30 Books to Read Now

Thirty ideas to help you answer the question of what to read next .... click here to see a list of our most eagerly anticipated books of the season.

Last updated May 17, 2023.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption By Bryan Stevenson Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780812984965
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: One World - August 18th, 2015

UNC's 2023 Commencement Speaker! Limited signed copies available.


The Salt Grows Heavy By Cassandra Khaw Cover Image
$21.99
ISBN: 9781250830913
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tor Nightfire - May 2nd, 2023

This novella is a dark, glittering jewel, encrusted in blood, awash in viscera and gore. The roots of the story may reach back to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, but the flower that blooms here is fully fanged and hungry. Truth be told, certain scenes made me feel a bit squeamish. But what I felt most was the connection between the two unlikely companions. At its heart, this is the story of pure love and undying devotion. --Tony


Swamp Story: A Novel By Dave Barry Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781982191337
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Simon & Schuster - May 2nd, 2023

Come on down to Bortle Brothers Bait and Beer to try to catch a glimpse of the newest cryptid, the "Everglades Melon Monster." Side note: it's totally not a broke, middle-aged man in a Dora head running around the Everglades to make a quick buck. --Jamie K.


Poetry as Spellcasting: Poems, Essays, and Prompts for Manifesting Liberation and Reclaiming Power By Tamiko Beyer, Destiny Hemphill, Lisbeth White Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9781623177195
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: North Atlantic Books - May 16th, 2023

This is not a book, it is an experience. "Part anthology, part poetry collection, part workbook," I was spellbound from the dedication - "to us." With awareness and deep intention, these writers and collectors invite us into a shared meditative space at the intersection of poetry, spell-casting, organizing, and visioning -- for ourselves and our collective future. --RC


The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) By Abraham Verghese Cover Image
$32.00
ISBN: 9780802162175
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grove Press - May 2nd, 2023

If, like me, you've been waiting 14 years since Cutting for Stone for his next one, read & rejoice in these 700 pages of more Verghese magic. If you're new to this author, Verghese is doctor and all of his works have a strong medical narrative; this one is no exception as the mystery of a family curse plays out over generations of one family in Kerala, India. Written with joy and mastery, it is an absolute delight to be swept along for the ride. (Pick up his memoir, My Own Country, next.) --Elese


Homebodies: A Novel By Tembe Denton-Hurst Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780063274280
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Harper - May 2nd, 2023

In this slowly unfolding story of self-discovery in young adulthood, we are invited into Mickey's uniquely Black, queer experience of home in New York City's, and broadly, the Internet's, media industry. Denton-Hurst's spacious writing gives readers opportunity for introspection across difference and similarity. "Time spent in this place allowed her to see herself," writes Denton-Hurst, and time spent in this book feels like sitting in warm sunshine on a perfectly cool spring day. --RC


Meet Me at the Lake By Carley Fortune Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780593438558
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Berkley - May 2nd, 2023

"Dirty Dancing" meets "Before Sunrise" in this essential summer romance! With second chances, found-family connections, and the sentimental setting of the lakeside Brookbanks resort throughout a hazy summer season, this is exactly what you’re looking for in your next vacation read! --Emma


Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel By Kate Atkinson Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780593466322
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor - May 2nd, 2023

Now in paperback.

Atkinson's latest novel sparkles with all her brilliance. Featuring deft character studies and a lack of sentimentality, this clever timepiece set in the roaring '20s has an atmospheric mix of criminal and cop, ingenue and madame. Seedy SoHo has been the playground for the infamous Coker family for many years, and they must now defend their nightclub empire from attack by mysterious forces. Witty & wise, moving but never mawkish, this is Atkinson at the top of her game. --Maggie


The Evening Hero By Marie Myung-Ok Lee Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781476735085
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Simon & Schuster - May 16th, 2023

Now in paperback.


The Guest: A Novel By Emma Cline Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780812998627
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House - May 16th, 2023

Alex loses her precariously schemed position as girlfriend (escort?) to a wealthy man and is cast out of the bright, carefree Hamptons summer illusion into eddies of dead-ends. Dark, uncomfortable, propulsive. An earworm of a book in the best possible way. --Elese


This Time Tomorrow: A Novel By Emma Straub Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780525539018
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Books - May 16th, 2023

Now in paperback.

Emma Straub is brilliant at writing drama where every character gets to keep their humanity. No antagonists, just people - the perfect summer read. --Talia


All the Lovers in the Night By Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett (Translator), David Boyd (Translator) Cover Image
By Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett (Translator), David Boyd (Translator)
$17.95
ISBN: 9781609458461
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Europa Editions - May 23rd, 2023

Now in paperback.


