Spring into April with These Must-Read New Books

Elle Marr’s The Lies We Bury  is a twisty mystery thriller about a photographer who escaped as a child from a traumatic imprisonment. Two decades later, she’s brought on to cover a string of murders, and when she recognizes some of the same elements as the crimes committed against her, she has to face the memories she’s buried — and keep herself safe from someone who’s been waiting for her. Out April 1.

To Love and To Loathe by Martha Waters combines some of romance’s best tropes into a delightful frenemies-to-lovers comedy. Rakish marquess Jeremy is horrified when his most recent lover expresses her disappointment in his capabilities. To prove her wrong, he seeks out a deal with the young widow Diana: a no-strings-attached arrangement to get an honest opinion on his skills and to signal to others that Diana is looking for love. Out April 6.

A widowed woman finally decides to pursue her dream of being a winemaker in Kris Clink’s Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy. Lark is investing everything she has into rescuing a failing winery in hopes of creating a better future for herself and her children. To do so, she returns to her hometown, where she has to confront what she left behind and might even find love again. Out April 6.

For a light, bright YA rom-com, pick up Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneu. Teenage ballerina Mia is excited to spend a summer at a dance program in France, but the demands of her classmates and instructors prove almost too much to handle. Fortunately, there’s Louis, a local Parisian boy who brings Mia along on a whirlwind tour of his city, helping her see there’s more to Paris than just her professional ambitions. Out April 6.

Dive into the wild world of history’s weirdest manuscripts with Edward Brooke-Hitching’s The Madman’s Library. The nonfiction book takes readers on a journey through some of the quirkiest, oddest texts in human history. The author explores and explains strange, controversial, historic, and just plain bizarre manuscripts throughout history, with historical context and intriguing illustrations. Out April 6.

Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle is a Hallmark-worthy rom-com about a house that brings two very different people together. Free-spirited romantic Maybell inherits a house from her great-aunt, but when she arrives to fix it up, she finds that the grouchy groundskeeper inherited an equal share and has a very different idea of what he wants to do with the house. Out April 6.

Get a fresh take on the world of fairytales, myths, and legends with Bolu Babalola’s Love in Color. The collection of short stories that put new and unexpected twists on myths and fairy tales from throughout history, with a particular focus on including legends from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Out April 13.

Written by Keiichiro Hirano and trasnslated by Juliet Winters Carpenter, At the End of the Matinee is a literary love story that’s as much about love between people as it is the intangible love of music. A classical guitarist is intrigued the first time he meets a charming journalist at one of his concerts, and they begin a years-long correspondence that’s hampered by their mutual unwillingness to take a major step forward. Out April 15.

Bestselling YA author Becky Albertalli is back with Kate in Waiting, a YA rom-com with an unexpected love triangle. BFFs and drama club classmates Kate and Andy share everything, including unattainable crushes. When their summer camp crush Matt unexpectedly transfers to their high school, their friendship is tested when they both realize that they actually like him a lot more than just from afar. Out April 20.

Dive into one of the most famous high-society feuds of American history with The Social Graces by Renee Rosen. During the Gilded Age, society hostess Caroline Astor controls New York society, but she’s challenged by the arrival of Alva Vanderbilt, the upstart new bride who just married into one of the country’s richest families. Out April 20.

Anthony Bourdain’s lifetime of travel and advice is brought together in World Travel: An Irreverent Guide. With the help of co-author Laurie Woolever, Bourdain’s years of travel are curated into this funny and heartfelt travel guide, encouraging readers to discover the same joy and enthusiasm that Bourdain found in some of his favorite places, complete with recommendations about what to do (and what not to do!). Out April 20.

Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Dial A for Aunties combines family comedy with a murder coverup! After a horrible first date gone wrong, Meddy needs more than just someone to vent to – she needs help covering up a murder. That’s when she calls for backup from her meddlesome family, but disposing of a body, working a wedding, and charming one’s ex is a pretty tall order! Out April 20.

In Kelly Bowen’s The Paris Apartment, two generations of women are brought together by an apartment full of secrets. When Lia inherits an apartment in Paris that belonged to her late grandmother, she’s shocked at what she discovers behind its walls. In the 1940s, her grandmother, Estelle, lives in a city occupied by the Nazi regime and makes a fateful decision that changes the lives of two families forever. Out April 20.

In Fade Into the Bright by Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz, a teenage girl’s life is turned upside down when her estranged father reveals that he’s dying—and his condition is genetic. When she goes to camp for the summer, she’s relieved just to be away from pitying gazes, but when she meets a charming and curious aspiring filmmaker there, she’s torn between keeping her secrets and opening up. Out April 27.

Vince Granata’s memoir Everything Is Fine is a devastating story about family, mental illness, and grief. The author dives into the tragedy that has marred his family: the news that his brother, living with untreated schizophrenia, murdered their mother. The memoir covers the author’s own journey to dealing with his loss, as well as his investigations to piece together his brother’s life and learn more about the disease that ripped his family apart. Out April 27.