--- title: Here Are the Best New Books to Read in May 2023 description: From 'The Covenant of Water' by Abraham Verghese to 'Yellowface' by R.F. Kuang, these are the best books to read this month. canonical: https://time.com/6274960/best-books-may-2023/ author: Laura Zornosa article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-01T15:37:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:53:19.268Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Here Are the 11 New Books You Should Read in May og:description: From "The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese to "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang og:url: https://time.com/6274960/best-books-may-2023/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd61cf5e6dc34da2/698a3c38b3fce336570ca63a/MayBooksFeaturedImage.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: MayBooksFeaturedImage og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are the 11 New Books You Should Read in May twitter:description: From "The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese to "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd61cf5e6dc34da2/698a3c38b3fce336570ca63a/MayBooksFeaturedImage.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are the 11 New Books You Should Read in May  by [Laura Zornosa](https://time.com/author/laura-zornosa/)  ## Laura Zornosa Laura Zornosa is a reporter at TIME. May 1, 2023 3:37 PM UTC  The most anticipated new books coming this month include a novel by Tom Hanks and a plagiarism thriller from R.F. Kuang The most anticipated new books coming this month include a novel by Tom Hanks and a plagiarism thriller from R.F. Kuang  by [Laura Zornosa](https://time.com/author/laura-zornosa/)  ## Laura Zornosa Laura Zornosa is a reporter at TIME. May 1, 2023 3:37 PM UTC April showers bring May flowers—and a crop of fresh books, each deliciously inventive. In Abraham Verghese’s long-anticipated _The Covenant of Water_, a curse follows a South Indian family for close to a century. [Tom Hanks’ ](https://time.com/5777520/oscars-2020-tom-hanks/)_The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece_ takes readers behind the scenes of a Hollywood superhero flick. And [R.F. Kuang](https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/5898525/the-poppy-war/)’s _Yellowface_ tells the sordid tale of a stolen manuscript, with substantial ethical and racial implications. Here, the best new books to read this May. ## **_Don’t Call Me Home_** **, Alexandra Auder (May 2)**  Alexandra Auder didn’t have a typical childhood. The writer and actor was raised by filmmaker Michel Auder (who directed the 2011 documentary _Chelsea Girls with_ [_Andy Warhol_](https://time.com/6155980/andy-warhol-diaries-review-netflix/)) and Viva, a Warhol superstar. This memoir chronicles the author’s bohemian youth, from the moment Viva went into labor in the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel in New York City to her time partying in East Village nightclubs to the present day, when an 80-year-old Viva visits Auder at Christmas. At the core of this meditation on family is a story about motherhood, daughterhood, and what it means to become your own woman. **Buy Now**: _Don’t Call Me Home_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593299951) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/423rAQa) ## **_The Half Moon_** **, Mary Beth Keane (May 2)**  Mary Beth Keane, author of 2019’s _Ask Again, Yes_, is back with her fourth book, which is about a marriage in crisis. Forty-five-year-old Malcolm Gephardt bought the Half Moon, the bar where he worked for 24 years, without including his wife, Jess, in the financial decision. After 15 years together—and a long, heartbreaking struggle to get pregnant—Jess, a successful lawyer, moved out. Now she’s been spotted with Neil Bratton, a fellow lawyer who’s divorced with three kids and lives in a nice house. In Keane’s tale of midlife musings on second chances, Malcolm must contend with the shock of his wife’s new relationship, a blizzard in their small town, and a missing bar patron. **Buy Now**: _The Half Moon_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781982172602) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/41XYl1k) ## **_You Are Here_** **, Karin Lin-Greenberg (May 2)**  Karin Lin-Greenberg’s debut novel [stemmed from](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/91939-karin-lin-greenberg-s-you-are-here-lingers-in-the-mall.html) a short story, “[The Sweeper of Hair](https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/literary-awards/ct-books-algren-award-sweeper-of-hair-greenberg-20180522-story.html),” which was originally published in the Chicago _Tribune_. “The Sweeper of Hair” follows Tina Huang, the last hair stylist at Sunshine Clips in an