Wondering what to read now? Here are all the hot new May 2024 book releases for you. I’ll let you know what I’ve read, what I can’t wait to read, and what’s getting all the attention this month.
In case you’re new to Booklist Queen, every month I cover all the hottest new book releases. I try to read as many new book releases as I can to give you an honest perspective on what to read and what to skip.
However, I realize that my to-read list might not exactly match yours. That’s why I’ve also included some of the most popular May 2024 book releases from your favorite authors.
Enough from me. Let’s get on to the May 2024 book releases so you can fill up your to-read list.
Top May 2024 Book Releases
One Perfect Couple
Ruth Ware
With her post-doc research going nowhere, Lyla agrees to go on a new reality tv show with her boyfriend Nico, an aspiring actor. On One Perfect Couple, Lyla and Nico must compete against four other couples on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. After the first challenge leaves everyone angry, a storm cuts off the contestants. At first, everyone is grateful when a leader emerges, but they quickly begin to wonder if they made the right choice.
Ruth Ware shines with a fun beach read that mixes the cutthroat survival of Lord of the Flies with an Agatha Christie-style isolation thriller. With Lyla as a narrator, the large cast wasn’t too hard to navigate and I loved that the characters reflected a typical reality tv casting, primed to have grating personalities that place stress on everyone. Lyla’s levelheadedness, realistic plot twists, and page-turning pace keep you glued to the page in this psychological thriller that belongs on all the summer reading lists.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Gallery Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 21 May 2024
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
The Situation Room
George Stephanopoulos
Created under President Kennedy, the White House Situation Room has been the epicenter of crisis management in the United States for the last six decades. A former presidential advisor and well-known political commentator and tv host, George Stephanopoulos describes twelve high-pressure situations that were dramatic turning points in American history: including the moments after Kennedy’s assassination, the hours after planes struck the Twin Towers, the raid on Osama bin Laden, and the staff watching the unfolding events on January 6th.
Lies and Weddings
Kevin Kwan
The son of a Hong Kong supermodel and British nobility, Rufus Leung Gresham seems to have it all – a lavish life of manors and yachts. But the future Earl of Greshambury is actually set to inherit a mountain of debt. His scheming mother has the answer – he must attend his sister’s lavish wedding at a lavish eco-resort and seduce a rich woman to become his wife. Rufus must decide whether to follow the plan or follow his heart and marry the everyday girl from next door, all while a volcanic eruption and a secret tryst damage the Gresham family’s sterling reputation.
Five Broken Blades
Mai Corland
The god king Joon rules over Yusan with a merciless immortal hand, letting the nobles thrive and everyone in ruins. To overthrow his rule, the five deadliest blades in the land band together to murder the king. But killing a god requires more than the desire for revenge forcing them to learn to trust each other. Yet, even if they win, only one can hold the crown in this epic fantasy romance.
The Last Murder at the End of the World
Stuart Turton
On the island live the last survivors of the world, 122 villagers and three scientists. The villagers lead an idyllic farm life, always following with exactness the scientist’s instructions. When one of the scientists is found stabbed to death, a security barrier descends around the island. The villagers have 92 hours to solve the murder or be destroyed. Except all of their memories are wiped, including those of the murderer.
Southern Man
Greg Iles
Fifteen years after the Natchez Burning trilogy, Penn Cage comes out of exile after a brawl at a rap festival triggers a mass shooting that almost kills his daughter. With tensions threatening to boil over into a full-out race war, Bobby White, a third-party candidate makes an unprecedented run for President. But Penn knows White’s motivations are more malicious than any could imagine and is willing to risk a second civil war to expose them, and hopefully save the country before it gets torn apart.
Book of the Month – May 2024
Receiving my blue box from Book of the Month Club is a highlight of every month.
Here’s how it works – each month, they pick 5 books and you get to choose one book or skip until the next month. If you want to add any extra books, then you get them at a discounted price.