Instructions for the Drowning By Steven Heighton Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781771965354
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Biblioasis - April 18th, 2023

I loved these stories. I especially loved the snapshots of lives that hone in on pivotal moments. Moments that might change everything. Some of these moments are huge, some are small. Some of them are left blank for the reader to fill in. Spaces in which to imagine hope or danger or regret or love. --Tony


Chain Gang All Stars: A Novel By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593317334
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Pantheon - May 2nd, 2023

This books asks, "what if crimes were absolved in blood for sport?" Adjei-Brenyah's answer is brilliantly concocted, delivering a complex future of violence, abolition, and humanity. This story plants seeds of our society's darkest sides in the grounds of hell, urging them to grow into blood-soaked blooms of a carceral-capitalist state nightmare. With expansive yet concise world-building and plot-driving perspective shifts, Chain Gang All Stars is one of the most striking, novel, and immersive stories of the year. --RC


Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner) By Hernan Diaz Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780593420324
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Books - May 2nd, 2023

Pultizer Prize co-winner for Fiction & now in paperback!

A literary puzzle: one story told four different ways - a novel (about the accumulation of wealth, a marriage, mental illness), a memoir (by the husband, unfinished, ghostwritten), a memoir (by the ghostwriter), a diary (by the wife) - each adding intricate layers to the narrative. Having read them close together, Trust has become intertwined with To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara: Both are New York stories & contenders for the “great American novel.” Both pull off impressive literary feats of perspective & time & structure. And both novels are pure brilliance.


Lucky Turtle By Bill Roorbach Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781643753904
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Algonquin Books - May 2nd, 2023

Now in paperback.

This beautiful adventure about star-crossed young lovers who run away together will break your heart in a thousand ways. Simply gorgeous. --Maggie


The Man in the McIntosh Suit By Rina Ayuyang Cover Image
$24.95
ISBN: 9781770466661
Availability: Backordered
Published: Drawn and Quarterly - May 2nd, 2023

Happy Place By Emily Henry Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593441275
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Berkley - April 25th, 2023

This time around, Emily Henry presents us with a summer getaway in Maine with a witty, close-knit friend group desperate for one final happy week together in their beloved beach house. Determined to keep everything perfect and light-hearted for their friends, Harriet and Wyn decide to hide their recent breakup from the rest of the group. As you can imagine, their plan unravels, and their vacation becomes slightly more chaotic than they had hoped, especially once they realize they’re not the only ones with secrets. The seaside cottage setting, the energetic found family dynamic, and the charming rom-com feel-- I loved it! --Emma


Flyaway By Kathleen Jennings Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250875327
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Tordotcom - April 25th, 2023

Now in paperback.

Reading like a fairy tale mixed with elements of folklore, fantasy, and mystery, Flyaway tells the tale of Bettina, a young woman living in Queensland, searching for her missing brothers and father. With beautiful and spare prose, this short tale by a debut Australian author is not one to miss. --Jennie


The Black Reparations Project: A Handbook for Racial Justice By William Darity (Editor), A. Kirsten Mullen (Editor), Lucas Hubbard (Editor) Cover Image
By William Darity (Editor), A. Kirsten Mullen (Editor), Lucas Hubbard (Editor)
$24.95
ISBN: 9780520383814
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: University of California Press - May 23rd, 2023

Seeking Fortune Elsewhere: Stories By Sindya Bhanoo Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781646221738
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Catapult - May 16th, 2023

Now in paperback.

In the eight stories in this remarkable collection, Sindya Bhanoo intrepidly explores the lives of disconnected families. She writes of bonds that are bent, bruised, and shattered. She uses the power of memory to illuminate these lives, with their layers of pain, regret, grief, and love. And the memories become our own. --Tony


Paradise Falls: A Deadly Secret, a Cover-Up, and the Women Who Forged the Modern Environmental Movement By Keith O'Brien Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780593312094
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - May 2nd, 2023

Now in paperback.

A thoroughly investigated and gripping report of organizing in the face of disaster, and an essential read for anyone interested in environmental justice. --Jordan


Stay True: A Memoir By Hua Hsu Cover Image
By Hua Hsu
$26.00
ISBN: 9780385547772
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Doubleday - September 27th, 2022

Pulitzer Prize winner for Memoir


Freedom’s Dominion (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power By Jefferson Cowie Cover Image
$35.00
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9781541672802
Published: Basic Books - November 22nd, 2022

Pulitzer Prize winner for History


How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America By Priya Fielding-Singh, PhD Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780316427258
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Little, Brown Spark - May 2nd, 2023

Now in paperback.


Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?: A Novel By Crystal Smith Paul Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250815309
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Henry Holt and Co. - May 2nd, 2023

Reese's Book Club Pick for May


Talk of Champions: Stories of the People Who Made Me: A Memoir By Kenny Smith Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780385548052
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Doubleday - May 9th, 2023

Circa: A Novel By Devi S. Laskar Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780063268548
Availability: Backordered
Published: Mariner Books - May 16th, 2023

Now in paperback.


Paper Cuts: An Enchanting Cozy Mystery (A Secret, Book, and Scone Society Novel #6) By Ellery Adams Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781496726476
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Kensington Cozies - April 25th, 2023

Signed copies available


Fellowship Point: A Novel By Alice Elliott Dark Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9781982131821
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books - May 9th, 2023

Now in paperback.

Fellowship Point reads like an Edith Wharton novel set in the 21st century. This beautifully-crafted saga of two old friends discovering new facets of each other, and themselves, is completely absorbing, good for the soul, and as bracing as a coastal breeze in Maine. --Maggie