This month is bountiful for fans of literary fiction: Ocean Vuong’s The Emperor Of Gladness, Marisa Crane’s A Sharp Endless Need, and Madeleine Thien’s The Book Of Records are all highly anticipated. On the nonfiction side, J. Hoberman provides a vital look at New York in the 1960s, and Tourmaline delivers the definitive biography of LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P. Johnson. Plus, Stephen King delivers a new thriller with Never Flinch.
Little Bosses Everywhere: How The Pyramid Scheme Shaped America by Bridget Read (May 6)
Crown
In Little Bosses Everywhere, New York magazine writer Bridget Read traces the roots of the insidious multilevel marketing industry, laying bare the “cunning grift” of the pyramid scheme. Read examines how these companies continue to ensnare people with the promise of outsized rewards, only to leave them broke and often in debt. Most crucially—and what sets Little Bosses Everywhere apart from the myriad individual company exposés in print and film over the past few years—Read tells the whole story of the industry, digging into its origins to explain how it morphed into what it is today.
The Survivor Wants To Die At The End by Adam Silvera (May 6)
Quill Tree Books
The Survivor Wants To Die At The End is the third book in Adam Silvera’s massively popular They Both Die At The Endseries. Each book follows a pair of young boys as at least one of them navigates their last day on Earth after receiving a call from the mysterious Death-Cast company, which predicts the date of a person’s death. This time around, our protagonists are Paz, who’s fed up with waiting for his Death-Cast call and decides to take matters into his own hands, and Alano, the heir to the Death-Cast empire who keeps receiving death threats from a mysterious organization. When their paths cross, they must work together to subvert their fates.
Two high school basketball teammates fall into an intoxicating relationship in Marisa Crane’s sophomore novel. Mack and Liv have incredible chemistry both on and off the court, but small-town politics and conservative parents hamper their ability to be open about their relationship. Crane’s poetic, lyrical prose drives the narrative, threading an ever-present and irrepressible desire throughout the story.
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie (May 13)
Tor Books
Veteran fantasy author Joe Abercrombie is back with a rollicking adventure that follows a group of misfit monsters and criminals as they try to save the world from man-eating elves. Brother Diaz is a put-upon monk in charge of a group not-so-fondly referred to as the Devils, whose members include a werewolf, a vampire, and a necromancer; together, they’re a beat-down Suicide Squad whose goal is to install a thief on the throne of Troy and shore up Europe’s defenses against the elves’ imminent return. The Devils is the first book in Abercrombie’s latest series.
Ocean Vuong made waves in the literary world with his 2019 debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and his sophomore novel, The Emperor Of Gladness, is one of the most anticipated books of 2025. With his signature innovative, lyrical prose, Vuong tells the story of Hai, a 19-year-old from East Gladness, Connecticut, whose attempted suicide is interrupted by Grazine, an elderly woman with dementia. In the aftermath, Hai becomes Grazina’s caretaker, and she helps him rebuild his life and relationships.
The Book Of Records by Madeleine Thien (May 20)
W. W. Norton & Company
The Sea is an impossible place, a building that exists somewhere between time and space. In The Book Of Records, Madeleine Thien tells the story of Lina and her father, who arrive at the Sea with just a few possessions. Their neighbors at the Sea come from various times and places; one is a poet from Tang Dynasty China, another is a philosopher in 1930s Germany fleeing Nazi persecution. As Lina adapts to her new surroundings, her father begins to unravel their family’s complicated past.
Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (May 20)
W. W. Norton & Company
Nature writer Robert Macfarlane tackles big ideas in his work, and in Is A River Alive?, he argues that the answer to the book’s titular question is unequivocally “yes.” Macfarlane explores three major areas in the book: northern Ecuador, where a cloud forest is threatened by gold mining; southern India, where activists fight to save the area’s rivers; and northeastern Quebec, where the Mutehekau river is in danger of being dammed. It’s a challenging, perspective-changing work, spiritual and scientific in equal measure.
Marsha: The Joy And Defiance Of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline (May 20)
Tiny Reparations Books
Artist and director Tourmaline delivers the definitive account of Black trans activist Marsha P. Johnson’s life in Marsha: The Joy And Defiance Of Marsha P. Johnson. Johnson was a prominent figure during the Stonewall riots, but her life has never been fully documented before now. This is Tourmaline’s first book, but it’s not the first time she’s explored Johnson’s life: Her 2018 short film, Happy Birthday, Marsha!, is a fictional account of Johnson’s life in the hours leading up to the Stonewall riots.
Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York Avant-Garde—Primal Happenings, Underground Movies, Radical Pop by J. Hoberman (May 27)
Verso Books
Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York Avant-Garde—Primal Happenings, Underground Movies, Radical Pop is a propulsive account of New York’s counterculture in the 1960s. It’s all documented by legendary cultural critic J. Hoberman, whose authoritative and evocative writing welcomes readers into the city’s exclusive art-world circles as guests rather than outside observers. It makes for a compelling, dishy read that’s also deeply researched.
Never Flinch by Stephen King (May 27)
Scribner
Stephen King’s beloved private detective Holly Gibney returns in Never Flinch. King’s latest is a tale of two intertwining narratives: the hunt for a potential serial killer in Buckeye City and a women’s rights activist dealing with a dangerous stalker. As both narratives unfold, they barrel toward an explosive collision with a thrilling conclusion.
