9 May-Release Books You May Have Missed

This collection of stories, based around the processes of Birth, Conception, Gestation, and Love, is sparkling. It’s magical. It’s a book that’s been pulled from deep within the writer and offered up with honesty and a voice that belongs solely to Ausubel. If you read just one story, it’ll stick. (Riverhead)

Narrator Rosemary Cooke’s voice is scarcely like anything we’ve read before. Fowler creates a character who is altogether challenging, haunting, and complex, and her peek into intricacies of the human psyche and (all-but-normal) family life will keep you arrested through the read. If you can, avoid even the summary on the book flap and go into reading this one cold to get the most out of it. (Putnam)

Likely the smartest, most literary thing you’ll ever read involving zombies. At times, Sims evokes the power of--dare we say it--David Foster Wallace (yep, footnotes included) with a narrative that’s cerebral, strangely beautiful, philosophical, and pretty, well, brilliant. (Two Dollar Radio)

If you’re after suspense, flip open this title; it’s packed with questions and intrigue, and written in an atmospheric prose style through which you’ll sail. A prime candidate for done-in-one-sitting status. (Unbridled)

Behold, a novel to devour. Holt’s debut has everything we could want: a setting (1990s Moscow) that captures us, a narrator who grips us tight, a friendship that makes us ask questions of our own deepest ties, and even a little bit of espionage. Her book is intelligent cover to cover, which makes the read as easy as it is satisfying. (The Penguin Press)

Masterfully told, On Sal Mal Lane is for the story-hungry. Set on the cusp of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Freeman’s book is a historically rich journey told in lyrical prose; her command of language in the first few pages alone will shake you. Simply, it feels important in a way that few novels do. (Graywolf)

Want a reminder what you can do with fiction? Told entirely as a blog post comment from the perspective of a dude crashing a wedding website, this psychologically-driven novel is what you’re looking for. The Internet is serious business, guys. (Coffee House)

We say “missed” this novel in the way you “missed” that stop sign at the intersection. (California roll, anyone?) Americanah has been everywhere from Vogue’s pages to Barnes & Noble’s featured table, so the real question is why you haven’t dived head-first into this gutsy love story that sings so loud. (Knopf)

Ignoring that finding out the author is a cool age 24 will make your existential crisis mode kick into gear, Golden Boy hits the reader hard from the outset, and keeps her on her toes throughout. The novel, about 15-year-old intersex Max, is the kind of book you’re going to want to talk [read: get miffed] about with a friend, so rope someone into the read with you. (Atria)