Most bookworms have that list of authors that are their go-to “must buy.” It took me a while to have such a dedicated list since I was burned by book hype and reads that disappointed me. Also, I tend to read a lot of classics, so contemporary authors never met my interests or radar.
That is until I encountered the following authors.
I fell in love with their books, and I haven’t looked back. The authors have introduced me to new ideas and fantastic storytelling, and I consider them the best of the best. I have a rule where I have to read at most three books by the same author for me to think of them to be part of my must-buy crew. So, if you are looking for a new author to add to your TBR pile, the following ones will lead you in the right direction.
Don’t worry. This is always an ever-growing list. The next time around, you will see a new group of authors that make the list. So keep on the lookout!
Catherine Ryan Howard
After reading 56 Days, I was captivated by how twisty and engrossing the books was. I knew that had to look to see what other books she has written and since then, I always on the look for new titles by Ryan.
Sara Barnard
I credit Barnard for getting me interested in rereading YA. After reading Goodbye Perfect, I discovered that YA can be written beautifully and realistically. Barnard doesn’t try to sound like a teenager; she writes from the heart. And it made me I believe that there could be believable YA out there.
Laura Bates
The first book I read by Bates was Everyday Sexism, and from then on, I had to get my hands on everything she had written. The way she writes, whether it is an essay or fiction book, the way she writes is so insightful and enlightening that you can’t help but Feel empowered by her words. If am you haven’t read anything by Laura Bates, now is the perfect time to begin.
Holly Jackson
Sara Barnard got me rereading YA fiction, and Holly Jackson got me rereading YA mysteries. A Good Girls Guide To Murder series was exciting and completely different from what I’ve previously read before and from then on. Every book in the series didn’t disappoint, so I am always anticipating what latest thriller she comes up with, and so far, like with A Good Girls Guide…, Jackson hasn’t disappointed.
Nadine Matheson
It’s so rare to read a BIPOC main character in a mystery, let alone by a BIPOC author. So, discovering Nadine Matheson was a godsend for me. Not only reading the Inspector Anjelica Henley series was exciting and new , it was also compelling and suspenseful to read and its been awhile for me to be excited for a mystery series. Matheson has created a series that is both realistic and thrilling that makes you want more after you hit the last page.
Manjeet Mann
Run Rebel left an emotional punch, The Crossing had me enthralled. Every book that I buy from her has always been a winner and has left me with a different outlook on life. The innovative way she wrote The Crossing cemented Mann for me as one of my favorite authors.
John Allison
Giant Days was one of the books, in this case, series, that saved me during the COVID lockdown. When there wasn’t anything on TV, reading this series in one sitting was like having a TV show in my head! After reading the last issue, Giant Days, I couldn’t get enough of John Allison’s wit, humor, and creative storytelling. I had to read everything that he had created. If I am ever in a funk or need a break from reading dark and mysterious stories, Allison’s comics are always a good pick-me-up.
Laura Purcell
Agatha Christie is the Queen of Mystery, and Laura Purcell is the Queen of Gothic Fiction. Purcell has the gift of creating dark and atmospheric gothic stories that are not only profoundly researched but also enriched with captivating storytelling and mysterious writing with stories that leave you with a satisfying chill down your spine.
Sarah Crossan
I consider Crossan to be the Queen of Novels in Verse. The reason that I now read novels in verse. Crossan’s work is always so captivating and emotional that towards the end of her novels, eyes are always left with tears. If you are not a fan of novels in verse, then you should definitely pick up one of Crossan’s award -winning novels to change your perspective.
Matt Haig
Another award-winning author that leaves such an emotional impact through their writing. Haig creates inspirational writing through both fiction and nonfiction works. You always find yourself rereading it over and over because you need to read something moving and uplifting to get you through the rest of the day. That is what Matt Haig’s works does for me.
Nikita Gill
I was never a big poetry person. That is until I read Nikita Gill’s works. She took poetry (and combine it with a beautiful artwork) to a whole different level. Here is another author who provides inspirational and motivational words that are helpful when dealing with mental health issues and matters. If you are having trouble reading poetry, I highly recommend reading Gill’s beautiful work.
Jojo Moyes
I credit Jojo Moyes for getting me out my reading funk years ago. After reading Me Before You, I not only wanted to read everything else by Moyes, but this was also a time where I fell in love reading British and Irish contemporary books. Moyes doesn’t just write romantic stories. She writes stories that are seeped with emotional and realistic storytelling that just stay with you always. I always feel enriched when I read another Moyes novel and in awe of the different stories that she can tell. That’s why she is one of my favorite authors of all time.
- Quote of the Day – April 10, 2026
- In Conversation with Harvey Hamer
Next up in the 2nd season of the Tea & Books Chat podcast, we are joined by author and creator, Harvey Hamer, as we talk about his writing journey and his most recent book, The Diamond Dimensions: Volume 4.5: Tales from the Void: Anniversary Edition.
Start listening below!
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Acast:
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Listen also at the following places:
Get a copy of The Diamond Dimensions: Volume 4.5: Tales from the Void: Anniversary Edition at the links below!
