Every month we let you know what we’ve been reading and our monthly recommendations. You’ll get to see new titles with fabulous reviews from the Bay Books team, and we’re sure you’ll love these fantastic books just as much as we do. We recommend a wide range of genres and themes (this month, we’re focused on fun fiction, contemporary classics, and stand-out local writers!), so get ready to explore more books!
Tina’s Picks
The Alchemary by Rachel Vincent
What a ride! No fae, no dragons but plenty of magic, mysteries, group dynamics and world building action. Vincent has given us the first book in her Alchemy series and I can’t wait for the next one. Strong female protagonist trying to regain her memory while battling wits and physical ‘chemistry’ with brothers who are either trying to assist her or sabotage her. Oh! On top of this, there’s an unseen, immortal source who also seeks what she has in her memory banks. While this is not my typical genre, I received an Advanced Readers Copy and enjoyed every minute of this.
Dead Bees Still Sting: Tales of Life at the Edge of Nature by Susan Cormier (RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2026)
The title grabbed me hard but I stayed for the knowledge of bees and the love of nature that I found on every page. It’s good to have books that come to you and strengthen your awareness, love, and respect for our Earth and Cormier’s book is exactly that.
Wendy’s Picks
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
It seems unlikely that a novel about two patients in a hospital terminal ward would be funny and heartwarming…but that is exactly what the author accomplishes as we follow the unlikely and poignant friendship between Lenni (17 years old) and Margot (83 years old). These two meet in the art room of a Glasgow hospital, and form a fast and meaningful friendship, deepened by their initiative to create 100 paintings, illustrating their combined 100 years of living. Through the paintings we learn about their rich and complicated past experiences –as they concurrently come to terms with the end of their lives. This is a wonderful, bittersweet read full of interesting characters that will just fill your soul.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
In a world that often seems devoid of empathy – this dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel introduces us to a young protagonist who is “hyperempathetic” – a teenage girl who has a nearly crippling sensitivity to the pain of others. We follow Lauren as she escapes her home community in California which has been destroyed by climate change, disease, violence, drugs and poverty – and travels North, toward what she hopes is a better future. Precocious Lauren creates a new religion (“Earthseed”) which asserts that “God is change,” and sets forth a new vision for human destiny. In a narrative that seems frighteningly applicable to our current timeline, Butler reinforces the idea that the weak can overcome the strong and powerful through persistence, and a commitment to change and TRUTH.
Becky’s Pick
The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
Enter the magical library where people can enter books and live inside the story…
Alix Watson finds refuge in the Boston Public Library where she escapes into her favorite fantasy novels and is drawn into the conflict she finds there. She must protect the library from the enemy, a journey that takes her through several classic literary settings as she visits the drawing room of Jane Austin and the champagne-soaked parties of the Great Gatsby. She must save the library and its inhabitants.
This is a wonderful genre shift for author Kate Quinn, known for her historical fiction, to fantasy/magical realism.
Karin’s Picks
Wreck by Catherine Newman
Two books I’ve read recently center around a woman’s reckoning with her role within the framework of her family.
In Wreck, “Newman gives us a narrator whose fierce intelligence and generous heart make even the most ordinary moments shimmer with grace,” says Meghan O’Rourke in the New York Times. O’Rourke was “moved by [the novel’s] warmth, its candor, and its clear-eyed celebration of life’s wild transcience and the vulnerability of our bodies.” Exactly!
Rocky’s wry wit, her ability to feel deeply, and to embrace the vicissitudes of life make a reader wish this complex and clear-eyed woman could materialize into a real person and join one’s coterie of friends! Catherine Newman comes to Leelanau on May 2nd. Don’t miss her! For more information: https://www.facebook.com/lelandlibrary/photos/big-news-catherine-newman-is-coming-to-leelanau-county-for-leelanau-reads-this-y/1356023169896080/
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen (Emma, specifically!)
It’s the 250th anniversary of one of the English language’s greatest novelists: Jane Austen. There are many celebrations of her life taking place this year, but reading – or re-reading – one of her books is the best way to perpetuate her legacy. I read Emma this spring and enjoyed it all over again. Emma Woodhouse, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, lives in the English countryside and casts a watchful eye on the romantic relationships of her friends and neighbors. Vowing never to marry herself, she matchmakes with unwaveringly unsuccessful results. Will her friends find their mates without her inveigling? Will Emma herself renounce her vow and find true love? Plunge in the English 18th century countryside and find out!
Grace’s Pick
My Sunshine: For Rainy Days by Kevin Alan Lamb
A poet and author based in Oxford, Michigan and with many ties to the Leelanau Peninsula, Kevin Alan Lamb is known locally for both his writing and his heart. His newest book, My Sunshine: For Rainy Days–a lovely collection of his most recent poetry and prose–is simultaneously a breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief amidst our current worldly circumstances. Empowering, reassuring, and comforting, Lamb’s work is centered around the importance of giving one another grace and meeting each other where we are, encouraging empathy above all else.
My Sunshine reads like a gentle guidebook through the various seasons of life. Documenting his own personal growth while encouraging readers to dwell not on the missteps of their past, but on what they have to offer themselves and the world around them, Lamb advocates for choosing to love our neighbors, choosing community, choosing humanity. If you’re looking for a literary hug, this book is the one for you.
