Hi and welcome to the reading world!
Today’s post is another installment of anticipated new releases, this time for April!
As usual, I want to start off this post with a disclaimer: there are a ton of incredible sounding upcoming releases, and this list is by no means comprehensive nor will I be able to read every single one of these. I’m just curious about these books coming out soon and want to share a little about them in case one also is of interest to other readers!
Of note, Fevered Star is the only sequel I have on this list, but if you haven’t picked up Black Sun yet and are curious that was one of my favorite reads of 2020.
There are organized by release date as of the writing of this post!
April 5
A transporting novel that follows a year of seismic romantic, political, and familial shifts for a teacher and her students at a boarding school for the deaf, from the acclaimed author of Girl at War ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Oprah Daily, The Millions, Lit Hub, BookPage True biz (adj./exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.
True Biz by Sara Novic
Published by Random House Publishing Group on April 5, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Coming of Age, Fiction / Disabilities & Special Needs, Fiction / Literary
Pages: 400
“Part tender coming-of-age story, part electrifying tale of political awakening, part heartfelt love letter to Deaf culture, True Biz is wholly a wonder.”—Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere
True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another—and changed forever.
"This is the heist novel we deserve. Brilliantly twisty and yet so contemplative [...] this book will continue to haunt you long after you've reached the end." "Portrait of a Thief was everything I imagined and more. The writing felt close and intimate and the characters felt like portraits themselves, bursting with life and delicately human." "Grace D. Li is a virtuosic storyteller [...] the most exciting debut I've read this year [...] an intelligent page-turner that will keep you hooked until the very end." "In this slick, dazzling, debut, the stakes are high and the writing elegant. Here's a story that offers not just adventure or a reprieve from the everyday, but big dreams, big hearts, enduring friendships, and the multitudes of identities that can exist within each one of us." "A beautiful examination of identity as children of the diaspora [...] This fast-paced heist leaves you clutching the pages and rooting for the thieves." This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of 23 pieces of priceless Chinese art. Even in this back room, dust catching the slant of golden, late-afternoon light, Will could hear the sirens. They sounded like a promise. Will Chen, a Chinese American art history student at Harvard, has spent most of his life learning about the West - its art, its culture, all that it has taken and called its own. He believes art belongs with its creators, so when a Chinese corporation offers him a (highly illegal) chance to reclaim five priceless sculptures, it's surprisingly easy to say yes. Will's crew, fellow students chosen out of his boundless optimism for their skills and loyalty, aren't exactly experienced criminals. Irene is a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything; Daniel is pre-med with steady hands and dreams of being a surgeon. Lily is an engineering student who races cars in her spare time; and Will is relying on Alex, an MIT dropout turned software engineer, to hack her way in and out of each museum they must rob. Each student has their own complicated relationship with China and the identities they've cultivated as Chinese Americans, but one thing soon becomes certain: they won't say no. Because if they succeed? They earn an unfathomable ten million each, and a chance to make history. If they fail, they lose everything . . . and the West wins again.
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
Published by Hodder & Stoughton on April 14, 2022
Genres: Art / Asian / Chinese, Art / General, Art / History / Prehistoric, Fiction / Asian American, Fiction / Crime, Fiction / General, Fiction / Thrillers / Crime, Social Science / Sociology / General
Pages: 384
-Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Dial A for Aunties
-Morgan Rogers, author of Honey Girl
-Lauren Wilkinson, New York Times bestselling author of American Spy
-Weike Wang, author of Chemistry
-Roselle Lim, author of Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune
"A lyrical and action-packed tale of yearning, connection, self-discovery, and righting wrongs, Portrait of a Thief is a unique vision of what it means to come home."
-Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author of The Violence
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Easy Beauty by CHLOE COOPER. JONES
on April 7, 2022
Pages: 320
The highly anticipated collection of poems from the award-winning writer Ocean Vuong How else do we return to ourselves but to fold In this deeply intimate second poetry collection, Ocean Vuong searches for life among the aftershocks of his mother’s death, embodying the paradox of sitting within grief while being determined to survive beyond it. Shifting through memory, and in concert with the themes of his novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Vuong contends with personal loss, the meaning of family, and the cost of being the product of an American war in America. At once vivid, brave, and propulsive, Vuong’s poems circle fragmented lives to find both restoration as well as the epicenter of the break. The author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds, winner of the 2016 Whiting Award, the 2017 T. S. Eliot Prize, and a 2019 MacArthur fellow, Vuong writes directly to our humanity without losing sight of the current moment. These poems represent a more innovative and daring experimentation with language and form, illuminating how the themes we perennially live in and question are truly inexhaustible. Bold and prescient, and a testament to tenderness in the face of violence, Time Is a Mother is a return and a forging forth all at once.
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
Published by Penguin on April 5, 2022
Genres: Poetry / American / Asian American, Poetry / LGBTQ
Pages: 128
The page so it points to the good part
The story of the urgent fight to save coral reefs, and why it matters to us all Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: extraordinarily diverse, deeply interconnected, and full of wonders. When they’re thriving, these fairy gardens hidden beneath the ocean’s surface burst with color and life. They sustain bountiful ecosystems and protect vulnerable coasts. Corals themselves are evolutionary marvels that build elaborate limestone formations from their collective skeletons, broker symbiotic relationships with algae, and manufacture their own fluorescent sunblock. But corals across the planet are in the middle of an unprecedented die-off, beset by warming oceans, pollution, damage by humans, and a devastating pandemic. Juli Berwald fell in love with coral reefs as a marine biology student, entranced by their beauty and complexity. Alarmed by their peril, she traveled the world to discover how to prevent their loss. She met scientists and activists operating in emergency mode, doing everything they can think of to prevent coral reefs from disappearing forever. She was so amazed by the ingenuity of these last-ditch efforts that she joined in rescue missions, unexpected partnerships, and risky experiments, and helped rebuild reefs with rebar and zip ties.
Life on the Rocks by Juli Berwald
Published by Penguin on April 5, 2022
Genres: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs, Nature / Ecosystems & Habitats / Oceans & Seas, Science / Global Warming & Climate Change
Pages: 352
Life on the Rocks is an inspiring, lucid, meditative ode to the reefs and the undaunted scientists working to save them against almost impossible odds. As she also attempts to help her daughter in her struggle with mental illness, Berwald explores what it means to keep fighting a battle whose outcome is uncertain. She contemplates the inevitable grief of climate change and the beauty of small victories.
The second powerful and heart-rending novel, set in 80s Glasgow, from Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize- and British Book Award-winning author of Shuggie Bain.
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
Published by Pan Macmillan on April 14, 2022
Pages: 400
The award-winning author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel, Emily St. John Mandel returns with a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment. Sea of Tranquility is virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful. Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from English polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal - an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's bestselling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: the exiled son of an aristocrat driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe. PRAISE FOR SEA OF TRANQUILITY 'I could write a thousand words about Emily St. John Mandel, and this book, and this moment but I won't dare spoil it. Truly soul-affirming.' Emma Straub 'A spiraling, transportive triumph of storytelling-sci-fi with soul.' Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies 
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Published by Pan Macmillan UK on April 12, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary, Fiction / Fantasy / General, Fiction / General, Fiction / Science Fiction / Time Travel
Pages: 224
'A complicated and mysterious puzzle concerning the nature of reality solved perfectly, all loose ends connected... Even more boldly imagined than Station Eleven. Exciting to read, relevant, and satisfying.' - Kirkus Reviews
April 12
One of Buzzfeed's Most Anticipated LGBTQ Reads of 2022! Joy is in love with Malcolm.
The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann
Published by Penguin on April 12, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / General, Fiction / Romance / Multicultural & Interracial, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 336
But Malcolm really likes Summer.
Summer is in love with love.
And Fox is Summer’s ex-boyfriend.
Thirty, flirty, and asexual Joy is secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm, but she’s never been brave enough to say so. When he unexpectedly announces that he's met the love of his life—and no, it's not Joy—she's heartbroken. Malcolm invites her on a weekend getaway, and Joy decides it’s her last chance to show him exactly what he’s overlooking. But maybe Joy is the one missing something…or someone…and his name is Fox.