Each month is usually a mix of new releases and advance copies of unreleased books. If you are interested in joining, right now you can use my Book of the Month Club affiliate link to get your first book for $5!
The May Book of the Month selections are:
See the Complete List of Upcoming Releases!
Read with Jenna Book Club May 2024 Pick
Real Americans
Rachel Khong
At the turn of the century, unpaid intern Lily Chen meets Matthew, and the two fall in love. Growing up the daughter of scientists in Tampa, Lily couldn’t be more different than East Coast Matthew, heir to a behemoth pharmaceutical company. Twenty years later, Lily’s teenage son feels trapped on their isolated Washington State island and starts searching for information on his biological father. A story of class, race, and family inheritance, Real Americans ponders how much we can shape our own destiny.
GMA Book Club May 2024 Pick
The Ministry of Time
Kaliane Bradley
For fans of Outlander comes a new genre-bending time travel romance that is getting plenty of buzz. After being offered an exorbitant salary, a government worker starts a new position at the Ministry of Time. Studying whether time travel is possible and feasible, she is tasking with being a “bridge”, an assistant to a time traveling expat. Now she is unlikely roommates with Commander Graham Gore, who history records as having died on an 1847 Arctic expedition. By the time the Ministry of Time’s true objectives come to light, she has fallen hopelessly in love and must decide is she is able, and willing, to change the future.
Reese’s Book Club May 2024 Pick
How to End a Love Story
Yulin Kuang
Weeks before high school graduation, Helen Zhang and Grant Shepherd become connected for life when Helen’s sister is killed after she jumps in front of the car Grant is driving. Now a bestselling author, Helen loves working with the screenwriters adapting her popular young adult novels. When Grant shows up in the writer’s room, Helen is furious. Yet as Helen and Grant get closer, they cannot deny the chemistry, even though Helen’s family would never approve. For there’s was never meant to be a love story.
I feel like How to End a Love Story didn’t achieve the depth it was hoping for. I liked the core of the story: the people-pleasing daughter of immigrants, the mental health and trauma of dealing with a suicide. Yet the love story itself felt rather formulaic. First, they understandably hate each other. Next, they hook up too quickly, without much depth or vulnerability. The entire middle of the book is just sex scenes. Finally a cliche breakup and an eventual reunion. Honestly, both characters mostly just needed better therapists.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 9 April 2024
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
Oprah’s Book Club May 2024 Pick
Long Island
Colm Tóibín
In a sequel to his bestselling novel Brooklyn, Eilis Lacey has been living in New York for decades but still feels a deep connection to Ireland. Now forty with two teenagers, Eilis lives next door to her husband Tony’s brothers and parents. One day in 1976, an Irishman appears at the door announcing that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child and that they will not raise the child, planning to leave it with Eilis and Tony. After such a shocking by this announcement, Eilis’s choices upend everyone’s lives.
The Most Anticipated May 2024 Book Releases
The Guncle Abroad
Steven Rowley
Five years after taking in his niece and nephew after their mother’s death in The Guncle, gay Uncle Patrick is called in again to help the children – this time when their father decides to remarry. With the end of his second successful sitcom, the now-single Patrick teaches Masie and Grant about love as they travel across Europe on their way to the wedding. Lessons that might help Patrick repair his own love life and finally help him grow up, even at the ripe age of fifty.
You Like It Darker
Stephen King
Stephen King’s readers always ask for something a little darker and King is glad to oblige. A collection of twelve short stories, You Like It Darker delves into the darker side of life. A psychic vision runs lives. A widower receives an inheritance with strings attached. A vet answers a job ad that leads him to places no one should go. Whether discussing fate, luck, mortality, or parts of the universe best left unexplored, King is a master storyteller who isn’t afraid to delve into the darker side of things.
Camino Ghosts
John Grisham
In the third Camino Island book, bookstore owner Bruce Cable reunites with Mercer Mann for another island mystery. A large real estate developer has his eye on a deserted island between Florida and Georgia. All that stands in his way is the last living resident, Lovely Jackson, and a complicated history that makes the locals believe the island is cursed.
