Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

May 25 2018
Share Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

Many of our longtime Off the Shelf subscribers have already discovered “Your Shelf” on our website. If you’re new here, you can create your own reading list from books you find on OfftheShelf.com with our “Your Shelf” feature.

To start building “Your Shelf,” simply sign up for an Off the Shelf account. Then, when you see a book you want to add to your reading list, click “Add to Your Shelf” below the book cover, and we’ll save your favorites for you.

These are the 10 “most shelved” books on Off the Shelf right now.

Dumplin'
by Julie Murphy

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin' is guaranteed to steal your heart. Willowdean, called "Dumplin'" by her former beauty queen mom, has always been at home in her own skin. But when she takes a job at a local fast-food joint and enters into a relationship with a hot former jock, Willowdean starts doubting herself—and her looks. So she sets out to take back her confidence by entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any skinny girl does.

Read, recommend, and repeat these feel-good novels.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
Dumplin'
Julie Murphy

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo

MENTIONED IN:

9 Literary Characters Keeping Us Company While We’re Social Distancing

By Holly Claytor | April 1, 2020

13 Feel-Good Novels You’re Going to Love

By Taylor Noel | March 18, 2020

A Dolly Parton-Inspired TBR: 7 Books for Fans of the Queen of Country

By Off the Shelf Staff | February 19, 2020

Readers’ Choice: The Top 25 Most Shelved Books of the Year!

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 24, 2018

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

Close
Oh My Stars
by Lorna Landvik

As if growing up during the Great Depression wasn’t enough, Violet Mathers is also abandoned by her mother, mistreated by her father, teased by her schoolmates, and seriously injured in a terrible accident. When her bus to a new life in California breaks down in North Dakota, Violet thinks Fate is having another cruel laugh, but it may actually deliver her to two kindhearted musicians and a chance for real happiness. I first read this book as a teen and thought my sobs were puberty-related, but I read the book again as an adult and the emotional impact was even stronger.

Discover more tear-jerking reads.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
Oh My Stars
Lorna Landvik

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

Readers’ Choice: September’s 10 Most Shelved Books on Off the Shelf

By Off the Shelf Staff | September 29, 2017

10 Books That Will Make You Ugly Cry

By Taylor Noel | June 12, 2017

Close
Death by Black Hole
by Neil deGrasse Tyson

One of America's best-known astrophysicists, Neil deGrasse Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies the complexities of astrophysics while sharing his infectious fascination for our universe. Bringing together more than 40 of his essays, DEATH BY BLACK HOLE explores myriad cosmic topics, from what it would be like to be inside a black hole to the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right.

These books for stargazer will make you Neil deGrasse Tyson-smart.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
Death by Black Hole
Neil deGrasse Tyson

One of America's best-known astrophysicists, Neil deGrasse Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies the complexities of astrophysics while sharing his infectious fascination for our universe. Bringing together more than 40 of his essays, DEATH BY BLACK HOLE explores myriad cosmic topics, from what it would be like to be inside a black hole to the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

Close
Illumination Night
by Alice Hoffman

Set on Martha’s Vineyard, ILLUMINATION NIGHT follows the lives of a young blond giant, an old woman at the end of her life, a family torn apart, and a high school girl who brings them all together. An exploration of passion and redemption, this is a classic Hoffman blend of magic and modernity that will leave any reader satisfied.

Add these Alice Hoffman essentials to your TBR.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
Illumination Night
Alice Hoffman

Set on Martha’s Vineyard, ILLUMINATION NIGHT follows the lives of a young blond giant, an old woman at the end of her life, a family torn apart, and a high school girl who brings them all together. An exploration of passion and redemption, this is a classic Hoffman blend of magic and modernity that will leave any reader satisfied.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

12 Essential Alice Hoffman Books

By Julianna Haubner | November 18, 2016

Close
The Position
by Meg Wolitzer

Can you imagine anything more horrifying than your parents writing a JOY OF SEX–like book that becomes a mega-bestseller? Paul and Roz Mellow’s four children grow up under the shadow of such Kama Sutra. Sure, it’s the 1970s, but even then no one wanted to learn that much about sex from their parents. If you love Meg Wolitzer’s wit and insights in
THE INTERESTINGS
, THE WIFE, and her new one, THE FEMALE PERSUASION, you’ll love her smart, funny, delicious novel THE POSITION, about love and sex and family in all its heartfelt, complicated forms.