About The Author
Harvey Hamer lives in South East England and writes across a range of mediums. He began self-publishing his Diamond Dimensions Universe of thirty books at age twelve. His debut byline was in the pages of the international magazine Star Wars Insider, with articles about that franchise’s art history inspirations and a biography of fan favourite, Captain Rex. His poetry debut was ‘Processing…’ in New York Public Library’s Library Zine! Volume 8 and his comics debut ‘RISE & FALL’ was a one-page exploration of infinity in WIP Comics’ Broken Fronter Award-nominated 2025 anthology. He was commended by the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Author of Tomorrow Prize, had an award-winning pilot script on Coverfly and was longlisted for Adventures in Fiction’s Spotlight First Novel Award. Harvey’s currently lead writer of The Diamond Adventures, available to wishlist on Steam. He’s constantly inspired by artists of all sorts, from the earliest cave painters to modern singer-songwriters.
- Quote of the Day – April 9, 2026
- Quote of the Day – April 8, 2026
- Books To Read This Month: April Edition
Need to take a break from all the chaos that is happening in the world? Take a chance to briefly escape with the tantalizing April book releases heading our way! April is filled with hauntings and thrillers that will send chills down your spine. Or maybe you are in the mood for a good old-fashioned rom-com to entertain you this month? But this month also gives you reads that help readers learn, grow, and prepare for the future. From romance to humor to mysteries, April brings something to every reader to this month:
Featured Book of the Month
Olive Oakes and the Haunted Carousel by Kalynn Bayron
Olive Oakes loves a good mystery. She keeps a notebook with her at all times, ready to jot down observations about anything that seems out of the ordinary. Along with her cousin Eli, Olive is always looking to follow the clues.
When Olive and her family visit a town called Whispering Woods, she uncovers a strange backstory to the traveling carnival that comes through the area once a year. With rumors of missing kids and ghost sightings, it’s the perfect opportunity for Olive to investigate! The people of Whispering Woods are very secretive, but Olive is ready to solve the mystery of the haunted carousel. (Credit: Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Murder at Cinnamon Fall by R.L. Killmore
After a humiliating breakup at graduation and no job offers on the horizon, Nia retreats to her sleepy hometown of Cinnamon Falls where she can sulk about her life being a mess in peace.
When she arrives, the town is gearing up for their annual Fall Fest, where people travel from far and wide to bob apples, carve pumpkins and watch the firework display. But just a few days before opening night, a shocking discovery is made. A body is uncovered in the local diner, alongside a note: Who will be next?
Nia must team up with an eclectic group of Cinnamon Falls residents to solve the case, including her tall, dark and handsome high school ex-boyfriend Jesse that she never quite got over…
Can Nia and the town solve the case before the killer strikes again? (Credit: Avon)
Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp by Minoru Tonai and Jolene Gutiérrez and illustrated by Chris Sasaki
Cowritten by Minoru (Min) Tonai, an advocate for Japanese American rights, Unbreakable is based on Tonai’s harrowing real-life experiences and has been welcomed with four starred reviews.
This moving picture book includes extensive back matter: information on the American incarceration camps and the campaign to release Tonai’s father, a timeline, a bibliography, author and illustrator notes, and questions for further discussion perfect for caregivers and educators to further engage young readers.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, strength comes in the form of the small, smooth stone Min’s father gives him before being led away by FBI agents. In his absence, Min and his family do their best to keep their produce business afloat and earn enough support to get Min’s father released. But the FBI won’t release his father, and soon, Min and his family are forced into an incarceration camp in Colorado.
Imprisoned on the dusty plains and facing both the pain of displacement and the injustice of being incarcerated by his own country, Min must learn to adapt and to find beauty–and strength–where most wouldn’t.
Cowritten by Jolene Gutiérrez, author of Too Much! and Mamiachi & Me, and illustrated by acclaimed illustrator Chris Sasaki, this is an inspiring and powerful picture book. Share it with young readers who are asking questions about justice, belonging, and what it means to be American.
Lying in bed at night, Min thinks about things he’s lost:
his family’s home and business, Puppy, and most of all, Papa.
Min clutches his stone, hoping to see his father again. (Credit: Abrams Books for Young Readers)
The Name Game by Beth O’Leary
Charlie couldn’t be happier to take the job of farm-shop manager on the remote, wild Isle of Ormer. She’s grieving, a little lost, and in desperate need of a fresh start.
Jones has come out of a difficult breakup and is looking forward to some peace away from the noise of his city life. Moving to Ormer couldn’t have come at a better time.
But when Charlie Jones and, ahem, Charlie Jones both turn up at Ormer’s one and only farm shop, claiming to have been offered the role of manager, everyone is baffled. How could this have happened? And just who is the real Charlie Jones? (Credit: Berkley)
The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
Arthur Fletch, one of the world’s bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead . . . and his last book is unfinished.
Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch’s agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter––for a mind-boggling sum––they will also help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just seventy-two hours to finish Fletch’s magnum opus.
It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending. (Credit: Harper)
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.
Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible. (Credit: Knopf)
Holy Island by LJ Ross
Everyone is a suspect…
Forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective, Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island to seek sanctuary, wanting nothing more than quiet refuge. A few days before Christmas, however, his peace is shattered when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby Priory, and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder.
When former local girl Dr. Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface, forcing her to confront her difficult past. And as she and Ryan struggle to work together to hunt a killer who hides in plain sight, pagan ritual and small-town politics muddy the waters of their investigation.
With the causeway connecting Holy Island to the English mainland underwater most of the time, everyone in the isolated community quickly becomes a suspect. But when everyone is suspicious, who is left to trust? (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
The Beast You Let In by Dana Mele
There is no one Hazel trusts less than her self-centered twin, Beth. So when Beth abandons her at a party she didn’t want to attend in the first place, Hazel decides not to let it ruin her night. She throws herself into flirting and telling ghost stories over a Ouija board. Hazel might not be the popular twin, but she is going to have fun if it kills her.