Better Left Unsent
Lia Louis
After a heartbreaking public breakup, Millie learned to keep to herself and never share her true feelings. Instead, she vents her thoughts into emails that never leave her drafts folder. When all her emails are accidentally sent, Millie must deal with the chaos that ensues after her colleagues, friends, and family find out her deepest confessions.
Lia Louis has penned an adorable and lighthearted romance with a relatable protagonist. Millie’s self-doubt and constant people-pleasing were all too realistic. As was her awful ex that you wish she’d realize wasn’t good enough for her. With the public embarrassment of having everyone hear her unfiltered thoughts to her struggle to be open and vulnerable with a new romantic interest, Better Left Unsent was a well-written, heartwarming, feel-good read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 21 May 2024
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
Goddess of the River
Vaishnavi Patel
Ganga, goddess of the river, leads a joyful life taking care of the mischievous godlings who roam her banks. When their antics go too far, Ganga is cursed to become a mortal. Marrying King Santu, Ganga works to regain her freedom, only to be forced to leave her son behind at the last moment. When Prince Devavrata refuses to accept his father’s throne, he sets in motion an unstoppable chain of events in this mythology retelling about the unbreakable bond between a mother and her son.
This Summer Will Be Different
Carley Fortune
As a tourist vacationing on Prince Edward Island, Lucy discovers unexpected chemistry with Felix, a local. Except she didn’t realize he was her best friend Bridget’s younger brother. Every year, Lucy visits Prince Edward Island and swears she will not sleep with Felix, and every year she breaks her own promise. When Bridget gets cold feet before her wedding, Lucy follows her to the island to help Bridget through her crisis. Only to find Felix’s flirty behavior has changed and Lucy’s heart may have as well.
The Return of Ellie Black
Emiko Jean
Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace over two years ago, is shockingly found alive in the woods in Washington State. But Ellie isn’t talking about where she’s been. Detective Chelsey Calhoun thinks Ellie is protecting someone and is determined to find answers- not only in the unlikely hope that maybe Chelsey can find a clue to her own sister’s disappearance twenty years ago but also to prevent it from happening again to another girl.
The Return of Ellie Black is an extremely slow-paced thriller that lacks an emotional punch. Jean never lets you emotionally connect with either of the female protagonists. This is understandable with Ellie, whose experience leaves her with plenty of trauma when she returns but not as forgivable in Chelsey, who felt flat and one-dimensional. The story was dark and hard to read at time. Although it plods along for the most part, the ending had plenty of action and some unexpected twists.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 7 May 2024
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
Lovers and Liars
Amanda Eyre Ward
The Peacock sisters used to be close but have grown apart and becomeused to telling lies, even to themselves. When Sylvie plans to marry Simon, a mysterious wealthy Englishman, Cleo and Emma travel to his English castle for Sylvie’s wedding. A successful lawyer, Cleo sets out to prove that Simon is a fraud while Emma desperately tries to hide her financial struggles. When their toxic mother shows up, the three sisters must learn to make new choices to find joy in one another again.
The Paradise Problem
Christina Lauren
To gain access to subsidized college housing, Anna married Liam West and she thought she’d signed the divorce papers at graduation. Being the heir to a major corporation, Liam needs to remain married for at least five years to receive his inheritance. With pressure from his family to meet his mysterious wife, Liam must introduce his unpolished not-so-ex-wife to his upper class family. But Anna’s pure heart makes Liam begin to question if the payout is worth ruining what might be true love.
UPCOMING MAY 2024 BOOK RELEASES BY DATE
May 7th Book Releases
May 14th Book Releases
May 21st Book Releases
May 28th Book Releases
What May 2024 Book Releases are You Most Excited to Read?
What books can you not wait to get your hands on this month? Did I miss any May 2024 book releases that you are anticipating? As always, let me know in the comments!
More New Book Releases:
