FIRST PERSON
May BookPage interviews:

Jeanne Ray: Writing is all in the family

Jeanne Ray has redefined life after 60, for herself and her readers. This month Ray releases her second book, Step-Ball-Change, and breathes new life into the "old married couple" misconception.

Somewhere between Dr. Seuss and Dr. Ruth, funnyman Al Franken's Oh, the Things I Know! offers this year's graduates a far more pragmatic approach to life's ups and downs than they're likely to hear on commencement day. You've been warned: this is not Tuesdays with Morrie.

FEATURES

SPOTLIGHT: What love's got to do with it -- Mother's Day

When good books go bad: Movie Mayhem

Careers: Tips for climbing the ladder

Accents: A sampling of Hispanic fiction

FICTION

Unless by Carol Shields

Her by Laura Zigman

The Cadence of Grass by Thomas McGuane

The Company by Robert Littell

Sons of Heaven by Terrence Cheng

Flashover by Suzanne Chazin

Hollow Ground by Stephen Marion

Househusband by Ad Hudler

The Seal Wife by Kathryn Harrison

Learning to Fly by April Henry

The Cranefly Orchid Murders by Cynthia Riggs

Walk Through Darkness by Anthony Durham

Some Days There's Pie by Catherine Landis

SCIENCE FICTION

Galactic waves cross the sea of suns

BOOK CLUBS

May paperback releases offer good choices for reading groups

The Lost Childhood: A World War II Memoir by Yehuda Nir

A Twisted Tale by Carolyn Fisher

Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers

The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill

Mud is Cake by Pam Muñoz Ryan

A Big Bed for Jed by Laurie Friedman

The Little French Whistle by Carole Lexa Schaefer

Song of the Circus by Lois Duncan

NONFICTION

Memoir
A Boy I Once Knew: The Story of a Teacher and Her Student by Elizabeth Stone
Lake Effect by Rich Cohen

Biography
Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters by Robert Gordon
The Fly Swatter: How My Grandfather Made His Way in the World by Nicholas Dawidoff

History
Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy by Diana Preston
November: Lincoln's Elegy at Gettysburg by Kent Gramm

Science
The Turk by Tom Standage

Showbiz
Shoot Out: Surviving the Fame and (Mis)Fortune of Hollywood by Peter Bart and Peter Guber

Politics
Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro

Racing
Horse of a Different Color by Jim Squires

Society
The Birth of Pleasure by Carol Gilligan

Journalism
The Last Editor by Jim Bellows

Music
Stardust Melodies: A Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs by Will Friedwald

AUDIO
The Spoken Word: Julia Roberts tells all in Nanny audio

MYSTERIES
Whodunit?: The month's new mysteries

COOKING
Kitchen counter intelligence

BETWEEN THE WINES
California drinkin'

ROMANCE
Quick romantic getaways

NEW AND GOOD
Jeffrey Lent's superb second act

BUSINESS & FINANCE
Cures for the post-tax hangover