The Goodreads Editors Share Their Book Picks for April

Posted by Sharon on March 29, 2024
 
Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is exactly that—selections based on the data about the books that Goodreads members are placing on their Want to Read shelves. Essentially, these are the books that your fellow Goodreads regulars are excited about.
 
Of course, the Goodreads editorial staff gets excited about books, too. And we regularly come across specific new releases that we can’t wait to read—or “won’t shut up about,” to borrow a phrase from the colleagues who sit right next to us.
 
As to be expected, there are always way more great books each month than we have time to read, so we're passing our findings along to you, complete with genre tags, our unhinged commentary, and general enthusiasm. Think of this list as our intel on the books you might not be hearing about absolutely everywhere else, from two people who really, really want to help you find a great read.
  
On the docket for April: atmospheric 19th-century historical fiction on a lonesome Scottish island, a deadly mystery in a New York City vacation rental property, and a modern love story wrapped in biblical apocalypse. Bonus pick: near-future dystopian adventures in the foggy harbors of Lake Superior.


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: You know how relatives will give the most unhinged advice? Well, Young Wang's uncle has convinced him that everyone gets seven great loves in their lifetime. This specific number theory gets tricky when Young meets the brilliant Erena in college and falls in love…but only for the sixth time.

Genre: Fiction


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a feel-good book—a trait I suspect I share with a good many Goodreads members. This book from the author of The Reading List looks like it'd fit the bill nicely. There's a neglected community garden, a group of neighbors who pull together to revive it, and a big ol' cast of endearing characters to fall in love with.

Genre: Fiction


Cybil can't wait to read this book because:  Fun fact: Kellye Garrett is the best! And, lucky you, she has a brand-new mystery out this month. This promises to be a thrilling page-turner. Try to resist this premise: A woman thinks she's on a romantic vacation with her boyfriend. But when she wakes up in their New York City vacation rental to find her boyfriend missing and a corpse in the foyer, well, this is going to be a wild Trip Advisor review…

Genre: Mystery/Thriller


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: I love a debut novel, and this heart-pounding thriller is just perfect for a tune-out-the-world beach book. In this mystery, Annie “Anh Le” Shaw, a first-generation Vietnamese American artist, must confront her nightmares when her mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly. Early readers are calling this a creepy, twisty read that keeps you in suspense to the final page. 

Genre: Mystery/Thriller


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Early reviewers are raving about this debut that touches on themes of guilt and betrayal, family and friendship. In the days after Ukrainian World War II veteran Yefim Shulman's death, his widow finds a letter to the KGB in his briefcase that uncovers a lifelong secret, and his confession forces his family to reassess the man they thought they knew.

Genre: Historical fiction 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: I first came to know Anthony Oliveira through his tremendous writing in Hazlitt (and also as the only other person on Twitter as obsessed with the '90s sitcom Frasier as I am), so I am just thrilled that his debut novel is hitting shelves! Billed as a biblical apocalypse meets contemporary love story, this one's got me saying "I'm listening" in my best Frasier Crane voice.

Genre: Literary fiction
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Tech founder Sara Chae discovers the hard way that there's a flaw in her One Last Word app, which sends posthumous messages to your loved ones and/or enemies, when the prototype is triggered by the obituary of a different Sara Chae. Now alive-Sara has a very big mess on her hands. Sounds a bit like a grown-up To All the Boys I've Loved Before!

Genre: Romance
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: OK, I'm not above admitting that sometimes I put books on my WTR shelf simply because of their covers…but look at this beautiful cover!!! Add in a second-chance romance, a Hollywood setting, and some stellar early reader ratings? I'm feeling like chances are good that the plot will be just as sexy and swoony as the cover art here.

Genre: Romance
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Harbors, fog, remote islands, and an Orphean narrator. Yes, please. Set in the near future, this literary dystopia features an aspiring musician sets sail on Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. Through his strange odyssey, he eventually lands to find an increasingly illiterate people and a billionaire ruling class. Oh, did I mention that this journey is brought to you by the author of Peace Like a River

Genre: Dystopia, Sci-Fi, Literary


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: If you've been following along with our picks for any amount of time, you'll know that I love both a slightly unhinged premise and an atmospheric historical novel. This book mashes up those two interests with a plot about a Scottish minister tasked with clearing out the lone remaining inhabitant of an island north of Scotland in the 1840s.

Genre: Historical fiction


Cybil can't wait to read this book because:  What happens when a human-eating shapeshifter falls in love? Ah, yes, that age-old question! To further complicate matters of the heart, the monster has fallen for someone sworn to hunt them down. Will true love prevail? Will any humans survive? And could any creature put up with these toxic in-laws? This seems bonkers in the best possible way. 

Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Romance/???


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: At some point, I refused to overuse an exclamation point. However, I have now adapted to the times and have gotten used to it! So, my eye was drawn to this THREE-exclamation-point book title. I can't wait to dive into this story collection from playwright Marshall that promises a brash telling of a dozen women's lives.

Genre: Short stories
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Forget moderation, this essay collection celebrates excess and abandon, examining topics from Sally Rooney and sadomasochism. Goodreads' early reviewers are calling the cultural critics collection smart and thought-provoking. 

Genre: Essays/Nonfiction


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: As the mom of a toddler (and a lifelong control freak), I actually laughed out loud when I read the title of Emily C. Bloom's upcoming memoir. I'm looking forward to digging into her personal story of navigating the gaps between the idealization and realities of modern motherhood.