Except Beth doesn’t come home that night, and Hazel’s anger morphs into anxiety. It only sharpens when Beth reappears a day later, disoriented and claiming to be Veronica Green, a teen who was murdered in their small town years before. If it isn’t a possession, Beth is really good at faking it. Did they accidentally release a vengeful horror during the party?
Hazel must uncover what happened to Veronica all those years ago if she’s going to save Beth. But the truth may destroy them both–if they don’t destroy each other first. (Credit: Sourcebooks Fire)
We Call Them Witches by India-Rose Bower
Nearly everyone died the first night they came…
Two years ago, monstrous beings tore through Britain, leaving few survivors. Now Sara and her family live on the run, relying on scraps of folklore and fading pagan rituals to stay safe from the eldritch creatures they call “witches”.
While her mother grows increasingly paranoid, Sara longs for something more than fear.
Then a strange girl appears in the garden of their current camp. Her name is Parsley, and she cannot remember where she came from or why she’s there. Despite her family’s suspicions, Sara feels drawn to her.
But when Sara’s younger brother is taken by the Witches, she and Parsley must cross desolate moors full of merciless terrors to get him back. As their bond deepens, so do the dangers they face–and Sara begins to question whether anything is truly as it seems.
In a world ruled by terror and myth, trust is the only thing more dangerous than the Witches themselves. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe
In the early morning of November 29th, 2019, surveillance cameras at the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s spy agency, captured video of a young man pacing back and forth on a high balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury tower on the bank of the river Thames. At 2:24 a.m., he jumped into the river.
In a quiet London neighborhood several miles away, Rachelle Brettler was worried about her son. Zac had told her that he had gone to stay with a friend, but then he did not come home. Days later, a police car pulled up and two officers relayed the dreadful news: her son was dead.
In their unbearable grief, Rachelle and her husband, Matthew, struggled to understand what had happened to Zac. He had his troubles, but in no way seemed suicidal. As they would soon discover, however, there was a lot they did not know about their son. Only after his death did they learn that he had adopted a fictitious alter-ego: Zac Ismailov, son of a Russian oligarch and heir to a great fortune. Under this guise, Zac had become entangled with a slippery London businessman named Akbar Shamji, and a murderous gangster known as “Indian Dave.” As the Brettlers set about investigating their son’s death, they were pulled into a different and more dangerous London than the one they’d always known, and came to believe that something much more nefarious than a suicide had claimed Zac’s life. But to their immense frustration, Scotland Yard seemed unable—or unwilling—to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In a bravura feat of reporting and writing, Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles the Brettlers’ quest, peeling back layers of mystery and exposing the seedy truths behind the glamorous London of posh mansions and private nightclubs, a city in which everything is for sale, and aspirational fantasies are underwritten by dirty money and corruption. London Falling is a mesmerizing investigation of an inexplicable death and a powerful narrative driven by suspense and staggering revelations. But it is also an intimate and deeply poignant inquiry into the nature of parental love and the challenges of being a parent today, a portrait of a family trying to solve the riddle not just of how their son died, but of who he really was in life. (Credit: Doubleday)
The Counting Game by Sinéad Nola
Southwest Ireland, 1995: Two children go into the woods. Only one comes out.
When thirteen-year-old Saoirse Kellough goes missing, panic grips a rural Irish community. Saoirse is not the first girl to disappear in the forest, rumored by locals to be haunted, and the only witness—her troubled younger brother, Jack—refuses to speak. Saoirse went missing when they were playing the Counting Game, a ritual believed to ward off evil, and Jack has sworn to protect the forest’s secrets.
Freya Hemmings, a psychotherapist still healing from a loss of her own, is brought in to help investigators break Jack’s silence. As the race to find Saoirse alive accelerates, the search threatens to unravel a family facing the unthinkable. Everyone is a suspect, and the closer Freya and Jack become, the more danger they find themselves in.
Haunting and emotional, The Counting Game is a suspenseful debut from an unmissable new voice in crime fiction. (Credit: Gallery/Scout Press)
A Killer In The Family by Amin Ahmad
It’s time for Ali, a good-natured Mumbai party-boy, to grow up. The first step to settling down is an arranged marriage to Maryam, the daughter of Abbas Khan, a New York real estate tycoon. She’s pretty, demure, and respectable—unlike her sister, Farhan, a sexy, rebellious divorcée.
After the wedding, Ali moves to New York and enjoys the privileges of being an honorary Khan: private helicopters, supertall skyscrapers, and a Gatsbyesque house in the Hamptons. But soon rumors begin to surface about Abbas Khan—accusations of corruption and hidden affairs—and Farhan hints that a violent secret underlies Abbas’s success. Though Ali’s wife insists the insinuations are unfounded, he can’t shake the feeling that there’s something he doesn’t know.
To uncover the truth, Ali launches his own investigation, which takes him deep into Abbas’s dealings and past. As he closes in on the truth, Ali must decide: Can he remain part of the Khan family, and pay the moral price demanded by unimaginable wealth and power? (Credit: Henry Holt and Co.)
How to Build a Haunted House: The History of a Cultural Obsession by Caitlin Blackwell Baines
What makes a house haunted? Why do some buildings conjure up a reputation for being particularly creepy, while others leave us unmoved? Barring the possibility of a looming afterlife, what are the particular features, contexts, and histories that lend a building the dreaded identity of haunted house?