Drop everything and pick up these amazing books.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
The Position
Meg Wolitzer

Imagine if your parents wrote a bestselling Joy of Sex–type book when you were in middle school. A horror like that would not ever go away, even thirty years later when your parents are long divorced, and you and your siblings are adults with sex lives of your own. The Position isn’t as well known as Meg Wolitzer’s bestseller The Interestings, but for my money, it’s even more delicious.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo

MENTIONED IN:

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

8 Books that Make Us Want to Drop Everything and Read

By Off the Shelf Staff | April 12, 2018

12 Favorite Novels from a Longtime Industry Insider

By Wendy Sheanin | August 20, 2015

Close
The Power
by Naomi Alderman

Declared as this generation’s HANDMAID’S TALE (with a blurb from Margaret Atwood!) this speculative novel brings us into a recognizable future, where a vital new force—teenage girls with the power to cause pain and death—drastically disrupts and resets the status quo. The result is a thrilling, thought-provoking, and timely read.

See more of Barack Obama’s favorite books.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
The Power
Naomi Alderman

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo

MENTIONED IN:

Women Who Break the Rules: 7 Reads With Daring Female Characters

By Megan Campisi | April 7, 2020

11 Breathtaking Quotes in Literature That Will Inspire Your Writing

By Tolani Osan | November 15, 2019

The 5 Best Books We Read Last Year

By Off the Shelf Staff | January 16, 2019

4 Books to Read After Watching The Handmaid’s Tale

By Get Literary | September 18, 2018

The 5 Best Book Club Books I Read in 2018

By Elizabeth Breeden | September 4, 2018

Books to Read After Reading The Power

By Cara Nesi | July 18, 2018

Close
The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri’s beloved novel follows the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta to their new home of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their son, Gogol, is thus forced to walk the difficult path of a first-generation American, navigating loyalty, cultural identity, and love. It is a story of expectations, experiences, and self-definition that will resonate with any reader.

Here are more authors we desperately need new books from.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
The Namesake
Jhumpa Lahiri

I thought my first exposure to Jhumpa Lahiri’s masterful take on the experiences of Indian immigrants was in college, but I should have known better. The Gilmores pay tribute to Lahiri through a mention of her powerful story about the Ganguli family as they travel from their traditional life in Calcutta to their fraught transformation into Americans.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

12 Authors I Desperately Need New Books From

By Taylor Noel | April 16, 2018

Coming to America: 13 Immigrant Stories That Represent Our History

By Julianna Haubner | March 2, 2017

13 Book Recommendations from the Gilmore Girls Themselves

By Erin Madison | November 22, 2016

Close
Red Clocks
by Leni Zumas

With abortion once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization banned, and the rights of life, liberty, and property granted to every embryo, five women from varying circumstances navigate these new barriers while grappling with teenage pregnancy, a longing for single motherhood, and a modern-day witch hunt.

See more recommendations straight off library bookshelves.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
Red Clocks
Leni Zumas

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

10 Recommendations Straight Off Library Bookshelves

By Off the Shelf Staff | April 13, 2018

12 Tips for How to Read as Many Books as Possible

By Taylor Noel | April 5, 2018

Close
No One Is Coming to Save Us
by Stephanie Powell Watts

In this Gatsbyesque novel, JJ returns home to Pinewood, North Carolina, to build a huge mansion and woo his high school sweetheart. But the ostentatious wealth that JJ has attained forces everyone to consider the cards they’ve been dealt, what more they want and deserve, and how they might go about getting it.

Check out this cheat sheet of the most popular celebrity book clubs.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
No One Is Coming to Save Us
Stephanie Powell Watts

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

Readers’ Choice: The Top 25 Most Shelved Books of the Year!

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 24, 2018

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

Choose Your Own Celebrity Book Club in 5 Books

By Lara Blackman | May 1, 2018

14 Books to Read in Between Episodes of Your Favorite TV Shows

By Tolani Osan | November 3, 2017

Close
The Room on Rue Amélie
by Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel’s rich and emotional novel follows three characters—Ruby, a newlywed who arrives in the city just as the Nazis are about to invade; Charlotte, a young Jewish girl who watches her life fall apart when the deportations begin; and Thomas, a British Royal Air Force pilot who finds himself forever changed by what he encounters in the City of Light—as fate brings them together under the shadow of the occupation. Together, they must learn to survive, and open themselves to the possibility of a future. If you liked THE NIGHTINGALE or ALL THE LIGHT YOU CANNOT SEE, this would be a great next read.

Check out the ultimate guide to reading your way through Paris.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
The Room on Rue Amélie
Kristin Harmel

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo

MENTIONED IN:

9 Book Club Picks to Cozy Up with This Winter

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2018

6 Favorite Books New in Paperback This November

By Meagan Harris | November 19, 2018

How to Find the Perfect Book Genre For You

By Taylor Noel | September 19, 2018

Travel the World Without Leaving Your Couch

By One.More.Page | July 21, 2018

9 Books to Read for Outlander Fans

By Caroline Giddis | July 9, 2018

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 25, 2018

Close

You must be logged in to add books to your shelf.

Please log in or sign up now.