For Your Consideration: May 2025 LibraryReads Titles

Download, read, and vote for your favorite May titles for the May 2025 LibraryReads list!

VOTES DUE APRIL 1ST!

ANJI KILLS A KING by Evan Leikam | 9781250369246 | 5/13/25
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“This debut is full of violent banter that will delight fans of Christopher Buehlman’s THE BLACKTONGUE THIEF; it also has the messy, complicated politics that Joe Abercrombie readers crave… Leikam’s grim, yet often charming debut won’t let readers escape its riveting pages.”—Library Journal, starred review

A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE by April Asher | 9781250357854 | 5/13/25
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“Asher (NOT YOUR CRUSH’S CAULDRON) writes a sexy paranormal rom-com set in a cozy, magical world; perfect for fans of Juliette Cross, Sarah Hawley, and Erin Sterling.”—Library Journal

SALTY, SPICED, AND A LITTLE BIT NICE by Cynthia Timoti | 9781250343475 | 5/6/25
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“A woman finds the courage to rebuild her life in Timoti’s touching debut… The push and pull between the leads feels both authentic and electric, and it’s a joy to witness Ellie come into her own. Timoti is an exciting new voice in romance.”—Publishers Weekly

BRIGHTER THAN SCALE, SWIFTER THAN FLAME by Neon Yang | 9781250357342 | 5/6/25
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“A dragon hunt goes awry in this sweet fantasy from Yang (THE GENESIS OF MISERY)… Yang seamlessly intertwines Yeva’s search for the dragon with her longing for the home she left behind. The result is a brisk and satisfying tale full of love, hope, and yearning.”—Publishers Weekly

THE DEVILS by Joe Abercrombie | 9781250880055 | 5/13/25
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Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends. Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.

BEHOOVED by M. Stevenson | 9781250375087 | 5/20/25
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Bianca knows her duty comes before her heart. So when the threat of war looms, she agrees to marry the neighboring kingdom’s heir. But not all royal weddings are a fairytale, and Prince Aric, Bianca’s betrothed, is cold, aloof, and seems to hate her on sight. To make matters worse, on their wedding night, an assassination attempt goes awry—leaving Aric magically transformed into a horse. Bianca does what any bride in this situation would do: she mounts her new husband and rides away to safety. Sunset returns Aric to human form, but they soon discover the assassination attempt is part of a larger plot against the throne. Worse, Bianca has been framed for Aric’s murder, and she’s now saddled with a husband who is a horse by day and a frustratingly attractive man by night. As an unexpected romance begins galloping away with their hearts, Bianca and Aric must rely on each other to unravel the curse and save the throne.

THE INCANDESCENT by Emily Tesh | 9781250835017 | 5/13/25
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Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school’s boundaries from demonic incursions. Walden is good at her job—no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from—is herself.

OVERGROWTH by Mira Grant | 9781250768230 | 5/6/25
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Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she’s an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has believed her. Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it’s already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia’s biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.

WE LIVE HERE NOW by Sarah Pinborough | 9781250343826 | 5/20/25
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After an accident that nearly kills her, Emily and her husband, Freddie, move from London to a beautiful Dartmoor country house. The house is gorgeous, striking—and to Emily, something about it feels deeply wrong. Old boards creak at night, fires go out, and books fall from the shelves, and all of it stems from the terrible presence she feels in the third-floor room. But these things happen only when Emily’s alone, so are they happening at all? She’s still medically fragile; her postsepsis condition can cause hallucinatory side effects, which means she can’t fully trust her own senses. Freddie doesn’t notice anything odd and is happy with their chance at a fresh start. Emily, however, starts to believe that the house is being haunted by someone who was murdered in it, though she can find no evidence of a wrongful death. As bizarre events pile up and her marriage starts to crumble, Emily becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about Larkin Lodge.

HARMATTAN SEASON by Tochi Onyebuchi | 9781250782977 | 5/27/25
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Veteran and private eye Boubacar doesn’t need much—least of all trouble—but trouble always seems to find him. Work has dried up, and he’d rather be left alone to deal with his bills as the Harmattan rolls in to coat the city in dust, but Bouba is a down on his luck deux fois, suspended between two cultures and two worlds. When a bleeding woman stumbles onto his doorway, only to vanish just as quickly, Bouba reluctantly finds himself enmeshed in the secrets of a city boiling on the brink of violence. The French occupiers are keen to keep the peace at any cost, and the indigenous dugulen have long been shattered into restless factions vying for a chance to reclaim their lost heritage and abilities. As each hardwon clue reveals horrifying new truths, Bouba may have to carve out parts of himself he’s long kept hidden, and decide what he’s willing to offer next.

THE MAN MADE OF SMOKE by Alex North | 9781250757890 | 5/13/25
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Dan Garvie’s life has been haunted by the crime he witnessed as a child—narrowly escaping an encounter with a notorious serial killer. He has dedicated his life since to becoming a criminal profiler, eager to seek justice for innocent victims. So when his father passes away under suspicious circumstances, Dan revisits his small island community, determined to uncover the truth about his death. Is it possible that the monster he remembers from his childhood nightmares has returned after all these years?

LEFT OF FOREVER by Tarah DeWitt | 9781250329448 | 5/20/25
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Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another… until they fell apart. Now divorced and in their 30s, Wren runs the bakery in town, while Ellis works as a firefighter. They live separate lives, though they are hardly off each other’s minds. When Sam gets accepted into college and the pair help him move in together, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes with him to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Amid the gorgeous scenery of the California coastline, dreamy destinations, and a great deal of long-yearned-for proximity, Wren starts to think it just might be possible. But the two still have to contend with their tumultuous past in order to move forward. And when spoken words fail, sometimes the written word must bridge the gap. Will they make the most of what’s left of forever? Or will they let each other go for good?

PARENTS WEEKEND by Alex Finlay | 9781250360724 | 5/6/25
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In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up at dinner. At first, everyone thinks that they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise. Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them—come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?