It’s May!! That means it is a whole new reading month. That also means that there is a slew of all new books coming out that I am stoked to read. So let’s look at ten books I am excited to read that are being released in May 2017.
The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell by W. Kamau Bell
(Comes out May 2, 2017)
After all this love and praise, it’s time for the next step: a book.The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell will be a humorous, well-informed take on the world today, tackling a wide range of evergreen issues, such as race relations; fatherhood; the state of law enforcement today; comedians and superheroes; right-wing politics; failure; his interracial marriage; his upbringing by very strong-willed, race-conscious, yet ideologically opposite parents; his early days struggling to find his comedic voice, then his later days struggling to find his comedic voice; why he never seemed to fit in with the Black comedy scene . . . or the white comedy scene; how he was a Black nerd way before that became a thing; how it took his wife and an East Bay lesbian to teach him that racism and sexism often walk hand in hand; and much, much more.
I became aware of W. Kamau Bell when I listened to an episode of This American Life that featured the comedian. I was instantly taken with his humor and no nonsense perspectives. From there I began listening to his podcast Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All-Time Period, which is fantastic as well. So when I came across this book via Netgalley I was super excited. Look for a review of this book to come tomorrow (on release day) for my thoughts!
The H Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic
(Comes out May 2, 2017)
In The H Spot, Filipovic argues that the main obstacle standing in between women and happiness is a rigged system. In this world of unfinished feminism, men have long been able to “have it all” because of free female labor, while the bar of achievement for women has gotten higher – never before have we had to work so much at every level (whether it’s to be an accomplished white-collar employee or just make ends meet), and never before have the requirements for being a “good mother” been so extreme. If our laws and policies made women’s happiness and fulfillment a goal in and of itself, she explains, so many contentious issues would be resolved with one fell swoop-from women’s health to equal pay.
Filipovic illustrates this argument by asking women across America what it is they need, Filipovic provides an outline for a feminist movement we all need: one that provides a blueprint for how policy, laws and society can deliver on the promise of the pursuit of happiness for all.
I love a good social commentary, and this one seems to be up my alley. It also falls in line with my goals for the year of more female authors and broadening my horizons. I think this will be an interesting read and open my eyes to things I’ve experienced (and not) but been unable to name).
The Leavers by Lisa Ko
(Comes out May 2, 2017)
One morning, Deming Guo’s mother, an undocumented Chinese immigrant named Polly, goes to her job at the nail salon and never comes home. No one can find any trace of her.
With his mother gone, eleven-year-old Deming is left with no one to care for him. He is eventually adopted by two white college professors who move him from the Bronx to a small town upstate. They rename him Daniel Wilkinson in their efforts to make him over into their version of an “all-American boy.” But far away from all he’s ever known, Daniel struggles to reconcile his new life with his mother’s disappearance and the memories of the family and community he left behind.
This was on my list for books I was most excited for this year. I think this novel sounds interesting and heartbreaking. I cannot wait to read this book!
Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood
(Comes out May 2, 2017)
Father Greg Lockwood is unlike any Catholic priest you have ever met—a man who lounges in boxer shorts, loves action movies, and whose constant jamming on the guitar reverberates “like a whole band dying in a plane crash in 1972.” His daughter is an irreverent poet who long ago left the Church’s country. When an unexpected crisis leads her and her husband to move back into her parents’ rectory, their two worlds collide.
In Priestdaddy, Lockwood interweaves emblematic moments from her childhood and adolescence—from an ill-fated family hunting trip and an abortion clinic sit-in where her father was arrested to her involvement in a cultlike Catholic youth group—with scenes that chronicle the eight-month adventure she and her husband had in her parents’ household after a decade of living on their own. Lockwood details her education of a seminarian who is also living at the rectory, tries to explain Catholicism to her husband, who is mystified by its bloodthirstiness and arcane laws, and encounters a mysterious substance on a hotel bed with her mother.
Lockwood pivots from the raunchy to the sublime, from the comic to the deeply serious, exploring issues of belief, belonging, and personhood. Priestdaddy is an entertaining, unforgettable portrait of a deeply odd religious upbringing, and how one balances a hard-won identity with the weight of family and tradition.
