9 Must-Read Books Coming Out this April
They say April showers bring May flowers — which may or may not be true — but, honestly, I don’t care if it’s factually accurate or just lyrical and catchy.
The thing I like most about April showers is the opportunity these bursts of rain afford to curl up with a book — without being labeled a lazy ass who doesn’t like to venture out of doors.
Whether you prefer to do your reading snuggled on a sofa, listening to the patter of rain on the windows or, instead, you actually appreciate connecting with nature while reading — which, I mean, I do… as long as this natural connection includes a porch and a mimosa — there are plenty of amazing books coming out this month from which to choose.
Check out the April new releases we are particularly excited about as you finalize your TBR for the month.
In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills
by Jennifer Haupt
Release Date - April 1, 2018
Genre - Literary Fiction
The concept of paternal abandonment is hardly a new one — because lots of men suck — but, I would argue, that dads who ditch their families usually run off to Detroit or Provo or Boston or some other entirely unexotic place.
When Rachel’s father left her and her mother, he deviated substantially from this norm, venturing all the way to Rwanda in a desperate search for a woman he once loved and lost.
It was always hard for Rachel to understand why her father chose to leave his family. But now, as she stands poised to become a mother herself in a matter of months, she finds his decision even more confounding.
When her pregnancy ends tragically and unexpectedly, Rachel is left with a hole in her heart. A hole that she can only fill by seeking out answers to the questions she’s been asking herself since her father’s departure over a decade prior.
But when she sets out, seeking answers, what she finds are even more questions.
Set against the backdrop of the Rwandan genocide this multi-faceted and important story explores love, loss, and family in a rich and surprisingly uplifting way.
The Female Persuasion
by Meg Wolitzer
Release Date - April 3, 2018
Genre - Women’s Fiction
Meeting — or, even better, forming a relationship with — someone you idolize may seem like it would be amazing. I’ve always suspected, however, that it wouldn’t be all it’s cracked up to be.
If I met Colin Firth, for example, I would likely find him less a brooding and inexplicably attractive Mr. Darcy type and more a scrawny, exceedingly British man who, like many Europeans, sees emotional displays as a weakness of sorts.
That doesn’t mean I would jump at the chance to meet him, however. Really, Colin… Call me.
The idol that the protagonist of this novel, Greer Kadetsky, has always longed to meet is less rom-com heartthrob and more cultural icon.
And when Greer has the opportunity to meet Faith Frank, a women’s rights movement pioneer, she obviously jumps at the chance.
But when her meeting with Faith Frank results in the opportunity to actually work with her in advancing the mission towards which Frank has fought for years, Greer has to truly decide once and for all what’s most important to her.
Does being a warrior for women’s rights mean abandoning Cory, the man she’s been madly in love with for years? Or can she have it all?
Ultimately, the experience that Greer hoped would give her the opportunity to learn all about her idol transforms into one that forces her to reflect upon who she is, what she wants and how she should move forward in her life.
Other People's Houses
by Abbi Waxman
Release Date - April 3, 2018
Genre - Women’s Fiction
We use to have block parties in my neighborhood. That all ended when one of the neighbors went home to get a second bottle of Jack from his liquor cabinet and found his wife having sex with another neighbor in the laundry room. #RemindMeNotToUseYourLaundryFacilities
I use to think that this was a decidedly unique occurrence.
Surely, America is not full of neighborhoods like this.
Well, now I wonder — due, in large part, to the similarity between my experience and that of the protagonist of this Abbi Waxman book.
When she volunteered to act as carpool mom, Frances Bloom didn’t expect that, during the performance of her vehicular duties, she would learn so much more about her neighbors than she ever wanted to.
But, she does.
And, for the most part, she can take this unwanted knowledge in stride.
The situation is heightened, however, when she finds one of the other mothers in her circle having floor-sex — which is, literally, the worst kind of sex #GetABed — with a man who isn’t her husband. Not really knowing what else to do, Frances decides to keep that little tidbit to herself.
Despite her silence, however, the woman’s husband finds out about the affair kicks her out.
Now Frances is in an even more precarious position. Does she stay quiet as she had planned? Or does she intervene and try to save a marriage and, in doing so, restore harmony to her recently rocked community of carpool moms?
Before I Let You Go
by Kelly Rimmer
Release Date - April 3, 2018
Genre - Women’s Fiction
When Lexie Vidler is unexpectedly awakened by a 2:00 am phone call, she gets quite the shock. On the other end of the line is her sister, whom she hasn’t heard from in years.
Their relationship was strained by her sister, Annie’s, continued substance abuse issues. So, when Lexie receives the call, she’s pretty certain it’s going to be another “I need you to bail me out” situation.
And Annie does need Lexie to bail her out.
But not from jail.
The predicament in which Annie has found herself now is even more dire.
This time, Annie — who is still using drugs — is in preterm labor. Complicating matters, she can’t go to the hospital, or they will take — and, likely, keep — her baby.
Despite the fact that Lexie long-ago swore off enabling her sister, given the seriousness of the situation, she doesn’t feel like she has any choice but to help.
But as Lexie fights to help Annie and her newborn daughter, she finds the life she has worked so hard to establish for herself slipping away. With both her job and her relationship on the line, Lexie is faced with an almost impossible choice.
Can Lexie save Annie from herself without losing everything in the process?
And, even more complicated, as Annie works to deal with the problems that lead her down this self-destructive path to begin with, is Lexie able to handle the truths that are uncovered?
Love and Other Words
by Christina Lauren
Release Date - April 10, 2018
Genre - Women’s Fiction / Romance
Macy Sorensen has life figured out — on paper.
