What Book Clubs Are Reading in May
The Audacious Book Club
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
In the novel selected this May by Roxane Gay, female inmates fight in brutal, televised death matches for their chance at freedom. Casting a withering eye on America’s mass incarceration epidemic, this dystopian sci-fi tells a horrifying story that isn't too many degrees removed from the grim reality of our criminal justice system.
Oprah’s Book Club
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
"This is one of the top five books I’ve read in my lifetime," said Oprah when announcing this pick. "And I’ve been reading since I was 3.” Written by a Stanford medical professor making his return to shelves 13 years after his acclaimed debut Cutting for Stone, the novel follows three generations of a South Indian family cursed by drowning.
#ReadwithJenna
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
While praising the power of reading to push and challenge us with difficult topics, Jenna Bush also announced Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel as her May pick. On Today, the former First Daughter remarked that the book "will make you have conversations about the prison industrial complex" while noting that despite its violence, there’s a “love story at its heart.”
Kaia Gerber's Book Club
Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) by Laura Dern
The bookish model’s May choice is an ode to the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters—just in time for Mother’s Day. In a series of intimate conversations, famed Hollywood actress Laura Dern discusses life’s deepest concerns (and dessert) during long walks with her acclaimed actress mom, who is battling serious illness.
Well-Read Black Girl
Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks
Glory Edim's May selection is the 2021 PEN/Bellwether Prize winner for Socially Engaged Fiction. The book transports readers to 1950’s Alabama, where a resourceful woman named Alice Young begins building a new life in a defiant all-black town resisting integration.
Natalie's Book Club
The Postcard by Anne Berest
The Jerusalem-born and former Parisian movie star invites club members on this time-hopping saga about a Parisian woman’s bold attempt at rediscovering the lives of her relatives killed at Auschwitz. This French bestseller has just been released in translation in the U.S.
Lilly's Library
Before She Sleeps by Bina Shah
Canadian Youtube sensation Lilly Singh continues her quest to spotlight South Asian writers with this chilling dystopian novel from Pakistan with Handmaid’s Tale vibes set in a repressive South Asian city where women are forced to take multiple husbands to bear daughters for local elites.
Reese’s Book Club
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Smith Paul
The Legally Blonde superstar has chosen a Hollywood saga about a mysterious inheritance filled with old-school Tinseltown glam and modern showbiz glitz. Endorsed by Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, who says, "If you like Evelyn Hugo, you’re gonna want this one," this debut novel promises an "intoxicating, thrilling, and glamorous" experience.
Zibby's Book Club
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Super Bloom by Megan Tady
Bookfluencer, podcaster and publisher Zibby Owens discusses two books each month: one of her personal picks and one book she publishes at Zibby Books. For May her selections are Good Bones poet Maggie Smith’s personal reflections on grief, family and renewal as her marriage falls apart, plus a heartwarming debut romance about second chances set at an iconic Vermont spa.
Noname Book Club
All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou
Did you know that poet and celebrated author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou moved to Ghana in 1962, inspired by the promise of Pan Africanism? With a focus on voices of color, rapper Noname’s club chose Angelou’s memoir of her time as a Revolutionary Returnee to inspire discussion this month.
Joy's Banned Book Club
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume
Every week, comedian and talk show host Joy Behar highlights banned books on The View. Seizing on the buzz around Judy Blume with the release of the film version of her classic Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, Behar invited the doyenne of tween lit to come on the show and talk about her experience with censorship. Blume drew an important distinction between the parent-led pushback on her blockbuster coming of age tales in the 1980’s versus today, where the crackdown on her work has been led by state governments like Florida, where Blume resides. For more on this cherished author, check out our list of Blume favorites, along with other contemporary books for fans of her writing.