May means barbecues, blooming flowers, Congressional appropriations activity, and of course the Gaithersburg Book Festival. Alright, maybe Congress wasn’t that busy with the FY14 budget, but we here at the Independent were busy: we posted reviews of 31 books and 20 other author interviews, blog posts, and other features in May. Here are the ones that were most popular with readers:

1) May Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri. Y’all love your poetry, don’t you? Grace Cavalieri’s monthly feature is unique and wonderful. I never considered myself into poetry but I always read Exemplars and I always learn something.

2) Five Reasons To Sign Up For The Books Alive! Conference. I have an inside scoop on this one, and I can share with you readers that the Independent’s David O. Stewart spent an entire afternoon just trying to whittle it down to five.

3) The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo by Scott D. Seligman. Ann White reviews this biography of a Chinese-born man who moved to the U.S. in the late 1800s, started a Chinese American newspaper, and fought for the rights of Chinese in America. 

4) Author Q&A with Eleanor Morse. Janice Bailey interviews the author, most recently, of White Dog Fell from the Sky, a rich and intimate portrait of Botswana and of three people’s tragic and extraordinary intertwined lives.

5) Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick. Gary Knight reviews this new look at the personalities, politics and strategies of the Revolutionary War’s first, pivotal battle.