Can’t-Wait Wednesday – May Reads
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.
With the first of April having come and gone, it’s time to look ahead to the books I’m most excited about seeing on shelves in May.
Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame
by Neon Yang
Fantasy
May 6, 2025 by Tordotcom
With an armored, oath-bound hero reminiscent of The Mandalorian and the Asian-inspired epic fantasy of She Who Became the Sun, Neon Yang’s Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a stunning queer novella about a dragon hunter finding home with a dragon queen.
Daughter of Tides by Kit Rocha
by Kit Rocha
Fantasy
May 6, 2025 by Montlake
From the author of Consort of Fire comes a scorching romantasy novel full of courtly intrigue and erotic crackle riding the swells of immortal love.
by Emma Newman
Fantasy | Horror
May 6, 2025 by Solaris
A swashbuckling adventure set in a version of Alexandre Dumas’s world haunted by vampires…
by Evan Leikam
Fantasy
May 13, 2025 by Tor Books
An unlikely assassin struggles to escape a legendary bounty hunter in this breakneck fantasy debut that will grab you by the throat—perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie, R.F. Kuang, and Christopher Buehlman. She killed for a cause. Will she die for it too?
by Brandy Schillace
History| Society & Current Affairs
May 13, 2025 by W. W. Norton & Company
Set in interwar Germany, The Intermediaries tells the forgotten story of the Institute for Sexual Science, the world’s first center for homosexual and transgender rights. Headed by a gay Jewish man, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, the institute aided in the first gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments, acting as a rebellious base of operations in the face of rising prejudice, nationalism, and Nazi propaganda.
by Elena Abbott
Romance | Erotica
May 13, 2025 by Bold Strokes Books
As Delilah leads her into the world of BDSM, Sabrina discovers a new submissive side to her sexuality. But Delilah only promises her one night: one night of play, of fun, of pleasure.
by Rachel Gillig
Fantasy
May 20, 2025 by Orbit
From NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig comes the next big romantasy sensation, a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess forced on an impossible quest with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight. Perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Leigh Bardugo.
Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity
by Lee Mandelo
Fantasy | Science Fiction
May 27, 2025 by Erewhon Books
Revolutionary and visionary, these twenty-two speculative stories edited by Lambda, Nebula and Hugo finalist Lee Mandelo explore the vast potentialities of our queer and trans futures.
by Guy Gavriel Kay
Fantasy
May 27, 2025 by Ace
Both sweeping and intimate, a majestic novel of love and war that brilliantly evokes the drama and turbulence of medieval France
by K.Q. Watson
Science Fiction
May 31, 2025 by Clippedscape
When angel engineer Zak’s infant son is cast down for being born without wings, he faces Heaven’s cruel mandate: forget, or fall. Clipped, Zak plummets to a broken Earth, where false prophets exploit the faithful, drug lords rule dead cities, and every truth comes with a price.
