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So apparently I was wrong and we will not always have seven main picks from Book of the Month. In April, there were five main picks and three add-ons, but honestly, April was a slow publishing month in my opinion.
May is packed full of new book releases, so I think we will see more than five main picks this month. There are a lot of repeat BOTM authors releasing books in May, so I think in order to keep everyone happy, they will increase the main picks to include as many of these books as possible.
I also think it is important to note that the May releases are mostly romances and thrillers, so my predictions for other categories are lacking a bit. But I don’t think we even had a romance (or really a thriller either) in April, so hopefully BOTM makes up for that in May!
If you’ve been around for a while, you know Book of the Month (BOTM) is my favorite book subscription service. I love the anticipation of finally seeing the seven monthly picks and always have fun trying to guess what may show up on the app on the first of every month.
If you aren’t familiar with BOTM, you can check out my full review of this subscription service. The basic idea is BOTM chooses seven books from different genres every month and members can choose their pick when the books go live. You can also add on up to two more books for only $10.99 each.
If you don’t like any of the picks, you can choose to skip and save your credit for the next month, which is honestly the best part of this service to me. I don’t like subscription boxes that only offer one book selection that you don’t know ahead of time. If you are interested in trying BOTM, you can use my link to get your first book for only $5!
As usual, these are just my opinions and my predictions. It is fine if you disagree or think the predictions are terrible-we all have different reading tastes. If you were excited for April’s picks, you may not be happy about my May predictions, and that is totally fine. Please remember to be kind in comments or messages because we are all readers with different tastes!
Table of Contents
Thriller/Mystery Predictions
My Summer Darlings by May Cobb
Release Date: May 17, 2022
Repeat author
Someone commented in a Facebook group that they messaged May Cobb to ask if this would be a BOTM pick, and she replied with emojis. So I’m calling this 95% certain to be a pick in May. Since this is one of my most anticipated thrillers of 2022, I have not read the synopsis and won’t have a summary for you here. You can click the link above to read more.
The Favor by Nora Murphy
release date: May 31, 2022
Debut author
Two women lead parallel lives but they never actually interact. Leah begins to watch McKenna from afar and one night she sees something she shouldn’t have seen. How far will these two women go to find happiness and freedom from their lives?
The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Debut author
Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this supernatural suspense novel. Set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, Beatriz seeks refuge in Hacienda San Isidro after her father was executed and her home destroyed. Beatriz begins to feel like she is being watched and knows something is wrong at the hacienda. She befriends a young priest, who is also a witch, and must rely on his skills to keep her safe.
The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan
Release Date: May 10, 2022
This psychological suspense novel is blurbed as being for fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French. There isn’t much more information other than it is a mother/daughter story (which I need for my 2022 reading challenge). Honestly I kind of appreciate the short blurb because sometimes thriller synopses give way too much of the plot away.
The Patient by Jane Shemilt
Release Date: May 3, 2022
A psychological suspense novel about the forbidden relationship between a doctor and her patient who is arrested for the murder of one of her colleagues. I’m on the fence about this once because the full synopsis mentions a lot of side story stuff that is happening while the doctor is blinded by keeping her affair a secret.
Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone
Release date: May 24, 2022
Ariel wakes up in Lisbon to discover her husband is missing. She reaches out to hotel security, then the police, and finally the American embassy, but the authorities are all asking questions that she doesn’t know the answer to. Ariel becomes frustrated and desperate to find her husband and feels like she is running out of time.
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
Release Date: May 10, 2022
Repeat author
Hidden Pictures is a supernatural thriller about a woman, Mallory, who just left rehab and takes a position as the nanny for five-year old Teddy. Teddy is very shy and never without his sketchbook. Most of his drawings are typical for a kid, until one day when he draw a man in a forest dragging a woman’s body. Teddy’s drawings become increasingly sinister and Mallory begins to wonder if he is relaying messages from a supernatural force.
Hide by Kiersten White
Release Date: May 24, 2022
Fourteen competitors are challenged to spend seven days in an abandoned amusement park without getting caught. Everyone, including Mack, has a reason to win the sizeable prize money. Soon people begin to disappear and Mack realizes there is more to this competition that it seems.
