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As April rolls in with fresh spring showers, many of us are tucked away into our homes, practicing our social distancing and waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep any stir-craziness or news-anxiety at bay, most of us are turning to solo hobbies like embroidery kits, fun online classes and a trust good read. The good news? We’ve got a truly eclectic mix of books to look forward to this month.
ICYMI, we’re teaming up with the literary experts at Goodreads to bring you each month’s most anticipated books of the year. This month features something for everyone. Fans of historical fiction will enjoy the thought-provoking “Swimming In The Dark” by Tomasz Jedrowski and “The Book Of Lost Friends” by Lisa Wingate. There’s plenty of thrillers and mind-benders as well, such as “Death In Her Hands” by Ottessa Mosh. For those feeling uncertain at work, Marie Kondo is back with “Joy At Work: Organizing Your Professional Life.”
While you can find all of the books below on Amazon, it’s worth noting that Amazon is slow-tracking deliveries of books and other non-essentials right now, so you might be better off opting for audio or ebook versions. Now is also the time to support your local bookstores. Many small businesses are finding new ways to serve their customers, so it’s also worth checking out whether your local independent bookshop has set up a delivery service directly or through its distributors.
However you find your next page-turner, in the meantime, we’ve pulled together the most anticipated books coming out in April. Be sure to check out the best books that just came out in March, while you’re at it.
1. “Afterlife” by Julia Alvarez
Amazon
“Afterlife” follows immigrant writer Antonia Vega as she navigates the chaos of a life turned upside down. Her husband suddenly dies, her sister disappears and a pregnant, undocumented teenager shows up on her doorstep. Julia Alvarez, author of “
In The Time Of The Butterflies” and “
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents,” is back for the first time in almost 15 years with this sharp novel about having faith in a broken world. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 7
Amazon
Readers will recognize Veronica Roth as author of the best-selling
Divergent series. Roth is back with her first adult fiction novel, “Chosen Ones.” The book picks up ten years after a group of teenagers — one of whom is fated to become “the Chosen One” — defeats an otherworldly enemy that was holding the world in terror. Now in their twenties, the group reunites after one of their own dies and discovers that the evil they thought was gone may have been lurking in the shadows all along. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 7
Amazon
This debut novel by Afia Atakora spins the tale of three women in the South as the Civil War unfolds. A mother and daughter with a shared gift for healing — and curses — and their master’s daughter. The bonds between these women and their places in society are tested when an “accursed child” is born, spreading fear and superstition throughout the community. Goodreads calls this novel “Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, [and] richly imagined.” Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 7
Amazon
Mimi and Don Galvin seem to be living the American dream in the sixties and seventies. Then, six of their 12 children are diagnosed with schizophrenia. “Hidden Valley Road” tells the true story of the Galvin family and how their legacy still shapes what we know about schizophrenia and the science behind it today. Goodreads calls this a “heartrending story” about the family’s legacy of suffering, love and hope. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 7
Amazon
She’s back! And this time she’s coming to tidy up your work life. Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein walk through ways to apply the KonMari Method to your desk, work calendar, emails and more. Find out how a tidy desk can help you find success, joy and productivity in your job. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 7
Amazon
In 1875, three women set off on a journey to Texas from Louisiana through the perilous post-war South. Lavinia and Juneau Jane seek inheritance, while Hannie is desperate for any information about the mother and eight siblings she was torn from before slavery’s end. Later, in 1987, Benedetta Silva stumbles upon the women’s story when she moves for a teaching job in a rural Mississippi River town. Wingate bases this historical fiction tale on real “Lost Friends” advertisements that ran in Southern newspapers following the Civil War. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 7
Amazon
What do you do when a handsome, mysterious stranger moves into town right before neighborhood children start to go missing? You call up your true crime-novel-loving book club, of course! Grady Hendrix’s latest horror novel follows a suburban bookclub as they face the monster next door in this wild tale set in the early nineties. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 7
Amazon
“Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” When the elderly and widowed Vesta Gul stumbles across this note while walking her dog in the forest, she becomes instantly obsessed with the mysterious Magda and what happened to her. However, how reliable is Vesta herself? Can her narration on events really be trusted? This “metaphysical suspense” novel will keep you questioning until the very end. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 21
Amazon
It’s been one year since Marin Machado’s four-year-old son disappeared, turning what seemed like a perfect life upside down. Marin is about to lose all hope when a private investigator brings her some unexpected news: Her husband is seeing a younger woman —and this woman might know what happened to her son. Buckle in for Jennifer Hillier’s new thriller, “Little Secrets.” Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 21
Amazon
“Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism, a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide.” Don’t miss Tomasz Jedrowski’s debut novel, which Goodreads calls lyrical, sensual, immersive and intense. Read more about it on
Goodreads, and grab a copy on
Amazon.
Expected release date: April 28