She’s professionally successful, working as a pediatric resident, and is planning her wedding to a man who is financially secure and settled.
Nothing could ruin this for her.
But then, obviously, something does.
Unexpectedly, Macy has a chance encounter with her first love, Elliot Petropoulos.
But, it gets worse.
As it turns out, Elliot wasn’t just Macy’s first love, he was also her only love.
Which really takes the romance out of that wedding prep.
As the narrative alternates between the present and the past, we learn more about the events in Macy’s life that lead her to the precipice on which she now stands.
Can she move forward with her planned nuptials?
Or does she owe it to herself to re-open the book she closed so long ago and explore her relationship with Elliot further?
After Anna
by Lisa Scottoline
Release Date - April 10, 2018
Genre - Thriller
When people in their 20s date, they avoid partners with baggage like the plague. But, as the number of candles on that birthday cake increases, finding a partner who didn’t become weighed-down by some things they experienced while living life becomes almost an impossibility.
Which is why I married at 23. Well, that and I happened to meet a man who cooked and did laundry and cleaned like a son of a bitch!
The central couple in this newest Lisa Scottoline thriller, Noah and Maggie, both bring with them enough baggage to garner some serious airline fees.
Noah is a widower and single father and Maggie has her own tumultuous relationship past — and a daughter, Anna, who has been absent from Maggie’s life since infancy.
Much to Maggie’s delight, the period of estrangement ends and Anna, now 17, re-enters her life, becoming part of this new, modern family. Given her happiness with the situation, Maggie overlooks a lot — including red flags that signal the arrival of trouble, both between Maggie and Anna and Maggie and her husband.
And then everything falls apart.
Anna is murdered and, as if matters couldn’t get any worse, the prime suspect in the crime is Maggie’s new husband, Noah.
Now Maggie has to deal with both the loss of the daughter she just got back and the possibility that the man she vowed to love and honor forever was the one who brought this reunion to an abrupt and tragic close.
As Maggie seeks answers she’s forced to dig through her baggage and confront truths that are darker than she ever imagined.
Then She Was Gone
by Lisa Jewell
Release Date - April 17, 2018
Genre - Thriller
There are certain things you just never get over.
Losing a child is one of those things.
But, despite the seeming impossibility of continuing your life as normal with one of your children gone, that’s just what Laurel Mack has to do.
It’s been ten years since Laurel’s youngest daughter, Ellie, went missing.
And though her daughter might have been the first thing she lost, she certainly wasn’t the last. Since Ellie’s disappearance, Laurel’s lost lots of things — including her marriage.
When the last piece of evidence in Ellie’s case comes to light, Laurel is hoping she can finally put this behind her and begin rebuilding an at-least-tolerable life.
One of the first steps in doing this is finding another partner. Someone who’s nice and kind and, most importantly, allows Laurel to feel something besides pain.
Laurel thinks she’s found this when she meets Floyd. When what started as a flirtation quickly advances to a full-on relationship, Laurel thinks that maybe — finally — things are turning around.
Then Laurel meets Floyd’s daughters.
And then everything changes.
When Laurel lays eyes on Floyd’s youngest daughter, Poppy, she doesn’t know what to do. Much to Laurel’s shock, she can’t look at Poppy and not immediately see Ellie, her long-ago-lost daughter.
This encounter sends Laurel into a frenzy of questions.
What really did happen to Ellie?
Who is Floyd?
And, most importantly, how is it possible that Poppy reminds Laurel so much of the daughter she lost a decade prior?
Dead Girl Running
By Christina Dodd
Release Date - April 24, 2018
Genre - Thriller
Kellen Adams has been running from her past for as long as she can remember. Not only did she escape from an abusive husband, she has the physical scars to show for her tumultuous former life — most specifically, a scar from a gunshot on her forehead.
I’ve got a scar, too, but mine’s on my elbow and I got it when I slipped on a wet floor and hit my arm on the dish machine while working dining services in college. So, basically, in the badass department, she’s got me beat, for sure.
Fortunately, Kellen’s put her past behind her — or so she hoped. She’s settled, now, and has established herself as the assistant manager of a vacation resort on the North Pacific Coast.
But then, the orderly life she has established for herself is upended when she finds the mutilated dead body of a woman.
Kellen knows that she has to figure out who killed this woman. But she doesn’t know if she can.
Unfortunately for Kellen, there’s a lot she doesn’t know — even about herself. In fact, there’s an entire year of her life she can’t remember.
This leaves Kellen wondering, is she closer to the killer than she ever imagined? Could the perpetrator of this heinous crime, she wonders, be Kellen herself?
A Prom to Remember
by Sandy Hall
Release Date - April 24, 2018
Genre - Young Adult
How well do you remember your prom?
All I really remember of mine is a debate over what portion of the limo cost each attendee was paying and the evening-long battle with my strapless bra.
But I’m 35.
So, old.
Despite the fact that I don’t remember the subtle details of this event — the songs they played, how many sips of the likely-spiked punch I drank, and which of my friends had planned to lose their virginity on this night #cliche — I do remember looking forward to it and, generally, enjoying the awkward, forced social interaction.
Author Sandy Hall captures the surprisingly complicated anticipation and enjoyment surrounding this event in this YA novel.
As she alternates between the perspectives of seven vastly different teens, each of whom has a problem — because, really, what teen doesn’t at least think he or she has a serious, life-altering issue? — Hall produces a narrative that will speak to all types of teens — or former teens, for that matter — from the anonymous nerd to the popular boy who doesn’t have the confidence he projects.
Simple and sweet, curling up with this novel is a great way to usher in the arrival of spring and end your April.
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