For each date, we’ve chosen a book that was written by an author following the success of that author’s viral bestseller. As readers, many of us scan the Bestseller Lists to find a new, noteworthy book…and then forget to keep track of the author’s career.

Together, we’ll revisit some of these books and decide if we’ve stumbled on an overlooked gem, or if that author was simply a flash in the pan. Either way, we’ll all enjoy donuts, so there’s nothing to lose.

May’s book will be The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom (best known for Tuesdays with Morrie).

Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in. ‘Thank the Lord we found you,’ a passenger says. ‘I am the Lord,’ the man whispers….In The Stranger in the Lifeboat, Albom keeps us guessing until the end: Is this strange and quiet man really who he claims to be? What actually happened to cause the explosion? Are the survivors already in heaven, or are they in hell? The story is narrated by Benji, one of the passengers, who recounts the events in a notebook that is later discovered—a year later—when the empty life raft washes up on the island of Montserrat. It falls to the island’s chief inspector, Jarty LeFleur, a man battling his own demons, to solve the mystery of what really happened.

See all selections here.