Books you need to read in May, including Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey’s The Office BFFs and Remarkably Bright Creatures

Also Metaphysical Animals and How To Prevent The Next Pandemic

By Alison Foreman, Saloni Gajjar | May 1, 2022 | 7:00am

Books News Jenna Fischer

Books you need to read in May, including Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey’s The Office BFFs and Remarkably Bright Creatures

How To Prevent The Next Pandemic by Bill Gates (Knopf); Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (Ecco); We Do What We Do In The Dark by Michelle Hart (Riverhead Books); Metaphysical Animals by Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman (Doubleday); Mean Baby: A Memoir Of Growing Up by Selma Blair (Knopf) Graphic: Allison Corr

Every month, a deluge of new books comes flooding out from big publishers, indie houses, and self-publishing platforms. To help you navigate the wave of titles coming to shelves this May, The A.V. Club has narrowed down the options to the seven books we’re most excited about.

How To Prevent The Next Pandemic

Bill Gates (Knopf, May 3)Yes, it’s grim to imagine preparing for another pandemic as the COVID-19 virus rages on more than two years into this godforsaken nightmare. But there’s real value in considering how this public health crisis has impacted humanity in the long term—and taking serious steps to make changes for the future begins with concentrated reflection in the present. Epidemiology enthusiast/billionaire Bill Gates shares what his researchers have learned from the coronavirus pandemic in his tidily titled How To Prevent The Next Pandemic. Gates also lays out a three-step plan for future public health disaster prevention that includes improvements in vaccination technology and a worldwide “pathogen surveillance system” which, going just by the name, sounds cool as hell. [Alison Foreman]

5 Comments