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Must-Read Books April 2024 |
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| American Spirits by Russell BanksThe last book by the late great Russell Banks offers three gritty, character-driven tales set in rural Sam Dent, New York, where his acclaimed novel The Sweet Hereafter took place. The elegiac stories explore a kidnapping, the loss of family land, and problems with new neighbors. Read-alikes: Richard Russo's novels; Mariana Enriquez's Things We Lost in the Fire. |
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| Paper Cage by Tom BaragwanathLorraine Henry, a white policeman's widow, works as a police records clerk in a small New Zealand town rife with drugs and racial tension. When a part-Māori relative is one of three Indigenous children who go missing and the cops aren't all that concerned, Lorraine investigates. First published in New Zealand in 2022, this gritty, suspenseful debut novel has "a truly crackling mystery" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl GonzalezIn the 1980s, up-and-coming artist Anita de Monte is married to Jack, an established white artist, when she dies after a suspicious fall. In the 1990s, Brown University student Raquel Toro researches a project on Jack while starting her own relationship with a wealthy white man. This Reese's Book Club pick presents a witty, thought-provoking look at art, race, class, and gender. Read-alike: Hernan Diaz's Trust. |
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| The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn KisteTwenty years after surviving a cosmic event that turned everyone in her hometown into ghosts, Talitha Velkwood returns to the site of the haunting to confront past traumas and reckon with horrors both real and supernatural in this character-driven latest from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens. Try this next: The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy. |
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| Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny MoraineSunny Moraine's suspenseful apocalyptic horror novel centers on a virus in which eye contact causes murderous rage among the afflicted, starring an isolated young woman whose chance encounter with a stranger could threaten the peace she's worked so hard to build. For fans of: The Last of Us; Bird Box by Josh Malerman; The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson. |
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| Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki PayneIn this "sparkling and sultry" (Publishers Weekly) retelling of Sense and Sensibility by the author of Pride and Protest, sensible Nora Dash and her free-spirited sister, Yanne, inherit a dilapidated inn in rural Maine and must renovate it before Labor Day -- or lose everything. For fans of: Jane Austen-inspired contemporaries such as Sonali Dev's Rajes series or Uzma Jalaluddin's Ayesha at Last and Much Ado About Nada. |
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| The Murder of Mr. Ma by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. RozanIn 1924 London, unexpected events lead quiet academic lecturer Lao She to team up with larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie to figure out who's killing Chinese immigrants who served in France during the Great War. For fans of: Sherlock Holmes; intricately plotted mysteries with a strong sense of place. |
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| There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif AbdurraqibIn his lyrical and engaging latest, MacArthur Fellow and Carnegie Medal winner Hanif Abdurraqib (A Little Devil in America) explores his relationship to basketball and the role it has played throughout his life -- including having a front-row seat to the rise of LeBron James. For fans of: Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated by Shea Serrano. |
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| Latinoland: A Portrait of America's Largest and Least Understood Minority by Marie AranaNational Book Award finalist and inaugural Literary Director of the Library of Congress Marie Arana (Silver, Sword, and Stone) explores the history and politics of Latine identity in the United States in her incisive and accessible latest. Further reading: Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity by Paola Ramos; Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism by Laura E. Gomez. |
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| All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies... by Elizabeth Comen, M.D.Oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen examines the history of misogyny in medicine and its ongoing impact on women's health. From spurious diagnoses to medical myths and moral panics, this eye-opening survey "fascinates and outrages in equal measure" (Publishers Weekly). Further reading: Sex Matters by Alyson J. McGregor; Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn. |
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| Grief Is For People by Sloane CrosleyNovelist and essayist Sloane Crosley's (Cult Classic) moving and darkly humorous memoir chronicles how she navigated the grief of losing her best friend to suicide in 2019. Try this next: Molly by Blake Butler. |
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| A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging by Lauren MarkhamJournalist Lauren Markham's "remarkable, unnerving, and cautionary portrait of a global immigration crisis" (Kirkus Reviews) chronicles the aftermath of the 2020 burning of a large refugee camp in Greece, in which young Afghan migrants were falsely accused of arson. Try this next: The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri. |
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| Whiskey Tender: A Memoir by Deborah Jackson TaffaIn her thought-provoking debut named a Most Anticipated Book by Elle, The New York Times, and San Francisco Chronicle, Deborah Jackson Taffa, a member of the Quechan (Yuma) and Laguna Pueblo, recounts her fraught coming of age in the 1980s as a "Native girl in a northwestern New Mexico town where cowboys still hated Indians." Try this next: Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen. |
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| A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah FaizalDespite humble beginnings, Arthie Casimir gained power collecting the secrets of influential humans and vampires frequenting her teahouse. Arthie's scheme to infiltrate vampire society and overthrow the colonizing monarchy will thrill fans of heist novels and found family. This fast-paced fantasy opens a duology. |
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| You're Going to Love This Book! by Jory John; illustrated by Olivier TallecUnabashed verve overflows from this picture book as it announces its supposed appeals: Bedtimes! Dentists! Brussels sprouts! Plus chores -- ah yeahhh! With exuberant artwork, enthusiastic interjections, and a twist ending, this book is sure to elicit heaps of giggles. YEAHHH! |
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| The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines by Mo NetzShortly after they move to Windy Pines, Georgia, 11-year-old Jerry’s mom disappears. Determined to find her, Jerry -- along with new friend Chapel and Yiddish-speaking imaginary dragon Paul -- ventures into the eerie woods, discovering her mom’s secrets (and the advantages to demon-slaying in a wheelchair). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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