May 2024

The Read More! Reading Challenge suggestions for the month of May are to read A Book Set in a Small Town or to read A #booktok Book!

Have you already read these selections, or are you looking for a specific book tailored to you? Search for your next great read on Novelist, or search our online catalog!

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Fiction (A Book Set in a Small Town)

Between the real and the imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways. Right off the coast of South Carolina, on Mallow Island, The Dellawisp sits-a stunning cobblestone building shaped like a horeshoe and named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy. When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment on Mallow Island, she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a girl on the run, two estranged middle-aged sisters, a lonely chef, a legendary writer, and three ghosts. Each with their own story, Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn’t written yet

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George

Fiction (A Book Set in a Small Town)

Traveling the region of Nyons with her foster father’s mobile library in 1960s France, Marie-Jeanne, who has a special gift for matchmaking, brings soulmates together each place they go, but is unable to find one for herself, wondering when Love will finally come to her.

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

Fiction (A Book Set in a Small Town)

When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend’s struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn’t easy. Bell River’s literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Fantasy (A Book Set in a Small Town)

Come take a load off at Viv’s cafe, the first & only coffee shop in Thune. Grand opening! Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen. However, her dreams of a fresh start filling mugs instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners, and a different kind of resolve. “Take a break from epic battles and saving the world. Legends & Lattes is a wholesome, cozy novel that feels like a warm hug. Don’t miss the prequel: Bookshops and Bonedust

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

Romance (A #booktok Book)

Returning home to his family’s winery, Professor Julian Vos, on sabbatical from his Ivy League job, finds himself distracted from his plans to write a novel by eccentric, chronically late, unbelievably beautiful gardener Hallie Welch, who is a burst of color in his gray-scale life.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Fantasy (A #booktok Book)

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. Don’t miss the sequel: Iron Flame!

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

Crime (A #booktok Book)

One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her-literally. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year. Isabelle’s entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster–but his interest in Isabelle’s past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust… including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson

Romance (A #booktok Book)

From her bedroom in the Tower of London, twenty-six-year-old Maggie Moore has always dreamed of her own fairy-tale ending. Yet this is twenty-first century London, so instead of knights on white horses, she has catfish on Tinder. And with her last relationship ending in spectacular fashion, she swears off men for good. And then a chance encounter with Royal Guard Freddie forces Maggie to admit that she isn’t ready to give up on love just yet… But how do you catch the attention of someone who is trained to ignore all distractions?