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April is a great month for books! I'm looking forward to reading all of these.
Note: Some of the release dates may change or be different in your part of the world. Don't come for me if they're wrong. I'm trying to keep up!
💮 April 2024 Book Releases 💧
TABLE FOR TWO: FICTIONS BY AMOR TOWLES
Adult Short Stories
April 2, 2024
The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise which operate at the heart of modern marriages.
Why I want to read it: The author's other book, The Lincoln Highway, is one of my favorites. I love the quirky characters and the strong sense of place. I'm excited to see what he can do with stories that are less than a zillion pages long. His novels are massive!
A WITCH'S GUIDE TO MAGICAL INNKEEPING BY SANGU MANDANNA
Adult Fantasy Romance
April 2, 2024
Sera Swan was once one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her magical Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and a bit grumpily) helps Aunt Jasmine run an inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guest’s shenanigans, tries to keep the talking fox in check, and longs for the magical future she lost.
When she learns about an old spell book that could hold the secret to restoring her power, she finds herself turning to Luke Larsen, a gorgeous and icy historian who might be the only person who can help her unlock the book’s mysteries. The fact that he also happens to be her one-night stand from years ago is totally irrelevant.
Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and trying not to fall in love is a lot for anyone, but Sera is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone . . . and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.
When she learns about an old spell book that could hold the secret to restoring her power, she finds herself turning to Luke Larsen, a gorgeous and icy historian who might be the only person who can help her unlock the book’s mysteries. The fact that he also happens to be her one-night stand from years ago is totally irrelevant.
Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and trying not to fall in love is a lot for anyone, but Sera is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone . . . and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.
Why I want to read it: One of my New Year's resolutions is to read happier books. It's no secret that my reading trends toward the dark and disturbing. I have a feeling I'd enjoy cozy fantasy. I haven't read enough of it to know. This story sounds freakin' adorable. It's so sweet I might throw up in my mouth.
Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens
Young Adult Fantasy
April 2, 2024
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
Why I want to read it: A romance between a skeptic and a magical creature is a hilarious premise. One of my goals is to read happier books. This story sounds fluffier than the chaos and gore I usually read. I'm looking forward to reading something different.
The Reappearance Of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson
Young Adult Mystery / Thriller
April 2, 2024
Lights. Camera. Lies.
18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.
But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.
Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And–could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .
18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.
But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.
Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And–could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .
Why I want to read it: I don't usually read thrillers, but this one is about a true crime show. I have a love/hate relationship with true crime. I love it because human behavior and forensic science are fascinating. I hate it because it turns murderers into celebrities. I hope this book shows how morally complicated true crime can be.
SOCIOPATH: A MEMOIR BY PATRIC GAGNE
Adult Memoir
April 2, 2024
Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten. Something about her caused people to react in a way she didn’t understand. She suspected it was because she didn’t feel things the way other kids did. Emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. For the most part, she felt nothing. And she didn’t like the way that “nothing” felt.
She did her best to pretend she was like everyone else, but the constant pressure to conform to a society she knew rejected anyone like her was unbearable. So Patric stole. She lied. She was occasionally violent. She became an expert lock-picker and home-invader. All with the goal of replacing the nothingness with . . . something.
In college, Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected. She was a sociopath. But even though it was the very first personality disorder identified—well over 200 years ago—sociopathy had been neglected by mental health professionals for decades. She was told there was no treatment, no hope for a normal life. She found herself haunted by sociopaths in pop culture, madmen and evil villains who are considered monsters. Her future looked grim.
But when Patric reconnects with an old flame, she gets a glimpse of a future beyond her diagnosis. If she’s capable of love, it must mean that she isn’t a monster. With the help of her sweetheart (and some curious characters she meets along the way) she embarks on a mission to prove that the millions of Americans who share her diagnosis aren’t all monsters either.
She did her best to pretend she was like everyone else, but the constant pressure to conform to a society she knew rejected anyone like her was unbearable. So Patric stole. She lied. She was occasionally violent. She became an expert lock-picker and home-invader. All with the goal of replacing the nothingness with . . . something.
In college, Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected. She was a sociopath. But even though it was the very first personality disorder identified—well over 200 years ago—sociopathy had been neglected by mental health professionals for decades. She was told there was no treatment, no hope for a normal life. She found herself haunted by sociopaths in pop culture, madmen and evil villains who are considered monsters. Her future looked grim.
But when Patric reconnects with an old flame, she gets a glimpse of a future beyond her diagnosis. If she’s capable of love, it must mean that she isn’t a monster. With the help of her sweetheart (and some curious characters she meets along the way) she embarks on a mission to prove that the millions of Americans who share her diagnosis aren’t all monsters either.
Why I want to read it: I've occasionally wondered if I'm a sociopath because the only emotions I feel on a regular basis are anxiety and crippling anxiety, but maybe wondering if you're a sociopath is just a side-effect of anxiety? I don't know. I've never met anyone who admitted to being a sociopath. It's something I'd like to know more about.
INDIAN BURIAL GROUND BY NICK MEDINA
Adult Horror
April 16, 2024
All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on—just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her—things are finally looking up for Noemi. Until the news of her boyfriend’s apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down.
But the facts about Roddy’s death just don’t add up, and Noemi isn’t the only one who suspects that something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.
After over a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets, horror, and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers . . . but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to question whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried.
But the facts about Roddy’s death just don’t add up, and Noemi isn’t the only one who suspects that something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.
After over a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets, horror, and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers . . . but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to question whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried.
Why I want to read it: Because of this description. "A man lunges in front of a car. An elderly woman silently drowns herself. A corpse sits up in its coffin and speaks. On this reservation, not all is what it seems." Something is messing with the reservation, and I want to know about it!
THE DEMON OF UNREST: A SAGA OF HUBRIS, HEARTBREAK, AND HEROISM AT THE DAWN OF THE CIVIL WAR BY ERIK LARSON
Adult History Nonfiction
April 30, 2024
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Fort Sumter.
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”
At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between both. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous Secretary of State, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”
At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between both. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous Secretary of State, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.
Why I want to read it: Last year, I read Erik Larson's The Devil In The White City and learned a lot from it. I was impressed by the amount of research the author did and how he drew connections between an architect and a serial killer. I'm tempted to read every book he's written.
Which April books are you looking forward to reading?
I've not read anything by Holly Jackson but The Reappearance of Rachel Price sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to both A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping and Otherworldly!
ReplyDeleteWitch's Guide is high on my list. I loved the first book and am so excited that we are getting to return to that world.
ReplyDeleteI have never been disappointed with an Erik Larson book, and I'm really looking forward to this one. It's quite a different time period from his other books.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping, Sociopath and Indian Burial Ground.
ReplyDeleteLots of good looking books here! The A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping looks really good! Otherworldly was not bad, but not my favorite from that author. Hope you are able to get to all of these and enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteAmor Towles's new book is pretty good for short stories. I liked it. I also hope to get to the Larson book. His book In the Garden of Beasts is unreal! So I'm hoping this one will be too. Enjoy your reads.
ReplyDeleteSociopath definitely has me intrigued as well.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I'm impressed with your wide-ranging list, Aj. I finally read A Gentleman in Moscow, and have Lincoln Highway on my TBR shelf--and now Amor Towles is coming out with a new book. I'll never catch up! And another Eric Larson book . . .
ReplyDeleteTable for Two is definitely on my TBR, I like the author so much. The Erik Larsen book has piqued my interest, too. But I always seem to be reading backwards instead of forwards, trying to catch up on what I missed.
ReplyDeleteMy discussion topic this month is reacting to a list of "The twelve best books, hand down" Please join in the conversation.