How to Build a Haunted House tours some of the world’s most famously spine-chilling structures in search of answers. From Medieval Scotland to Enlightenment-era London; Victorian suburbs to pre-Civil War Louisiana, Blackwell Baines, an expert in Gothic art and architecture, will explore that specific set of ingredients that captures our imaginations and contributes to our collective understanding of the eternally eerie. After all, whether a staunch sceptic or paranormal enthusiast, we all know a haunted house when we see one. (Credit: Pegasus Books)
Cricket Explained: A Beginner’s Guide to the Great Global Pastime by Rob Eastaway
This is the definitive beginner’s guide to the game of cricket, from the singular voice of Rob Eastaway, a true aficionado of the sport. Told through engaging anecdotes and Eastaway’s unmatched humor, this updated classic grabs you by the hand and takes you along for a comprehensive tour of cricket. Here, you will gain a range of knowledge from the game’s fundamentals—basic laws, terminology, equipment—to the finer points of strategy, individual playing styles, and cricket lore.
To keep things accessible, this book includes a combined glossary/index for easy reference and lighthearted, explanatory illustrations by British cartoonist Mark Stevens. So even if you don’t know “short leg” from “silly mid off”, or a leg break from a googly, you’ll come away from Cricket Explained with an understanding for this truly international sport which, like baseball, is loved both for its elegant simplicity and its vexing complexity.
Among the topics covered in Cricket Explained’s concise, user-friendly entries are:
-Cricket’s history
-Twenty20 and other forms of cricket
-Making sense of the action on the field
-Batters and the batting order
-Bowlers and their individual styles
-Fielders and fielding positions
-Tactics
-Scoring and statistics
-How, like chess, a game can be won or sometimes drawn (Credit: St. Martin’s Press)
Enemies To Lovers by Alisha Rai
Sejal Chaudhary inherited her mama’s calculating brain, her daddy’s quick fingers, and the boatload of trauma that comes with being the eldest daughter of criminals. Although Sejal has never claimed to be a good girl, she’s spent the last couple years laying low and going (mostly) straight. That is, until a con gone wrong sends her into the arms of a handsome stranger who’s set on dragging her back into her messy family drama.
Krish Anand never mastered the fine art of being a bad boy…he would take a book over bullets any day. But when his FBI agent brother goes missing, he has no choice but to suit up for the adventure of a lifetime. Certain that someone in Sejal’s little crime family is behind the disappearance, a desperate Krish manages to convince the beautiful thief that his brother’s badge is actually his.
The deal is simple: help him find his brother, and Krish and the law will leave Sejal be. With an up-to-no-good ex also hot on her trail, Sejal reluctantly agrees. As they wind their way across the country on planes, buses, and automobiles, sparks ignite, and what began as a fragile temporary truce starts to look more and more like a partnership.
Falling for the enemy? So cliche, but so good…if only they can survive long enough to chance a happily ever after. (Credit: Avon)
How the Other Half Die by P C Roscoe
The exclusive Mokani Island is Avery’s happy place. This summer, she’s invited her college roommate, Nora, to hang out in paradise and party with her superrich friends.
But the vibe feels off from the start. Avery’s ex can’t get over their split. Her best friend is acting weird. A hot new staff member can’t keep his eyes off her. And nobody likes Nora, who keeps sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.
A tropical storm is brewing and everyone on the island seems to be hiding something–but are some secrets worth killing for? (Credit: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Big Girl Blitz by Danielle Allen
Expected Publication Date: April 14
Because life’s too short, and mean girls ain’t sh…
Jazmyn Payne fled her hometown—and the fatphobes who made her life hell– the minute she graduated high school. Growing up, her haven was her Aunt Addison, and when her health takes a drastic turn, she insists that Jazz should spice up her life. Emphasis on spice.
But dating is the last thing Jazz had on her mind.
Until Lamar Anderson sits next to her at the local sports bar. He is sexy, fun, and refreshingly drama free. With him she’s able to pretend that everything is alright. But as real life intrudes, Jazz has to decide if she can leave the past where it belongs…for a love that she deserves. (Credit: Bramble)
The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
Rainy March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew.
Book Witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.
Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.
But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets. (Credit: Ballantine Books)
To Steal A Throne by Gabi Burton
Her magic feeds on lies.
His magic could destroy her.Mira Kyler runs the court of Virdei from the shadows. Ever since she helped her half-brother Luc cheat his way into the role of Virdei’s leader, she’s used her lie-powered magic to collect secrets from members of court, then used them as blackmail to keep her brother in power.
Kaidren Vale has magic of his own-magic that can detect the precise nature of someone else’s power with a single touch. Kaidren is after the throne, and Mira knows it could be his for the taking if he so much as brushes against her and discovers Mira has been manipulating the court with her power for years.
As Kaidren and Luc compete for the throne in The Trials-three deadly challenges-Mira realizes, even as she fights to keep her brother in power, that no matter who wins, she’ll be stuck serving someone else. She’s done hiding in the shadows. She wants the throne for herself.
To get it, she’ll have to betray both her own brother and Kaidren-but the fiercer the competition gets, the more Mira realizes that the one boy who could destroy everything is the one boy she might not be able to resist. (Credit: Bloomsbury YA)
It’s Not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis by Tori Tsui
For anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed by the climate crisis–you’re not alone. In a book that was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize on Writing and Global Conservatism, activist and mental health advocate Tori Tsui takes readers on a powerful journey through the emotional terrain of climate grief, anxiety, and burnout. Combining memoir, intersectional analysis, and activist storytelling, Tsui, named a Stella McCartney Agent of Change, redefines eco-anxiety as not just a personal response to planetary crisis, but a political and communal condition rooted in systems of oppression–racism, colonialism, capitalism, and ableism.