upstate New York shopping mall. The mall, though slowly dying, is the sun around which the characters in _You Are Here_ orbit. Tina’s son Jackson sweeps up hair and studies magic tricks. Jackson’s friend Maria works at the food court fried chicken place and dreams of being an actor. Tina’s loyal, curmudgeonly customer Ro Goodson lives next door to Kevin, who manages the bookstore across from the salon. Lin-Greenberg’s web of characters illustrate the complex lives of ordinary people. **Buy Now**: _You Are Here_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781640095434) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/40CjHA9) ## **_The Covenant of Water_** **, Abraham Verghese (May 2)**  In his first novel since his best-selling 2009 fiction debut _Cutting For Stone_, physician Abraham Verghese has returned with another epic story. _The Covenant of Water_ is a 736-page work of historical fiction set in 20th-century India—the southern state of [Kerala](https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places-2022/6194593/kerala-india/), to be specific. In 1900, a 12-year-old girl (later known as Big Ammachi) marries a 40-year-old widower. Big Ammachi becomes the matriarch of the cursed Parambil family: at least one person in each generation drowns. Over the course of three generations, two seemingly disparate, deeply connected narratives unfold in an ode to India, family, and medical marvels. **Buy Now**: _The Covenant of Water_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780802162175) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/41FwRhm) ## **_The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece_** **, Tom Hanks (May 9)**  In 2017, Tom Hanks published the short story collection [_Uncommon Type_](https://time.com/5009167/tom-hanks-book-uncommon-type/), but _The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece_ marks the Oscar-winning actor’s first foray into novel territory. In 1947, Bob Falls is having a hard time reacclimating to civilian life after wielding a flamethrower in World War II. He meets his 5-year-old nephew, Robby Andersen, who will go on to write a comic book series, _The Legend of Firefall_, inspired by his uncle, in 1970\. In the present day, the comics get a big screen adaptation as a [Marvel-esque](https://time.com/6256169/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-end-credits-kang-victor-timely-rama-tut/) superhero movie. Going behind the scenes of lead actors and big egos, [Hanks](https://time.com/5777520/oscars-2020-tom-hanks/) posits that the real stars in Hollywood are the people who make movie magic possible. **Buy Now**: _The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780525655596) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3AtBfnE) ## **_The Three of Us_** **, Ore Agbaje-Williams (May 16)**  An unnamed Nigerian wife, her unnamed devoted husband, and her sarcastic best friend, Temi, form the three points of a complicated constellation in Ore Agbaje-Williams’ debut novel. Over the course of one day, readers hear from the wife in the afternoon, the husband in the evening, and Temi at night as long-standing tensions finally unspool. Temi is the wife’s ride-or-die, but she doesn’t like the husband—she thinks he has relegated the wife back into a traditional gender role—and hasn’t made that much of a secret. _The Three of Us_ toes the tightrope between concession and deception as Agbaje-Williams executes surprise twists in a narrative that’s drenched in wine. **Buy Now**: _The Three of Us_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593540718) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3LeBo38) ## **_Quietly Hostile_** **, Samantha Irby (May 16)**  To know [Samantha Irby’s](https://time.com/5540131/funniest-books/) sidesplitting work is to love it. The writer and comedian’s fifth book, a collection of 17 essays, flips between the poignant and the snidely hilarious, sometimes fusing the two. The first essay embraces all things cringey, declaring the author’s love for everything from Justin Bieber to milk. In another, she cracks jokes while in the hospital with anaphylactic shock. Irby also recalls squabbling with her sisters over her mother’s deathbed and, after her father dies, reuniting with her estranged half-brother. Nothing is sacred in [_Quietly Hostile_](https://time.com/6241190/most-anticipated-books-2023/)—yet even the quirks hold rich meaning. **Buy Now**: _Quietly Hostile_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593315699) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3Hlp28f) ## **_Yellowface,_** **R.F. Kuang (May 16)**  In R.F. Kuang’s latest novel (after[ _The Poppy War_](https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/5898525/the-poppy-war/) and[ _Babel, or the Necessity of