Young Sheldon Season 6 Episode 21 Unsneakable Missy Cooper Part 2

Young Sheldon Season 6 Episode 21 Unsneakable Missy Cooper Part 2

see more: PEOPLE’s Best Books to Read in May 2024: Cass Elliot’s Daughter and Whoopi Goldberg’s Loving Tributes to Their Moms

See our picks for the best books of the month

Tales of time travel and forbidden love, guilt and friendship, sinister wealth and irresponsibility — and new mother-focused memoirs from Whoopi Goldberg and Owen Elliot-Kugell. Here are PEOPLE’s picks for the best books of May 2024.

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‘Bits and Pieces’ by Whoopi Goldberg

The View cohost is opening up about the influence of her late mother and brother, Emma and Clyde. From witnessing her mother’s mental breakdown when she was a child, to growing up in the New York City projects, Goldberg looks back on the experiences that impacted her in this moving tribute to family.

‘My Mama, Cass’ by Owen Elliot-Kugell

Owen Elliot-Kugell was only seven years old when her mother, Mamas & the Papas singer Cass Elliot, tragically died at age 32 in 1972. In a touching new memoir, the author is reflecting on her mother’s life and legacy as only her child could.

“She’s been gone 50 years but I feel closer to her than ever,” Elliot-Kugell tells PEOPLE.

‘How to Read a Book’ by Monica Wood

There isn’t a false note in this subtly brilliant novel about forgiveness. Drunk-driving at 19, Violet Powell killed a woman. She leaves prison at 22, nearly paralyzed by guilt but determined to start fresh in Portland, Maine. There she reconnects with Harriet Larson, the retired English teacher who runs the prison’s book club, and forms an unlikely friendship with the widower of her victim, who harbors his own guilt. An utter gem; funny, sweet and moving. — Mary Pols

‘The Ministry of Time’ by Kaliane Bradley

This spy thriller-meets-romance sees a civil servant assigned to help a time traveler from 1847 adjust to the modern world. But as they grow closer, he gets suspicious about the program that brought them together. A page-turning revelation.

‘The Lady Waiting’ by Magdalena Zyzak

When a Polish transplant finds a disheveled woman in a ball gown wandering down the L.A. freeway, it sets off a breakneck romp of a novel with a stolen Vermeer, a tangled love triangle, a half-baked heist and enough depraved opulence to make Gatsby gasp.

‘Walk With Me: Hamptons’ by Susan Kaufman

If you can’t summer on Long Island, this lovely book lets you live vicariously among its cozy cottages, lush gardens, roadside farm stands and beautiful beaches.

‘Chop Fry Watch Learn’ by Michelle T. King

Exploring the author’s love of Chinese cuisine and the story of Fu Pei-mei, China’s answer to Julia Child, this delicious book is a must-read for cooks and food lovers.

‘Long Island’ by Colm Tóibín

Almost two decades after his seminal Brooklyn, Tóibín revisits Eilis Lacey, a complicated Irish wife and mother with a hard choice to make. A stunning novel about love, loneliness and loss.

‘I Curse You with Joy’ by Tiffany Haddish

In the follow-up to her 2017 bestseller The Last Black Unicorn, Haddish returns with a new collection of insightful, reflective essays, writing on topics like the lasting effect of childhood trauma and comedy mentorship from Bob Saget.

“I’ve learned to take tomatoes being thrown at me and turn them into tomato sauce,” the actress tells PEOPLE. “And I’m going to make some spaghetti.”

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”You Never Know’ by Tom Selleck

The Emmy Award-winning actor is looking back on his “lucky life” and career, from his days on Magnum, P.I. to his role as a family man.

“I don’t have the hooks that a lot of people do,” Selleck tells PEOPLE. “I didn’t rehabilitate myself or have this tragic life. I had my own share of certainly ups and downs, but I’ve been very fortunate.”