With clarity and heart, Tsui traces her lived experience as a queer woman of color navigating mental illness and activism on a global scale: from sailing across the Atlantic for a climate summit to finding healing with Indigenous communities in Colombia. Alongside personal reflections, she amplifies the voices of marginalized organizers, critiques the commodification of wellness, and insists that true climate action must also be mental health care. By refusing simplistic fixes, It’s Not Just You insists on justice, solidarity, and radical care as the antidotes to our present-day despair.
Featuring contributions from Mikaela Loach, author of Climate Is Just the Start; Vanessa Nakate, author of A Bigger Picture; and Talia Woodin, climate photographer for Atmos, Middle East Eye, i-D, and The Guardian, among others, It’s Not Just You is a must-read for anyone reckoning with the emotional weight of the climate crisis. Whether you’re just learning the term “eco-anxiety” or you’ve been carrying it for years, Tsui offers validation, perspective, and most of all: community. Along with a foreword by Leah Thomas, named to the Ebony Power 100, Tsui reminds readers that they are most resilient when they lean on–and learn from–each other. (Credit: New Press)
The Art of Loving You by Natasha Bishop
Expected Publication Date: April 14
If you’re reading this, I’m dead.
Dani Jenkins is a boss. A model turned influencer, she doesn’t have time for taking a risk on romance. She prefers to keep things casual, but when her mentor Tanya dies, she is brought face-to-face with the man who broke her heart.
Dani and Micah had their chance at love . . .
Artist Micah Wright is a protector who loves fiercely. He’s known as the man everyone can count on, but he’s never forgiven himself for letting down the woman he loves. With Tanya’s dying wish forcing Dani and Micah back together to complete a scavenger hunt road trip, Micah sees a second chance for them to get things right.
Does time heal all wounds?
Tensions are high as their undeniable connection reignites, but Dani refuses to let her guard down. As they continue their journey, Micah is determined to prove to Dani that love is worth fighting for, but can she release her fears and relearn the art of loving? (Credit: Slowburn)
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
Expected Publication Date: April 14
October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn’t always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.
October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.
One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.
Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it. (Credit: Hanover Square Press)
Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen
Expected Publication Date: April 14
All Cleo Dang has ever wanted is to be a mother. The day she discovers she’s pregnant is the happiest of her life, especially when she learns that her best friend, Paloma, is also expecting. It’s a wonderful surprise, and together, they enjoy their pregnancies. But when they both go to the hospital in labor, something goes very, very wrong. Paloma comes home with a baby. Cleo does not.
Ravaged by grief, Cleo must now navigate life after losing her baby. She alienates herself from the world, particularly her best friend, who is living the life she so desperately wanted. Forced to take leave from her demanding job as an actuary, Cleo manages to find work at a funeral home, where she meets a revolving cast of bereaved locals and discovers the power of confronting grief. (Credit: Atria Books)
Last One Out by Jane Harper
Expected Publication Date: April 14
Carralon Ridge, a once vibrant village in rural New South Wales, has become a shell of itself, its houses and buildings bought up and left to rot by the mining company operating at its borders. A decade into its slow death, surrounded by industrial noise and swathed in thick layers of dust, the skeletal town is all but abandoned, with just a handful of residents clinging onto what remains.
After years of scorning those who left the Ridge behind as it fell into ruin, Ro never imagined she’d become one of them. But everything changed when she lost her son. Five years ago, Sam vanished while visiting during a break from college, leaving behind a rental car with his belongings inside. Sam had loved Carralon Ridge, and had been working on an oral history of the town to preserve its legacy before it vanished altogether. It wasn’t long after his disappearance that the rest of the family began to crumble away too.
But when Ro returns to Carralon Ridge to be with her husband and daughter on the anniversary of Sam’s disappearance, she begins to suspect that something important was overlooked in his case. Because while nothing can stop Carralon Ridge from dying, someone seems to want to make sure that its secrets die with it. (Credit: Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar)
The Drop by S.R. Masters
Expected Publication Date: April 21
Some might say that thirtysomething Cady Ellison landed herself a strange creative career, but Cady finally feels like she’s found her footing. Now an online theme park influencer, she is invited to the opening of a brand-new park by her old friend, Danny, who wants to use her online profile to help build buzz for its flagship ride, Hysteria, a record-breaking 650 foot-tall roller coaster.
When she arrives at the half-complete theme park site in the middle of the desert, Cady is unexpectedly met with her old college friend group: Femi, an award-winning actor, Naseem, a decorated novelist, and Winston, a member of a popular rock group. Wanting them all to sing the praises of Hysteria online, Danny has arranged an exclusive private ride for them, capped off with the stunning desert sunset. But when their coaster cars get to the top of the first hill, the ride stalls 650 feet above ground. With no one due on site for days and over 100-degree heat awaiting them once the sun rises, the four friends soon realize that they must unravel the secrets from their complicated past if they are to find their way to safety. (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
Mrs. Shim Is A Killer by Kang Jiyoung
Expected Publication Date: April 21
Mrs. Shim needs money. She’s lost her husband and her job, and she’s got three mouths to feed at her kitchen table. If she doesn’t find work soon, she and her children are going to lose their home.
So when she answers a vague job ad for the Smile Detective Agency, Mrs. Shim expects the job will be some kind of cleaning position. But when they only ask her questions about her experience as a butcher and what she can do with a cleaver, she begins to realize they want her to do a very different kind of cleaning—they want her to be an assassin. Too scared not to take them up on their offer, she agrees to the position.