Violence_](https://time.com/collection/must-read-books-2022/6228437/babel/)), Athena Liu is a Chinese American literary darling whose star is on the rise. Her college friend June Hayward isn’t particularly pleased with Athena’s success, and is frustrated that she hasn’t also broken out in the industry. But when a freak accident occurs that leaves Athena dead, June ends up walking away with the manuscript of her frenemy’s latest work. June, who is white, edits the novel about Chinese laborers during World War I and passes it off as her own. It’s an immediate hit, and June has finally reached the top of the literary world—until the cracks begin to show in her scheme, and inevitable fissures surrounding cultural appropriation, diversity, and racism emerge. **Buy Now**: _Yellowface_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780063250833) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3Hf8rmo) ## **_Why Fathers Cry at Night_** **, Kwame Alexander (May 23)**  Newbery medalist Kwame Alexander opens this unconventional memoir of heartfelt letters, love poems, and family recipes with a clarification: “This is not a traditional memoir. These are just snapshots of a man learning to love. Again.” _Why Fathers Cry at Night_ traces Alexander’s experience with love, from his parents’ distant marriage to his own two marriages, which have since dissolved, to his most meaningful bonds: those with his daughters. Interspersed throughout are recipes (a family 7UP pound cake, Granny’s hot buttered rolls, his mother’s fried chicken), which only add to the richness of and depth of his reminiscences. **Buy Now**: _Why Fathers Cry at Night_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780316417228) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3Ly9C37) ## **_Beware the Woman_** **, Megan Abbott (May 30)**  [Megan Abbott](https://time.com/5349538/megan-abbott-review/), master of crime fiction told through the female lens, has written another novel (her 11th) brimming with suspense. Jacy and Jed are newlyweds with a baby on the way when they set out on a summer road trip from New York City to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to meet Jed’s father, Dr. Ash. At first, Jacy feels cocooned by a warm welcome. (At least by Dr. Ash—the house manager, Mrs. Brandt, is another story.) But the expecting mother soon learns that Jed’s own mom died in childbirth, and a miscarriage scare leads to her feeling trapped in the house. Abbott spins an enigmatic web of foreboding and unease as she delves into family secrets and gender politics. **Buy Now**: _Beware the Woman_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593084939) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3oRINxG) ## **_Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives_** **, Amelia Possanza (May 30)**  _Lesbian Love Story_ boasts an inventive blend of genres. Amelia Possanza spins together memoir, archival nonfiction, and fictional passages with ease. Seven timeless love stories form the spine of the book: the classical Greek poet Sappho and her lover Anactoria take the author to Hadrian’s Library in the ruins of the Acropolis. Back home, in 20th-century New York, Black lesbians organize in Harlem during the Great Depression and a drag king performs in Bushwick. Possanza is building her own queer history in Brooklyn, too, seeking out for fellow lesbians as role models of love, care, and community. **Buy Now**: _Lesbian Love Story_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781646221059) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/41WuQwI) These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6274960/best-books-may-2023/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6274960/best-books-may-2023/"},"headline":"Here Are the 11 New Books You Should Read in May","datePublished":"2023-05-01T15:37:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:53:19.268Z","description":"From 'The Covenant of Water' by Abraham Verghese to 'Yellowface' by R.F. Kuang","url":"https://time.com/6274960/best-books-may-2023/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd61cf5e6dc34da2/698a3c38b3fce336570ca63a/MayBooksFeaturedImage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Zornosa","jobTitle":"Laura Zornosa is a reporter at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/laura-zornosa/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd61cf5e6dc34da2/698a3c38b3fce336570ca63a/MayBooksFeaturedImage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MayBooksFeaturedImage","caption":"The most anticipated new books coming this month include a novel by Tom Hanks and a plagiarism thriller from R.F. Kuang","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6274960/best-books-may-2023/","name":"Here Are the 11 New Books You Should Read in May"}}]}] ```