundbreaking podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the
human-centered planet—from the QWERTY keyboard and Staphylococcus aureus to the
Taco Bell breakfast menu—on a five-star scale.
Why I’m excited to
read it: New John
Green book! This one is nonfiction. I’ve never listened to John Green’s
podcast, but I have read all his fiction, and I watch his YouTube videos when
I’m bored. I think he’s smart and funny. This new book sounds pretentious,
which means it’s perfect for me. And, I love rating things on a 5-star scale.
That’s probably why I became a book reviewer.
OPHIE’S GHOSTS BY JUSTINA IRELAND
Middlegrade Historical Fantasy
May 18, 2021
Ophelia Harrison and her family
used to live in a small house in the Georgia countryside. But that was before
the night in November 1922 and the cruel act that took her home and her father
from her. Which just happened to be the same night that Ophie learned she can
see ghosts.
Now Ophie and her mother are stuck living in
Pittsburgh with relatives they barely know. In the hopes of earning enough
money to get their own place, Mama has gotten Ophie a job as a maid in the old
manor house where she works. Daffodil Manor, like the wealthy Caruthers family
who owns it, is haunted by memories and prejudices of the past—and, as Ophie
discovers, ghosts as well. Ghosts who have their own loves and hatreds and
hungers and desires, ghosts who have wronged others and ghosts who have
themselves been wronged.
And as Ophie forms a friendship with one spirit
whose life ended suddenly and unjustly, she wonders if she might be able to
help—even as she comes to realize that Daffodil Manor may hold more secrets
than she bargained for.
Why I’m excited to
read it: I adored the
author’s zombie thriller, Dread Nation. I’m
confident she can write creepy ghosts just as well as she can write creepy
zombies. There’s an old manor house in Ophie’s Ghosts. I can’t
pass up that setting! I love old houses, especially when they’re full of
secrets.
WORDS COMPOSED OF SEA AND SKY BY ERICA GEORGE
Adult Contemporary And
Historical Fiction (Dual Timeline)
May 25, 2021
Michaela Dunn dreams of getting
into an art school, but when her stepfather refuses to fund a trip there for a
poetry workshop, Michaela enters a local contest searching for a poet to write
the dedication plaque for a statue honoring Captain Benjamin Churchill, a
whaler who died at sea over one hundred years ago. While searching for clues
about this Cape Cod legend, Michaela discovers the diary of Leta Townsend from
1862 and gets a glimpse of Churchill that she didn't quite anticipate.
In 1862, Leta writes poetry under the name of
Benjamin Churchill, thinking him dead after being attacked by a whale. Leta is
astonished when Captain Churchill returns, completely unscathed, his death just
a rumor. She quickly falls for him. But is she falling for the actual Benjamin
Churchill, or the boy she constructed in her imagination?
Why I’m excited to
read it: This novel
sounds wild, like a bookish soap opera. The captain is dead! OR IS HE? She’s
falling in love, BUT HE’S NOT WHO SHE THINKS! I’m ready for twists and mysteries.
THE BABY IS MINE BY OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE
Adult Mystery / Thriller
May 27, 2021
When his girlfriend throws him
out during the pandemic, Bambi has to go to his Uncle's house in lock-down
Lagos. He arrives during a blackout, and is surprised to find his Aunty Bidemi
sitting in a candlelit room with another woman. They both claim to be the
mother of the baby boy, fast asleep in his crib.
At night Bambi is kept awake by the baby's
cries, and during the days he is disturbed by a cockerel that stalks the
garden. There is sand in the rice. A blood stain appears on the wall. Someone
scores tribal markings into the baby's cheeks. Who is lying and who is telling
the truth?
Why I’m excited to
read it: Oyinkan Braithwaite’s novel, My
Sister, The Serial Killer, made a huge splash in the book
community and with award committees. Braithwaite’s work is darkly funny. This
book sounds like it has a compelling mystery and unreliable characters.
Are you excited for any May book releases?
The first one has a beautiful cover! A lot of good books coming out this May!
ReplyDeleteLisa Loves Literature
Intrigued to hear about the John Green book. I love his fiction, but I know he has a lot of passions outside that.
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to a lot of these! The Plot, Luck of the Titanic, and Sorrowland are three that I've been particularly excited for. So many great books coming out!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see SORROWLAND on the shelf at the bookstore this weekend since I didn't think it had come out already. It does sound good. I was hoping the store would have one of Solomon's back list books, but only the latest. I love the sound of OPHIE’S GHOSTS. LUCK OF TITANIC is on my wish list. I hope you get a chance to read all of these at some point, AJ.
ReplyDeleteI will never get tired of Titanic stories, so definitely looking forward to that one!
ReplyDeleteYes I want to read The Plot ! Sounds like a fun plot. And I hadn't heard the author of My Sister the Serial Killer has a new one coming ... thanks for telling me! yes to that one too.
ReplyDeleteI want to read The Shape of Thunder, The Plot, and Luck of the Titanic too...as well as so many other May releases.
ReplyDeleteLauren
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