And Mrs. Shim soon finds that her new job isn’t so different from her old one in the butcher shop, quickly becoming the agency’s best contract killer—but her rise to the top hasn’t gone unnoticed. Jealous of her talents, her agency’s competitors—and even her own colleagues– begin pointing fingers (and knives) in her direction.
If she wants to keep her job, her family, and her reputation intact, Mrs. Shim is going to have to take out the secretive leader of a rival agency. But when she has the chance to strike, she’s stunned to find a familiar face at the end of her blade.
As it turns out, this just may be one mess she can’t cut her way out of . . . (Credit: Harper Perennial)
To The End of Reckoning by Joseph Moldover
Expected Publication Date: April 21
Twenty-three-year-old Lukas Moore has returned to his hometown of Faith, New York, and left his burgeoning acting career behind to care for his father. Dr. Richard Moore is a psychiatrist known for being nearly as misanthropic as he is brilliant, but a recent traumatic brain injury has left him dependent on his begrudgingly attentive son and has changed his worldview in unexpected ways. Attuned to the slightest detail, Dr. Moore now sees mysteries where other people see settled facts—nowhere more so than in the disappearance of his former colleague and neighbor Dr. Jason Grant.
One year ago, Jason’s shoes, watch, and car were found beside a nearby lake and no trace of him has been found since. The obvious conclusion was suicide, despite Jason’s youth, wealth, and successful career as a child psychiatrist. Only two people question his fate: Richard, obsessed with fragments of memory, and Misty, Jason’s younger sister and Lukas’s high school girlfriend.
When Misty asks for the Moores’ help in finding out what really happened to her brother, Lukas takes the chance to resolve his father’s obsession and to reconnect with someone he may still have feelings for. As Lukas, Richard, and Misty are drawn into the puzzle, however, they are forced to confront the secrets behind both Jason’s disappearance and Richard’s injury. Sometimes the deepest mysteries are found in the people we think we know best. (Credit: The Mysterious Press)
The Bush Tea Murder by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier
Expected Publication Date: April 21
Food journalist Naomi Sinclair doesn’t expect a side of murder with her passion fruit juice. But when her return to Saint Thomas heralds a series of troubling cases, ranging from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that threaten her tight-knit community, that is exactly the kind of unsavory treat she must sink her teeth into.
Luckily for her neighbors, Naomi is as adept at solving puzzles as rolling johnnycake dough—a good thing, since her island community, though small, keeps serving up plenty of trouble. With the help of her friends and her crush, Mateo, Naomi must navigate the tumultuous turquoise waters of life in the Caribbean, all as her beloved father battles an illness that keeps tugging her back to her island amid her rising career stateside.
Rich with mouthwatering recipes, lush landscapes, and a hefty dose of fun under the sun, The Bush Tea Murder has all the ingredients to make up the perfect beach read. (Credit: Crooked Lane Books)
A Room In Bombay by Manil Suri
Expected Publication Date: April 21
Indian American author Manil Suri grew up in a large crumbling apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai) which his parents, who were Hindu, shared with three Muslim families. Their single room, at times a refuge from the religious and territorial tensions pervading the apartment, was also a prison that held them captive–his parents stuck in an unhappy marriage, the author unable to explore the dawning realization he might be gay. At age 20, Suri managed to break free and come to the US, where he finally found the freedom to embrace his sexuality and find a life partner. But the room, which still held his parents hostage, kept wrenching him back to Bombay.
By now real estate prices had risen so much that neighbors had begun conspiring to take over the room, causing Suri’s parents to dig in even more. Eventually it was only his mother, Prem, left, who had staked all her happiness on her son but was unable to escape the room’s hold on her. When a rash of mysterious incidents seemed to beset the room, Suri realized how little time he had left to convince Prem that a happier life might await beyond the four walls that both enthralled and imprisoned her.
This remarkable, gripping memoir explores how an abode can shape destiny, while delving into the difficult question of how much to prioritize our parents’ happiness over our own. Inspired by over 2,700 letters the author wrote home over three decades, it is ultimately a testament to the abiding, unbreakable bond tying a son to his mother. (Credit: W. W. Norton & Company)
Screen People: How We Entertained Ourselves into a State of Emergency by Megan Garber
Expected Publication Date: April 21
Whether it’s our reality-television-star President or our expertly curated Instagram feeds, the line between fact and fiction—between what’s real and what’s fabricated for entertainment—has never been more blurred. Screen People explores what happens when we cede our reality to spectacle. Megan Garber explains how today’s internet-inflected culture conditions us to see one another not as people but as characters in an ongoing show, and how some of our most chronic and harmful social conditions—loneliness, depression, mistrust, misinformation, cynicism—stem from our demand for diversion.
In ten chapters, each themed around an element of entertainment—from “The Producers,” who edit our reality, to “The Extras,” the strangers we turn into objects of our amusement, to “the Haters,” the worshipful Qanon-types who expect the prophecies of their anonymous leader to play out on live television—Garber argues that this comedy of our daily lives is quickly becoming tragedy. And we can’t understand our politics without first understanding our culture.
Like The Anxious Generation but about our media diet, Screen People shows why Megan Garber is one of the most respected and widely-read journalists of our day. It is an urgent, page-turning, and dazzling look at how we entertained ourselves into our current predicament, and how we might find our way out of the maze of misinformation and chaos. (Credit: HarperOne)
The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
Expected Publication Date: April 21
EXCITING OPPORTUNITY:
Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY.Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention—it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all—vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she’s not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.
