May 2026 Book Vote
This month's genre: Memoir
Welcome to May's book vote.
Take a look at the synopses below and vote for the one that appeals to you most as a Gloss Book Club selection.
Each month we spend a considerable amount of time researching books to include in our vote, we consider a wide range of factors such as requests, global availability, price per market, author diversity, book length, and reader review ratings. It's not a quick process, but it's an important one. We hope you'll enjoy our selections.
Share the vote...
American Negra
by Natasha S. Alford
Pages:288
Synopsis
Award-winning journalist Natasha S. Alford grew up between two worlds as the daughter of an African American father and Puerto Rican mother. In American Negra, a narrative that is part memoir, part cultural analysis, Alford reflects on growing up in a working-class family from the city of Syracuse, NY. In smart, vivid prose, Alford illustrates the complexity of being multiethnic in Upstate New York and society’s flawed teachings about matters of identity. When she travels to Puerto Rico for the first time, she is the darkest in her family, and navigates shame for not speaking Spanish fluently. She visits African-American hair salons where she’s told that she has “good” hair, while internalizing images that as a Latina she has "bad” hair or pelo malo. When Alford goes from an underfunded public school system to Harvard University surrounded by privilege and pedigree, she wrestles with more than her own ethnic identity, as she is faced with imposter syndrome, a shocking medical diagnosis, and a struggle to define success on her own terms. A study abroad trip to the Dominican Republic changes her perspective on Afro-Latinidad and sets her on a path to better understand her own Latin roots. Alford then embarks on a whirlwind journey to find her authentic voice, taking her across the United States from a hedge fund boardroom to a classroom and ultimately a newsroom, as a journalist. A coming-of-age story about what it's like to live at the intersections of race, culture, gender, and class, all while staying true to yourself, American Negra is a captivating look at one woman’s experience being Negra in the United States. As the movement to highlight Afro-Latin identity and overlooked histories of the African diaspora grows, American Negra illustrates the diversity of the Black experience in the larger fabric of American society.
Everyone But Myself
by Julie Chavez
Pages:240
Synopsis
Like so many mothers, Julie Chavez ran herself ragged trying to meet the needs of everyone else, until an unexpected panic attack forced her to find a new way. Funny, deeply honest, and inspiring for readers feeling overwhelmed in their own lives, Everyone But Myself feels like a best friend sharing how she pulled herself back to solid ground while embracing chaos along the way. "In my experience, the phrase 'all of a sudden' is rarely applicable when it comes to mental health." For Chavez, an elementary school librarian and mother of two boys, the signs of mounting anxiety and depression had been present for a while, though she had done her very best to ignore them. Then, one night, while her husband was away on business, Julie found herself locked in a debilitating panic attack that threw her life into a tailspin. The terrifying aftershocks left her grappling with questions about the origin of her anxiety and where it would lead next. What follows is a funny, unflinchingly open account of love and loss, comically negligent doctors, husbands who can't read minds, family outings gone wrong, and the life-affirming joy of a life well loved and well lived. Written with humor and hope, and sure to resonate with mothers spread thin by the demands of modern family life, Everyone But Myself offers an intimate portrait of how one woman found her way back from the edge.
My Side of The River
by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
Pages:272
Synopsis
Born to Mexican immigrants south of the Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth had the world at her fingertips as she entered her freshman year of high school as the number one student. But suddenly, Elizabeth's own country took away the most important right a child has: a right to have a family. As her parents’ visas expired, they were forced to return to Mexico, leaving Elizabeth responsible for her younger brother, as well as her education. Determined to break the cycle of being “a statistic,” she knew that even though her parents couldn’t stay, there was no way she could let go of the opportunities the U.S. could provide. Armed with only her passport and sheer teenage determination, Elizabeth became what her school would eventually describe as an unaccompanied, homeless youth, one of thousands of underage victims affected by family separation due to broken immigration laws. For fans of Educated by Tara Westover and The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande, My Side of the River explores separation, generational trauma, and the toll of the American dream. It’s also, at its core, a love story between a brother and a sister who, no matter the cost, is determined to make the pursuit of his own dreams easier than it was for her.
Ambition Monster
by Jennifer Romolini
Pages:303
Synopsis
A deeply personal memoir about workaholism, the addictive nature of ambition, and the humbling process of picking yourself up when the world lets you down—an anti-girlboss tale for our times for readers of A Love Story and Uncanny Valley.After years of relentlessly racing up the professional ladder, Jennifer Romolini reached the kind of success many a high-profile, C-suite dream job, a book well-received enough that reporters wanted to know the secrets to her success, and a gig traveling around the country giving speeches on “making it.” She had a handsome and clever husband, a precocious child, and a home in a desirable Los Angeles neighborhood. But beneath this shiny surface, Romolini was falling apart. Written with self-deprecation and wit, Ambition Monster is a gutsy and powerful look at workaholism and the addictive nature of achievement, the lingering effect of childhood trauma, and the failures of our modern rat race. This is a Cinderella story of success and a brutal appraisal of the cost of capitalism—perfect for people pleasers, overachievers, and those whose traumas have driven them to strike for “goodness,” no matter the cost. With its timely and resonant deconstructing of the American Dream, Ambition Monster is a singular excavation of selfhood, an essential interrogation about the way we work, and an inspiring and affirming call to always bet on yourself.
17 Comments
Voted for Everyone but Myself, as it hopefully has some bits of humor as the synopsis says – just need something that isn’t a full on gut read .
Agreed!
Agree
Everyone But Myself, or, Ambition Monster
Voted for Ambition Monster as this is a theme that resonates with me personally.
Looks like itcwill be a great read
Oooh, I can’t decide! Everyone But Myself or Ambition Monster… they both speak to me.
Everyone but myself as it resonated with me. Personally similar story and all too common and all too often hidden and not talked about in every day life. Looking forward to reading her numerous take on how she coped and sharing it with the world.
Ambition Monster all the way! Very relatable theme
I voted for Everyone But Myself as I need a bit of humor added into books like this.
I voted for My Side of the River as the theme resonates with ongoing situations in the U.S. A close second was American Negra, with the struggle to feel accepted due to factors beyond someone’s control, but it sounds similar to How Dare the Sun Rise, which also taps into those themes and was also an interesting read. Everyone But Myself and Ambition Monster both sound interesting, so regardless, I’m looking forward to this month’s pick.
I voted for Everyone But Myself, I like a nice light read 🙂
I voted for American Negra, but would be interested in reading any of these books. I can take a little sadness, as long as there is some hope and inspiration thrown in the mix.
Everything but Myself…..sermed the “best” choice out of what we wrre goven, not particularly drawn to any of them to be honest. I hope its not a “wade through it knee deep” type of book.
I voted for Everyone But Myself. I’ve dealt with depression and anxiety for decades and it is hopefully relatable to readers around the globe.
I voted for Everyone But Myself. I’ve dealt with depression and anxiety for decades and it is hopefully relatable to readers around the globe.
I voted for Everyone But Myself as I need to know how a bit of humour was part of this. Although i am way past that time of having 2 hands to do 200 jobs i could do with some day dreaming and change the way i now think of my early years .