April book preview: 20 new books to read

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April's 20 must-reads

Pengiun; Little, Brown; Lee Boudreaux Books; Random House; Grove Press

New fiction from Meg Wolitzer and Curtis Sittenfeld, James Comey’s bombshell memoir, and a fascinating history of a beloved comic movie are just a few of April’s must-reads. Click through to learn which books you need to have on your radar as we head into spring, and click on the release dates to make your pre-orders. (Additional reporting by Isabella Biedenharn)

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America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo

Penguin

Castillo emerges as one of 2018’s boldest new voices with this debut. In exquisite prose and with transporting sweep, she tells the story of three generations of Filipino immigrants making their way in the Bay Area while trying to preserve their family’s complicated legacy. (April 3)

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The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

Riverhead Books

It may be hard to believe, but Wolitzer began working on her layered new novel — about a timid college student who finds a mentor in a famous Gloria Steinem-era feminist — years before the polarizing 2016 election. But once those events transpired, she decided to add a coda to the book’s end, projecting her characters into the future of our current landscape. “I wanted to add a layer of darkness and uncertainty,” Wolitzer explained to EW, “as the world got into this strange moment for women.” (Apr. 3)

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How to Be Safe by Tom McAllister

Liveright Publishing

Explosive, senseless, and utterly chaotic, Tom McAllister’s How to Be Safe depicts the aftermath of a school shooting in a way that sadly befits the times. His book centers on Anna, an English teacher stunned to see herself named as a suspect. Her anger, which threads the book, is cathartic. (April 3)

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Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley

MCD

Crosley may have put essays aside for her 2015 novel The Clasp, but she returns with her particular brand of sardonic wit in this new collection. The tone, she told EW, is “somewhere between jaded misanthrope and easily amused child.” (Apr. 3)

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The Recovering by Leslie Jamison

Little, Brown and Company

This ingenious mix of confession and criticism combines Jamison’s own story with iconic tales of addiction — Raymond Carver, Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse — to create a sweeping panorama of the recovery movement. (Apr. 3)

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Varina by Charles Frazier

Ecco

Charles Frazier realizes the Civil War on an intimate scale in his fourth novel, returning to the time and place of his iconic best-seller Cold Mountain. Varina follows one woman and her children as they escape from Jefferson Davis, and their journey through a country torn by war and stained by its past. (Apr. 3)

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Circe by Madeline Miller

Lee Boudreaux Books

Madeline Miller’s anticipated follow-up to her best-selling Song of Achilles is the vivid, transporting Circe. Exploring fascinating questions about gender and power, the author traces the evolution of the eponymous Greek goddess. (April 10)

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Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

Simon + Schuster

These bracing contemporary stories introduce a new author worth watching. Thompson-Spires’ debut collection explores the complexity of black identity in the current era, each entry revealing three-dimensional characters whose stories range from banal to tragic, but always brim with life. (April 10)

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A Lady's Guide to Selling Out by Sally Franson

Random House

This frothy, sneaky tale from Franson intermixes elements of The Bold Type, Mad Men, and The Devil Wears Prada. A book lover goes to work for an ad agency, where she bears witness to how money and corporate power infiltrate a world she thought she loved. (April 10)

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Sharp by Michelle Dean

Grove Press

Michelle Dean pays tribute to 10 brilliant, groundbreaking women of the 20th century in Sharp, unpacking their bold writing and its significant impact on the culture around them. (April 10)

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Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

Ecco

Miller (The Art of Starving) returns to sci-fi after wading into the YA waters last year. Blackfish City imagines a floating city in the Arctic Circle, immaculately constructed due to technological innovation, but in which societal cracks are beginning to show. Miller’s poetic prose gives this dystopian story a taut, lyrical edge. (April 17)

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A Higher Loyalty by James Comey

Flatiron Books

What will James Comey reveal in this anticipated memoir? Publisher Flatiron Books isn’t giving much away, just saying that the former FBI director promises to give a vital lesson on sound leadership, drawing on his own experiences to provide a manual that certain world leaders desperately need. (April 17)

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How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The latest brilliant fiction writer to publish a new essay collection this year (see also: Zadie Smith), Alexander Chee proves why he’s a master of the form. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel meditates on how art shapes who we are, unpacking its author’s own coming-of-age as a gay Korean man to craft persuasive, engrossing arguments. (April 17)

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My Boyfriend Is a Bear by Pamela Ribon and Cat Farris

Simon & Schuster

This imaginative, sweetly romantic graphic novel gives readers a classic “Bear Meets Girl” story. My Boyfriend Is a Bear centers on Nora, who, after a succession of terrible boyfriends, finds a much happier relationship with a 500-pound American black bear. (April 17)

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Our Little Secret by Roz Nay

St. Martin's Press

Bound to draw comparisons to Ruth Ware and Sophie Hannah, Roz Nay’s crackling debut begins on the scene of a woman being interrogated by police for hours on end, and from there, unfurls a memorably twisted love story. (April 17)

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Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story by Chris Nashawaty

Flatiron Books

EW’s own film critic Chris Nashawaty tells the definitive (and messy) behind-the-scenes story of one of the most beloved film comedies of all time. This is a Hollywood history that will stay with you. (April 24)

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Chasing Hillary by Amy Chozick

HarperCollins

Chozick was the New York Times‘ primary Hillary Clinton reporter through two dramatic, devastating presidential campaigns. She saw some things, to be sure, but as Chozick writes in this frank memoir, the experience changed her, too. (April 24)

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The Husband Hour by Jamie Brenner

Little, Brown

It’s finally starting to warm up, which means: Let the beach-reading recommendations commence. This month, we might have an early winner in The Husband Hour, a Jersey Shore-set novel centered on a reclusive widow being haunted by her past. (April 24)

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You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

Random House

The author of Prep and American Wife is back with a story collection tackling issues of class, gender, and life in the Trump Era. There are a few people for whom this book has already stuck: A TV adaptation starring Kristen Wiig and produced by Reese Witherspoon is already in the works at Apple. (April 24)

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White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig

Feiwel & Friends

Roehrig combines elements of queer fiction, YA, and psychological thriller in his latest murder mystery. (April 24)

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20 new books to read in April

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April's 20 must-reads

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America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo

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The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

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How to Be Safe by Tom McAllister

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Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley

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The Recovering by Leslie Jamison

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Varina by Charles Frazier

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Circe by Madeline Miller

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Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

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A Lady's Guide to Selling Out by Sally Franson

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Sharp by Michelle Dean

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Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

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A Higher Loyalty by James Comey

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How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

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My Boyfriend Is a Bear by Pamela Ribon and Cat Farris

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Our Little Secret by Roz Nay

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Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story by Chris Nashawaty

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Chasing Hillary by Amy Chozick

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The Husband Hour by Jamie Brenner

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You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

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White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig

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