The Island by Adrian McKinty
Release Date: May 17, 2022
A family talks their way on to a ferry to Dutch Island, which is off-limits to visitors. Once they are on the island, there is a shocking accident and the family soon finds themselves being pursued by the tight knit clan of locals inhabiting the island.
Romance Prediction
I feel certain Book Lovers by Emily Henry will be pick this month, so I did put it at the end of this section. Hopefully you will still check out some of these other romance books because they sound really good!
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
Release date: May 24, 2022
Repeat author
Feyi lost the love of her life in a tragic accident five years ago. She finally feels ready to date again but doesn’t want anything too serious. But a steamy encounter at a party leads to a whirlwind summer romance Feyi could have never imagined. But the relationship feels doomed from the start as Feyi develops feelings for someone who is very off-limits.
Reviews for this are pretty mixed on Goodreads, so maybe check some of those out before picking this one up. Several reviews I skimmed mentioned profanity and vulgar behavior that distracted from the story.
Blame It on the Brontes by Annie Sereno
Release date: May 3, 2022
Athena, an English professor, needs to publish something fast if she wants to save her job, so she decided on a biography of elusive author C.L. Garland. She returns to her small hometown to interview the author and hopes to avoid her ex-boyfriend, Thorne. Unfortunately, that’s not in the cards and Athena finds herself interacting with Thorne every day while in town. But as they bicker and banter their way back to a friendship, Athena wonders if things could work out for them this time.
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Release date: May 10, 2022
Debut Author
Persephone returns to her hometown for her friend Sam’s mom’s funeral. Persephone must face past mistakes as she and Sam reconnect over the weekend. Could they rekindle what was lost so long ago?
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Release date: May 3, 2022
Repeat author
This is the second book in a series, but the first book was written by a different author and the book don’t seem to be connected. I am super interested in this take on Beauty and the Beast.
Isabelle feels lost at her job in publishing. She takes advantage of an opportunity when she overhears her boss complaining about an author not delivering his manuscript. So Isabella volunteers to retrieve the manuscript. Sounds easy enough, right?
But the author, Beau, is equally as lost as Isabella. Together they discover they have more in common than they would have thought and there may be a bond forming between them.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Release date: May 3, 2022
Repeat author
Nora, a literary agent, continues to cross paths with Charlie, a bookish brooding editor, when she goes to Sunshine Falls with her sister Libby. Their encounter would have been a meet-cute except there’s nothing cute about any of their interactions. Two years ago, Charlie turned down a book about Sunshine Falls from one of Nora’s authors. The book went on to be a bestseller and is being made into a movie. So why is Charlie is Sunshine Falls when he wasn’t interested in the book?
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Release date: May 3, 2022
Repeat author
This book may be a longshot since it is a YA romance, but I’m sure some people will still be interested in it either way, so I added it to the list.
Chloe moved from SoCal to Alabama with her moms to finish high school. She has spent four years dodging gossipy classmates and working hard to win valedictorian. There’s only one person standing in her way: prom queen Shara Wheeler.
A month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe then disappears. But Chloe discovers she wasn’t the only one Shara kissed. There was also Smith, Shara’s quarterback boyfriend, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor. None of them have anything in common, but they suddenly find themselves untangling a trail of clues together as they track Shara down.
Contemporary Fiction Predictions
Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman
Release date: May 17, 2022
Laura moves to Los Angeles to escape her overprotective family and leave the past behind. But “adulting” in a new city proves to be full of obstacles and Laura soon finds herself without a place to leave. As Laura navigates her life in a new place, she finds friends in unlikely places and an ex-boyfriend who is determined to make a place for himself in her life.
The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper
Release date: May 3, 2022
Jenry is attending Brown University on scholarship, but he’s also there to learn more about his father, a former ballet dance who died when Jenry was two. Jenry meets his Winston, his grandfather and a professor of African American history, on his search for information. But Winston flips the search upside down when he asks why Jenry is focused on finding his father when it was Winston’s daughter, Juliet, who was romantically involved with Jenry’s mother.