Besides, it’s only three days’ work…
Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.
What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property—and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.
Follow the Rites…
Follow the Rites…
Follow the Rites…
..— / ….. / —.. (Credit: Atria/Emily Bestler Books/12:01 Books)
A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas Didomizio
Expected Publication Date: April 28
Rustic cabins. Lakefront bonfires. A painfully hot lifeguard. And a murder? Summer has never been this camp.
Mikey Hartford IV has coasted through his twenties in a distracted blur of yachts and sex and partying. But when his father discovers his latest million-dollar impulse buy and changes the terms of his trust, the party’s finally over. Now, unless Mikey can make a positive contribution to the world before his thirtieth birthday–one that doesn’t involve throwing cash at his problems–he’ll never see another yacht again. (Or even so much as a canoe.)
Enter: Camp Lore, a struggling summer camp in upstate New York where Mikey has to work as the oldest, least-qualified staffer to prove that he can “do good” alongside his twelve-year-old aunt. (Yes, aunt.) But Mikey isn’t sure he’ll be able to survive the camp’s ramshackle living conditions, let alone the gaggle of preteens who won’t leave his side. And when his campers become obsessed with a local legend set at an abandoned cabin on the grounds, Mikey’s chances of not making it through the summer become dangerously real–because it turns out there’s a murder hidden beneath Camp Lore. And someone there will stop at nothing to keep it that way.
Solving a decade-old cold case will surely be enough “good” for Mikey to earn his inheritance. He just has to stay alive long enough to do it… (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu
Expected Publication Date: April 28
“Thank you for your interest in our school, but we regret to inform you that…” you’re not special. You’re too average. You’re too boring.
Well, in that case, she’ll have to show them just how interesting she can be.
Elizabeth Zhang is well aware of her place in the world. She’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics. While she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, she knows she has the intelligence and ambition to achieve her greatest dream: Harvard Law School. But when Harvard rejects Elizabeth for not standing out enough—which she knows means she’s just another boring Asian female—her carefully constructed life falls apart. What shocks her even more is that Laura Kim, a classmate at Columbia, got in. Elizabeth can’t figure out how this could have happened. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?At first, she follows her because she’s just curious. What Laura orders for lunch. Where Laura shops. What Laura’s hobbies are. All of these things must contribute to her overall package, what makes her an acceptable person to Harvard. But still, Elizabeth just can’t see it. The only thing she sees is that Laura has taken her spot.
A spot that she knows she deserves after working so hard. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered and subversive, this novel brings to light how, in the face of societal expectations and self-inflicted pressures, a person can unlock the darkest parts of themselves and show how far they’re willing to go to achieve their vision of success. (Credit: Berkley)
Ambrosia Lee Drops the Mic by Patricia Park
Expected Publication Date: April 28
They say Hollywood is like high school, and has-been child actor Ambrosia Lee feels like she’s at the bottom of the social ladder. Her acting career peaked at the age of eleven— then she was unceremoniously fired from her big break due to her weight.
Now after years of rejections and backstabbing auditions, teenage Ambrosia turns to stand-up to speak her truth. It’s the perfect way to rant about everything that’s been bothering her: divorced parents dynamics, Asian stereotypes, and Hollywood drama. It also doesn’t hurt that a cute boy is helping her learn the ropes of a comedy routine.
It’s all laughs…but comedy clubs can be just as toxic as the Hollywood complex she always mocks.
Can Ambrosia be her true self both on and off the mic?
Patricia Park’s humorous new novel explores the complicated worlds of Hollywood and comedy clubs, body image standards, and what it takes to succeed. (Credit: Crown Books for Young Readers)
Murders and Acquisitions by Thomas Dunne
Expected Publication Date: April 28
Entitlement
Greed
Rivalry
Revenge
It’s just another day for the wealthy, privileged Maybachs–at least the few who still pay attention to the business.
Werther Maybach Myers was little known outside his primary businesses of media, publishing, and world-class money laundering. But with his death, his family’s multibillion-dollar conglomerate–Omnium International–has to change. And his position as the major American stakeholder in the enterprise is now up for grabs.
After five generations, few of the founders’ descendants have any interest in the business as long as the money keeps gushing–assuming that even a fight within the family would likely sort itself out. Except sharks are now circling: oligarchs, criminal syndicates, foreign powers.
What happens next will shake the world … (Credit: Blackstone Publishing)
Chronicles of Whetherwhy: The Season of Flames by Anna James
Expected Publication Date: April 28
At Circus Astra, Elio helps his father look after “tangles”—magical creatures woven together with threads of magic to become miniature tigers, mice with butterfly wings, and a peacock made of ice crystals. Always on the move, the circus puts on incredible performances across the land of Whetherwhy under the stern eye of their ringleader.
But after a mysterious visitor arrives at one of their performances, Elio discovers that he has something the queen of Whetherwhy wants; something she will stop at nothing to get. Elio must leave the circus behind and team up with some unexpected friends, as his journey takes him to the very edges of Whetherwhy in search of a way to restore the magical balance of the island. (Credit: Flamingo Books)
Molka by Monika Kim
Expected Publication Date: April 28
Molka: an abbreviation of molrae-kamera, a “sneaky camera” hidden to capture covert images and videos for voyeurs.
