By Kavita Mistry 
While enjoying the May flowers, make sure you also take time for the beautiful May releases in bloom. In our anticipated reads for the month of Mother’s Day, we feature a memoir of a mother-daughter relationship and a story exploring the profound impact resulting from a mother’s choice of what to name her child. We also look at one touching novel about a middle-aged bookseller reflecting on his life in the face of illness, and another about the connection between a young man and an older widow. Three out of four of these titles are debuts, so prepare to discover some wonderful new authors. Follow upcoming coverage in our digital magazine, and join us in making these books part of a spring to remember.
This Is Your Mother: A Memoir
by Erika J. Simpson
May 6, 2025. 224 pages
Published by Scribner
This debut memoir reflects on the author’s complicated relationship with her mother, Sallie Carol — a child of sharecroppers, a science teacher, and a devout Christian. A dual timeline follows Simpson’s point of view as her mother is dying of cancer alongside a creative rendering of Sallie’s life. Kirkus calls it a “searingly honest book…at the thorny intersection of race, class, and gender.” Author Alexander Chee says, “This Is Your Mother…is a powerful story of how to survive America, and how to survive what our parents teach us about themselves and ourselves, too.” With themes both broad and intimate, this seems like a perfect pick for quiet reflection or lengthy discussion.
The Names: A Novel
by Florence Knapp
May 6, 2025. 336 pages
Published by Pamela Dorman Books
What’s in a name? One day in 1980s Britain, Cora is tasked with officially naming her new son. Her abusive husband, Gordon, wants the child to take his name. Cora’s young daughter, Maia, suggests “Bear.” Cora herself prefers the name Julian. In her debut novel, Knapp explores three worlds — each of which follow the course of events that unfold after Cora decides to give the child one of these names. This story also appears to offer plenty of material for book clubs looking to plan a motherhood-themed discussion. Publishers Weekly writes, “Readers won’t be able to stop talking about this intelligent exploration of a single choice’s long tail of repercussions.”
Old School Indian: A Novel
by Aaron John Curtis
May 6, 2025. 352 pages
Published by Zando
In this debut novel from Curtis, Abe Jacobs, 43 years old and suffering from a mysterious and serious illness, returns from bookselling in Miami to family on a Mohawk reservation in New York, where he awaits a diagnosis, tries folk treatments, and reflects on his heritage and past life, including his difficult relationship with his wife Alex. “Thematically, the novel contains echoes of Leslie Marmon Silko’s classic Ceremony (1977),” comments a starred Kirkus review, “which also dealt with themes of trauma and Indigenous paths to healing. But Curtis’ voice is his own, and its ending, while a left turn, feels wholly earned.”
The Emperor of Gladness: A Novel
by Ocean Vuong
May 13, 2025. 416 pages
Published by Penguin Press
In this follow-up to acclaimed poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019), a young man from a Vietnamese family in a rural Connecticut town is rescued from a suicide attempt by an older Lithuanian woman with dementia, and the two develop an unlikely bond. Exploring the characters’ personal histories and “the surprising and cruel ways violence is passed on across generations” (Kirkus), this promises to be another vivid and lyrical work of prose from Vuong.
You can browse more curated upcoming titles for each month using our Books Publishing by Month view.