PEOPLE’s Best Books to Read in May 2024: Tom Selleck and Tiffany Haddish Share Joy and Pain of Fame in New Memoirs

See our picks for the best books of the month

From novels about survival and friendship, to new memoirs from Tom Selleck and Tiffany Haddish — here are PEOPLE's picks for the best books of May 2024.

'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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Related: Tiffany Haddish Defends Her X-Rated Comedy in New Memoir: ‘I’m Not Clair Huxtable’ (Exclusive)

''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.”

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Related: Tom Selleck Recalls ‘Complicated’ Dilemma That Led to Passing on Indiana Jones Role (Exclusive)

'By the Time You Read This: The Space between Cheslie's Smile and Mental Illness' by April Simpkins and Cheslie Kryst

When Extra correspondent and 2019 Miss USA Cheslie Kryst died by suicide in 2022, her mother, April Simpkins, thought that "my body is just going to shut down." Now, Simpkins has fulfilled her daughter's wish of finishing and publishing her memoir.

"I know there were people who were shocked and did not understand," Simpkins tells PEOPLE. "But when I got to a point that I could process the things that she was saying, I understood the place where she was."

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Related: Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst's New Memoir Reveals Private Agony Before Her Suicide at Age 30 (Exclusive Excerpt)

'Daughters of Shandong' by Eve J. Chung

Throw open the doors of your heart for the lionhearted girls of Chung’s gripping debut, based on her own family’s history. Along with their mother, Hai, Di and baby Lan are left behind when their wealthy family flees the Communists: As females, they are that worthless. Finding no landowner at home, the cadres drag Hai to a denunciation rally she barely survives. But these women just keep overcoming the odds—they are heroines for the ages. — Marion Winik

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'Reunion' by Elise Juska

A quaint Maine college lures three friends out of pandemic sequestration for their 25th reunion, spurring an intense reevaluation of their lives. A pitch-perfect depiction of New England campus culture, COVID-era child-rearing and how the complexities of adulthood accumulate. — Claire Martin

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