Genre: Memoir
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: First of all, the word jamboree is great and should be used in more book titles. This collection of foodie vignettes comes from the author and illustrator team behind World of Wonders, which is one of the loveliest nature-writing books from the past few years. Sounds like a smorgasbord for the senses!

Genre: Nonfiction/essays 


Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? Let's talk books in the comments!


Comments Showing 1-31 of 31 (31 new)

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message 1: by Law (last edited Mar 31, 2024 01:31AM) (new)

Law I've heard of one of them before. Didn't Missing White Woman appear on another list?


message 2: by Sharon, Goodreads employee (new)

Sharon Law wrote: "I've heard of one of them before. Didn't Missing White Woman appear on another list."

Books can appear on multiple lists in our coverage!


message 3: by Misha (new)

Misha Ugh, I hate this list every month because it adds to my ever-expanding TBR even more than usual and I love it because all of these sound really interesting and now I have to read them.


message 4: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Desberg haha. same but i love it.


message 5: by Stephanie (new)

Stephanie Misha wrote: "Ugh, I hate this list every month because it adds to my ever-expanding TBR even more than usual and I love it because all of these sound really interesting and now I have to read them."

So many books. So little time.


message 6: by Julie (new)

Julie Bock First time I have seen this article. None of these books sound good to me. I guess I will have to keep up with this and see if my taste buds change.


message 7: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Kennedy Looking forward to I Cheerfully Refuse but the cover of Clear is grabbing me. Adding to my TBR.


message 8: by Mars (new)

Mars Cybil has such good taste omg


message 9: by hannahh (new)

hannahh Love seeing the top picks of the month! Thanks both! 😍😍


message 10: by Laura (new)

Laura Rogers April is a great month for booklovers! I Cheerfully Refuse and Clear are at the top of my tbr for April. Also, the new memoir by the brilliant Judi Dench, The Sleepwalkers, and The Outlaw Noble Salt.


message 11: by Morgan (new)

Morgan The Twilight Garden was so lovely! Worth the read definitely!


message 12: by Law (new)

Law There's a Vietnamese author on there? I don't see that every day.


message 13: by Laceygoodbooks (new)

Laceygoodbooks All books on this list sound good to me


message 14: by Elijah (new)

Elijah Knife by Salman Rushdie. I preordered forever ago it seems and I’m counting the days.


message 15: by Lovesart100 (new)

Lovesart100 DaySpring : the Bible is too sacred to mess around with in FICTION. No thank you


message 16: by Andrea (new)

Andrea Sand I listened to Clear: it's excellent.


message 17: by Joshkun (last edited Apr 21, 2024 12:02PM) (new)

Joshkun  Mehmet I loved Clear and urge everyone to read it.


message 18: by Nikki (new)

Nikki Currently reading "I Cheerfully Refuse" and its good in a way that says please don't let this happen.


message 19: by Kristi (new)

Kristi Duncan-priest Sharon wrote: "Law wrote: "I've heard of one of them before. Didn't Missing White Woman appear on another list."

Books can appear on multiple lists in our coverage!"


There is that pesky exclamation mark again...


message 20: by slauderdale (new)

slauderdale "Someone You Can Build A Nest In" looked fun, but when I clicked and read the longer synopsis it kind of lost me. I have a lot of stuff on my docket right now anyway.


message 21: by KJ (new)

KJ These all sound amazing, also I am a huge Frasier fan as well! Kindred spirits!


message 22: by Renee (new)

Renee Godding I highly recommend I Cheerfully Refuse!


message 23: by Landon (new)

Landon Weldy Would be nice to see some Fantasy and Sci Fi


message 24: by Hannah (new)

Hannah Someone You Can Build a Nest In sounds AMAZING!


message 25: by Emma (new)

Emma Grace Bite By Bite, verbal nourishment for the brain, I hope this is going to be as quenching to read as I hope.


message 26: by Tanya (new)

Tanya Dreke Thank you for sharing!


message 27: by Veronica (new)

Veronica Anrathi Your Presence Is Mandatory is another Ukrainian story appropriated by a russian-American writer who decided to claim her "Ukrainian heritage" only after the full scale invasion to monetize our pain. Don't pay colonizers to tell you stories of people they silence for generations. This woman was raised in moscow, she is not Ukrainian and has no right to write about us.


message 28: by Law (new)

Law Veronica wrote: "Your Presence Is Mandatory is another Ukrainian story appropriated by a russian-American writer who decided to claim her "Ukrainian heritage" only after the full scale invasion to monetize our pain..."

Okay. I'll skip that one. I'm not too fond of cultural appropriation and read You Don't Know What War Is instead. I don't see why some people find it okay to do that.


message 29: by Pavithra (new)

Pavithra Rajasekar Okay Cybil, you have convinced me to read all your book picks, well except for the shapeshifter one 😸 is there anyway to follow "Cybil" in Goodreads?


message 30: by Aihebholo-oria (new)

Aihebholo-oria N. Okonoboh I started reading The Last Agent by A. O. Nathaniels. But something caught my interest in another of the author's new work, Fearing A Woman. I've started that too. It's now hard for me to pause one for the other. I think they are great books by a little known author.


message 31: by Jewel (new)

Jewel Currently reading Charlotte’s Web, my heart is bursting…❤️


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