What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Mallory, a freshman in college, is grieving the loss of her mother when she encounters a woman on campus. The two women continue to cross paths and eventually begin a relationship. Mallory retreats from the world as she becomes consumed by the relationship but also with the idea of becoming like this woman. As Mallory continues to navigate through her grief, she must also decide who she wants to be and how she will let the relationship transform her life.
The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
Release Date: May 10, 2022
Repeat author
Sarah is shocked when her stepdaughter Ruby announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend. The engagement is short (three months!) and the wedding is to be held at Sarah’s mother’s beach house in Cape Cod. As the wedding brings the family together after quarantine, secrets begin to emerge and drama ensues as everyone has dealt with the past few months in different ways.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Predictions
Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon
Release Date: May 24, 2022
Will has lived his life off the grid. He has multiple aliases and travels state to state in an old camper van. One day he receives a call on one of his many burner phones. The woman claims to be his biological daughter from one of his sperm donations. Will is convinced she’s AI, but she needs his help. The girl is caught up in a plot involving Will’s employers, who he honestly doesn’t know much about.
City of Orange by David Yoon
Release Date: May 24, 2022
A man wakes up alone and injured in an unknown landscape. He knows he used to live in a place called California, but he is unsure how he ended up in this new place. Eventually he encounters an old man, a crow, and a boy, and realizes neither the past nor the present are what he thought they were.
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
Release Date: May 17, 2022
Repeat author
A woman falls asleep the night before her 40th birthday and wakes up to discover she is back in 1996 reliving her 16th birthday. She is reunited with her father and wonders, now that she has a fresh perspective on life, what she would change about her life if she could.
Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan
Release Date: May 31, 2022
An end-of-the-world family epic told over seven generations, Walk the Vanished Earth explores the changing planet and the journey to creating a new world on the Moon.
Book of Night by Holly Black
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Repeat Author
Realistically, do I think this will be a pick? No. But it is one of my most anticipated books of 2022 and I want to put it on your radar! Book of Night is Holly Black’s adult debut about Charlie Hall, a dissolute thief of shadows, and the magicians she finds herself guarding a secret from.
Historical Fiction Predictions
Our Little World by Karen Winn
Release date: May 3, 2022
Debut author
I really didn’t know what genre to categorize this as, but I went with historical fiction because it takes place in the 1980s.
Twelve year old Bee’s summer changes drastically when her neighbor goes missing at the local lake. What follows is a coming-of-age story about the loss of innocence and the strained relationship between Bee and her sister as Bee struggles with keeping a secret about their neighbor’s disappearance.
A Bright and Blinding Sun by Marcus Brotherton
Release Date: May 24, 2022
Based on true events
Joe runs away from home at the age of 12 and talks his way into the US Army at age 14. He is sent to the Philippines and meets a teenage prostitute. The two become unlikely allies but their hopes of being together is put on hold when the Japanese attack on December 8, 1941. Joe and his fellow soldiers are caught in four brutal months of battles in Bataan and Corregidor before being forced to surrender. Now Joe is a prisoner of war with only the thoughts of seeing the girl he loves again to keep him going each day.
The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Willeams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White
Release date: May 17, 2022
An intertwined collection of stories set in 2019, 1899, and 1958 at Sprague Hall, the location of a new popular reality show about restoring America’s lavish homes. Sprague Hall is plagued with a history that should have been hidden forever, but as the cameras start to roll, the house begins to tell all of it’s dark secrets.
Literary Fiction Prediction
The Golden Season by Madeline Kay Sneed
release date: May 31, 2022
The Golden Season is set in a small town in West Texas where two things are important: God and football. Emmy has a falling out with her dad, Steve, after she comes out as a lesbian. She meets a grad student from Massachusetts who hates everything about Texas, and Emmy wonders how she can build a future with someone who hates everything she loves.
Meanwhile, her dad is offered his dream job as the football coach of the local high school. But the school board tells him he can’t accept the position if he has any skeletons in his closet. Now he struggles with how to proceed because he loves his daughter but he is also a man of faith.
Do you agree with my predictions? What are some of your May Book of the Month predictions? Let me know in the comments!
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I hope My Summer Darlings, Hide or Book Lovers is a May BOTM option.
Me too!