Fox sees a kindred spirit in Joy—and decides to help her. He proposes they pretend to fall for each other on the weekend trip to make Malcolm jealous. But spending time with Fox shows Joy what it’s like to not be the third wheel, and there’s no mistaking the way he makes her feel. Could Fox be the romantic partner she’s always deserved?
THE FEEL GOOD NOVEL OF THE YEAR Without expensive repairs to the pipes, the water board will cut off Speranza's crumbling Italian village. All 212 inhabitants will be forced to leave. In a desperate bid to find the money to save his hometown, he starts a rumour that Italian heart-throb Dante Rinaldi is coming to town to film his next movie. Soon, the place is teeming with fans and everyone wants to be involved: Speranza's assistant has a screenplay and the butcher will invest - if Speranza can find roles for each of his fifteen enormous sons. Even the priest is on board. Funny, charming and utterly heartwarming, this is the feel-good novel of the year; a celebration of the underdog, of family and of what really matters in life. * 'The most charming, original and hilarious novel I have read in ages. This novel is something special. Everyone with a sense of humour must pick this up immediately.' Elyssa Friedland, author of Last Summer at The Golden Hotel 'A glorious romp of a book with a cast of characters to fall in love with. Gorgeous, hilarious and brimming with joy. Christine Simon's writing is just a delight.' Helen Paris, author of Lost Property 'Simon's warm-hearted, original gem of a novel is the feel-good read we all need.' Amy Poeppel, author of Musical Chairs 'A charming, fast-paced and warm-hearted farce. Upbeat, escapist and a lot of fun.' Caroline Hulse, author of The Adults
The Patron Saint of Second Chances by Christine Simon
on March 17, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Absurdist, Fiction / Cultural Heritage, Fiction / Family Life / General, Fiction / General, Fiction / Humorous / Black Humor, Fiction / Humorous / General, FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / General, Fiction / Romance / Clean & Wholesome, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Sagas, Fiction / Sea Stories, Fiction / Small Town & Rural
Pages: 352
The Patron Saint of Plumbing is not answering Nino Speranza's prayers.
It seems the only way to give their beloved town a second chance is to actually make a movie. What could possibly go wrong?
'A rare treasure: both hilariously funny and beautifully written.' Julia Claiborne Johnson, author of Better Luck Next Time and Be Frank With Me
April 19
Return to The Meridian with New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s sequel to the most critically hailed epic fantasy of 2020 Black Sun—finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Lambda, and Locus awards. There are no tides more treacherous than those of the heart. —Teek saying The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent. The Meridian: a land where magic has been codified and the worship of gods suppressed. How do you live when legends come to life, and the faith you had is rewarded? As sea captain Xiala is swept up in the chaos and currents of change, she finds an unexpected ally in the former Priest of Knives. For the Clan Matriarchs of Tova, tense alliances form as far-flung enemies gather and the war in the heavens is reflected upon the earth. And for Serapio and Naranpa, both now living avatars, the struggle for free will and personhood in the face of destiny rages. How will Serapio stay human when he is steeped in prophecy and surrounded by those who desire only his power? Is there a future for Naranpa in a transformed Tova without her total destruction? Welcome back to the fantasy series of the decade in Fevered Star—book two of Between Earth and Sky.
Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse
Published by Gallery / Saga Press on April 19, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Indigenous, Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General
Pages: 400
It's one hex of an attraction in this romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Jessica Clare. When Reggie Johnson answers a job ad in the paper, she's astonished to find that she's not applying to work at her favorite card game, Spellcraft: The Magicking. Instead, she's applying to be an actual familiar for an actual witch. As in, real magic. The new job has a few perks - great room and board, excellent pay, and she's apprenticing to a powerful witch. Sure, the witch is a bit eccentric. And sure, there was that issue with the black cat Reggie would prefer to forget about. The biggest problem, however, is warlock Ben Magnus, her employer's nephew and the most arrogant, insufferable, maddening man to ever cast a spell. Reggie absolutely hates him. He's handsome, but he's also bossy and irritating and orders her around. Ben's butt might look great in a crystal ball vision, but that's as far as it goes. But when someone with a vendetta targets the household, she finds herself working with Ben to break a deadly curse. Apparently, when they're not fighting like cats and dogs, things get downright...bewitching.
Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare
Published by Penguin Publishing Group on February 6, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Paranormal / Witches, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 384
“Spectacular—I've been waiting years for this book to exist.” —Maria Dahvana Headley, author of Beowulf: A New Translation She left all she knew to find who she could be . . . She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. And when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she decides her future lies at his court. So, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and sets out on her bony gelding for Caer Leon. With her stolen hunting spear and mended armour, she is an unlikely hero, not a chosen one, but one who forges her own bright path. Aflame with determination, she begins a journey of magic and mystery, love, lust and fights to death. On her adventures, she will steal the hearts of beautiful women, fight warriors and sorcerers, and make a place to call home. The legendary author of Hild returns with an unforgettable hero and a queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era. Nicola Griffith’s Spear is a spellbinding vision of the Camelot we've longed for, a Camelot that belongs to us all.
Spear by Nicola Griffith
Published by Tom Doherty Associates on April 19, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Arthurian, Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian
Pages: 192
"If Le Guin wrote a Camelot story, I imagine it would feel like Spear: humane, intelligent, and deeply beautiful. It's a new story with very old bones, a strange place that feels like home." —Alix E. Harrow, author of A Spindle Splintered
April 26
"Patel's mesmerizing debut shines a brilliant light on the vilified queen from [the Indian epic] the Ramayana....This easily earns its place on shelves alongside Madeline Miller's Circe." -Publishers Weekly (starred review) "I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions--much good it did me." So begins Kaikeyi's story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales about the might and benevolence of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear. Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her. But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak--and what legacy she intends to leave behind. A stunning debut from a powerful new voice, Kaikeyi reimagines the life of the infamous queen from the Indian epic the Ramayana, weaving a tale of fate, family, courage, and heartbreak--of an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come. Praise for Kaikeyi: "A powerful examination of a woman maligned by myth and men....Compulsively readable and infinitely compassionate, this is the story I've been yearning for all my life." --Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of the Gilded Wolves series "Mythic retelling at its best: entrancing, troubling, and complicated. Kaikeyi is marvelous." --R. F. Kuang, award-winning author of the Poppy War trilogy "A lyrical and evocative retelling, full of power and grace....Kaikeyi's life is rendered with richness and nuance, yielding a story that feels both novel and classic. A spellbinding debut." --Ava Reid, author of The Wolf and the Woodsman
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
Published by Orbit on February 6, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Historical / Ancient, Fiction / Literary
Pages: 432
An irresistible comedy of manners about three generations of a Chicago restaurant family and the deep-fried, beer-battered, cream cheese-frosted love that feeds them all. Here are the three things the Sullivan family knows to be true: the Chicago Cubs will always be the underdogs; historical progress is inevitable; and their grandfather, Bud, founder of JP Sullivan's, will always make the best burgers in Oak Park. But when, over the course of three strange months, the Cubs win the World Series, Trump is elected president, and Bud drops dead, suddenly everyone in the family finds themselves doubting all they hold dear. Take Gretchen for example, lead singer for a '90s cover band who has been flirting with fame for a decade but is beginning to wonder if she's too old to be chasing a childish dream. Or Jane, Gretchen's older sister, who is starting to suspect that her fitness-obsessed husband who hides the screen of his phone isn't always "working late." And then there's Teddy, their steadfast, unfailingly good cousin, nursing heartbreak and confusion because the guy who dumped him keeps showing up for lunch at JP Sullivan's where Teddy is the manager. How can any of them be expected to make the right decisions when the world feels sideways--and the bartender at JP Sullivan's makes such strong cocktails? Outrageously funny and wickedly astute, Marrying the Ketchups is a delicious confection by one of our most beloved authors.
Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close
Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on February 6, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / General, Fiction / Literary, Fiction / Women
Pages: 320
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There are some of the books coming out in April I’ve been curious about! What’s a new release you’re excited to pick up soon?
Thanks for stopping by!
Rae