It’s time to talk new books, Tuesday friends! I have started rearranging the books in my house so that I have space…for more books. Because what an amazing year it has been for new releases! At the top of my list to acquire today are La Tercera by Gina Apostol, Your Plantation Prom Is Not Okay by Kelly McWilliams, and The Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether. You can hear about some more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Danika and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about, including my favorite book of the year, Chain-Gang All-Stars, Homebodies, The Salt Grows Heavy, and more.
Today I am doing a round-up of several exciting titles from the first Tuesday of May 2023. Below, you’ll find titles (loosely) broken up into several categories, to make it easier for your browsing convenience. I hope you have fun with it! And as with each first Tuesday newsletter, I am putting asterisks *** next to the books that I have had the chance to read and loved.
And be sure to check out First Edition! BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world. Interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.
Biography and Memoir
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
Tell Me Everything: A Memoir by Minka Kelly
Deep Waters: A Memoir of Loss, Alaska Adventure, and Love Rekindled by Beth Ann Mathews
We Are Too Many: A Memoir [Kind of] by Hannah Pittard
Fiction
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah***
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg***
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Gone to the Wolves by John Wray
La Tercera by Gina Apostol
The Midnight News by Jo Baker
Swamp Story by Dave Barry
No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
The East Indian by Brinda Charry
Can’t I Go Instead by Lee Geum-yi, An Seonjae (translator)
Hula by Jasmin Iolani Hakes
The Daydreams by Laura Hankin
A Portrait In Shadow by Nicole Jarvis
The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane
Paper Names by Susie Luo
The Darlings by Hannah McKinnon
Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda, Philip Gabriel (translator)
A History of Burning by Janika Oza
Shy by Max Porter
Dear Chrysanthemums: A Novel in Stories by Fiona Sze-Lorrain
The Humble Lover by Edmund White
Middle Grade
Only Only Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly
Sejal Sinha Battles Superstorms by Maya Prasad, Abira Das
Mystery and Thriller
The Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether
The Rope Artist by Fuminori Nakamura, Sam Bett (translator)
The Nigerwife by Vanessa Walters
Nonfiction
The Curious History of the Heart: A Cultural and Scientific Journey by Vincent M. Figueredo
His Majesty’s Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World’s Largest Flying Machine by S. C. Gwynne
We’ve Got This: Essays by Disabled Parents by Eliza Hull
Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything by Michio Kaku
Young Queer America: Real Stories and Faces of LGBTQ+ Youth by Maxwell Poth
The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe by Martyn Rady
In Search of Perfumes: A Lifetime Journey to the Source of Nature’s Scents by Dominique Roques
Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral by Ben Smith
Romance
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Sugar, Spice, and Can’t Play Nice by Annika Sharma
Love Buzz by Neely Tubati-Alexander
Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw***
Dragonfall by L. R. Lam
Lost Places: and Other Stories by Sarah Pinsker***
Spring’s Arcana (The Dead God’s Heart Book 1) by Lilith Saintcrow
Young Adult
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
Your Plantation Prom Is Not Okay by Kelly McWilliams
Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna R. Shrum and Sara Waxelbaum
Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Leah Johnson
Chasing Pacquiao by Rod A. Pulido
The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro
Four Found Dead by Natalie D. Richards
Lion’s Legacy by L. C. Rosen
Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow by Alex Segura
We Don’t Swim Here by Vincent Tirado
Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban
Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading? Subscribe to Book Riot’s The Deep Dive to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox.
This week: I’m currently reading Swim Home to the Vanished by Brendan Shay Basham, Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, and North Woods by Daniel Mason. Outside of books, the Celtics have advanced to the Eastern Conference playoff semi-finals, so I am locked in to that. I love watching basketball so much! And I have started rewatching Gravity Falls, because of course I have. (This is the 14th, maybe 15th time?) The song stuck in my head right now is “HandClap” by Fitz and The Tantrums. And here’s a cat photo: This is Farrokh, chilling on a case of Agatha Christie books.
That’s it for me today, friends. I am sending you love and good wishes for whatever is happening in your life right now. Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty ❤️