May feels like the tipping point from the cold, wet months to warmer, brighter days. There's a sense of excitement in the air that good things are coming. Fittingly, it's a great month for new books, including a long-awaited second novel from the author of The Help to a dazzling debut thriller that I raced through in a day. Here's my pick of the best books to read in May 2026...
The Calamity Club by Katherine Stockett
When an author has a huge hit like The Help as their debut novel, it can be incredibly daunting to write a second. That might explain why it’s been more than 15 years between Kathryn Stockett’s first novel and her follow-up, The Calamity Club. The Help was one of those rare word-of-mouth books that everyone seemed to be reading when it was published in 2009, and it started a global conversation thanks to its frank depiction of racial inequality in 1960s America.
Like The Help, Stockett’s new novel is set in the Deep South – this time in 1930s Oxford, Mississippi. Meg, an 11-year-old girl, has been left at Lafayette County Orphan Asylum. As a ‘big girl’, she’s unlikely to be adopted, a fact she’s told frequently by the house’s cruel director, Miss Garnett. Birdie has come to Oxford to beg for a loan from her sister, who’s married well, and when she volunteers at the orphanage, she and Meg form a friendship
As well as the theme of sisterhood, the novel explores the financial struggles shaping the lives of its characters at a time when many were barely surviving. The overall message is about the resilience of women and their ability to dig deep in tough times. If a line sums up the spirit of the book, it’s this: ‘You give a girl a taste of fresh air and then you take it away – she’ll grow fierce and wild to get it back.’
The plot goes in an interesting direction that I wasn’t expecting, but it’s the gritty, outspoken female characters that make the journey worthwhile. Meg and Birdie tell their sides of the story in distinctive voices, and the secondary characters, such as orphanage head Miss Garnett, are just as strong.
This chunky book is a big commitment, but it’s such a joy to immerse yourself in this world and with these characters that the pages fly by. Whether you were one of the millions of fans of The Help or not, this is a really special book that’s been well worth the wait.
Fig Tree The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
American Fantasy by Emma Straub
Anyone who had a teenage obsession with a band will relate hard to this fun, joy-filled novel about finding yourself again in midlife. As 1990s boy band Boy Talk entertain 2,000 of their fans on a four-day themed cruise, recently divorced Annie finds friendship and a fresh start.
Margaret, Are You Leaving? by Dianne Yarwood
Maggie has tried hard to move on from her traumatic past, but when she receives a bombshell about her birth mother it sends her on a journey of discovery. A tender and true story about friendship and families lost and found.
Phoenix Margaret, Are You Leaving? by Dianne Yarwood
Dissection Of A Murder by Jo Murray
This clever legal thriller is so pacy, I read it in less than 24 hours. You’re plunged into the action from the off: there’s a dead judge, a husband and wife on opposite sides of the courtroom and a mysterious witness known only as X. It’s been snapped up for season two of Apple TV’s Presumed Innocent.
MACMILLAN Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray
I Want You To Be Happy by Jem Calder
There are immediate sparks when Chuck and Joey meet: he’s 35 and working as a copywriter, having given up his dream of writing a novel; she’s 24 and waitressing in a cafe while she figures out her life. A sharp-eyed but never cynical look at modern-day dating – one for fans of Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan.
John Of John by Douglas Stuart
This third novel from the author of Shuggie Bain is another devastating story that got under my skin in the very best way. John-Calum Macleod (Cal) returns to the Outer Hebrides community where he grew up and to life with his religious father, who doesn’t know his son is gay.
Picador John of John by Douglas Stuart