In an unassuming Seoul workplace, IT technician Junyoung’s network reaches throughout the entire building. He sees every entrance. Every lobby. Every bathroom. The women in this building may be cold and dismissive, but he can always pull up his favorite images of them and remember who holds the real power. Until one, Dahye, sets herself apart from the rest.
Dahye, ever the romantic, yearns to be cherished after years of living in the shadow of her perfect older sister, who tragically drowned years ago. Only her boyfriend seems to appreciate Dahye. He’s rich, handsome, and generous—and she’d do anything to hold on to the happiness he brings her.
But when a hidden camera scandal rocks the city’s elites, Dahye’s dreams of a fairy-tale romance twist into a grotesque nightmare. Her boyfriend abandons her. Her parents reject her. Her grip on reality begins to shatter as visions of her dead sister suddenly appear. And as Junyoung’s interest in Dahye turns to obsession, and the truths of their troubled lives are revealed, Dahye must go to extreme lengths to bring the truth to light . . . (Credit: Erewhon Books)
Black Hands: Builders of Our Nation by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Expected Publication Date: April 28
Black hands molded clay, chiseled marble,
rendered portraits, and painted vistas.
Black hands penned literary testaments
that have stood the test of time.Since the United States won independence in 1776, African Americans have contributed greatly to the nation’s culture, politics, economy, and landscape. Black Hands celebrates the countless contributions of African Americans—from building the White House, birthing jazz, and landing a man on the moon to pushing for social justice. Black excellence, however, has too often been overlooked.
Black Hands reunites Newbery Honor winner Carole Boston Weatherford and Coretta Scott King award-winning illustrator R. Gregory Christie to chronicle the remarkable progress of African Americans, even in the face of adversity. (Credit: Crown Books for Young Readers)
Sade’s Wife: The Woman Behind the Marquis by Margaret Crosland
Expected Publication Date: April 28
The Marquis de Sade, infamous for his obscene writing and his cruelty to women, nonetheless lived a life dominated by them – his charismatic mother, iron-willed mother-in-law, and his wife. A wife who, despite her husband’s peccadilloes, and although their marriage was arranged in order for their families to combine financial and social capital, loved him devotedly for thirty years, through betrayal, imprisonment, and national turmoil.
This biography reveals how Renée-Pélagie de Montreuil, Marquise de Sade, endured the chaos caused by her frenetically dissolute husband with grace, and how she carved out her own independence in an era when women were entitled to little of their own. She bore the Marquis three children, loved him, put up with his wild behavior, edited his manuscripts for him, tried to help him escape prison by means legal and illegal, and acted throughout the decades of their marriage as his only reliable friend.
Their complex relationship, set against the last years of the Ancien Régime in France, the Revolution and its aftermath, are brought to life with humor and compassion by Margaret Crosland, also the translator of Sade’s Gothic Tales. She shows how the Sade marriage symbolized the decay of the old aristocracy and conveys the struggle of one individual to establish her personal identity at a time when women in France had virtually no rights of their own. (Credit: Pushkin Press Classics)
Novel Crime Scenes: Twenty Deadly Landscapes by Christina Hardyment
Expected Publication Date: April 28
How did a beautiful Georgian house inspire Agatha Christie’s Dead Man’s Folly? How did a stretch of the East Anglian coast become the place in which a murder victim is discovered in P.D. James’s Devices and Desires?
Journeying through a selection of the genre’s most beloved classics, Novel Crime Scenes explores the landscapes of twenty crime novels in forensic detail. As each chapter examines the immediate world in which the mysteries unfold, Christina Hardyment also delves into the author’s background to discover what the setting of the book meant to them, often by following in the footsteps of Britain’s best-known crime writers. Hardyment’s investigative trail spans both miles and eras, setting readers down a detective’s path of discovery from the Devon moorland of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles to London’s Brick Lane as described in Ajay Chowdhury’s The Waiter.
Whether you are an armchair detective or an intrepid investigator, Novel Crime Scenes will inspire you to appreciate old favorites with deeper insights and discover thrilling new literary destinations. (Credit: Bodleian Library)
The Café of Infinite Doors by Zara Marielle
Expected Publication Date: April 28
Millennia later in San Francisco, sheltered, isolated twenty-three-year-old Marceline is desperate for a job, longing for a temporary escape from her controlling, toxic husband, Baxter. One evening, a magical café appears after Baxter strands Marceline on a desolate street after a nasty fight. Run by a quirky, mysteriously feathered woman named Lucretia, her partner, Kilda, and a gentle Tahitian man named Sylvan, the café holds the safety, comfort, and companionship Marceline has craved. Upon learning that the café’s door is a protected portal that opens to those in need, she joins the cafe’s staff behind Baxter’s back.
Several months after Marceline has found her safe haven, the portals to the café begin closing one by one and the cafe’s sourceless light goes from warm and honeyed to dim and shadowy. Evil is looming that will endanger not only the café but the world at large; if Marceline is to protect herself and her newfound family, she must choose herself for good and escape her marriage once and for all … or say goodbye to her hard-fought freedom forever. (Credit: Union Square & Co.)
Red Belly Crossing by Candice Fox
Expected Publication Date: April 28
Since a violent confrontation tore apart a family five years ago, brothers and fellow cops Russell and Evan haven’t spoken a word to each other. When they’re both assigned to the murder of a young journalist in the tiny town of Redbelly Crossing, their paths are forced to cross again.
This was supposed to be the week Russell could repair things with his teenage daughter, and instead, he has to drag her on a murderous ride into the middle of snake-infested nowhere.
For Evan, this case is exactly what he needed: a high-profile investigation that will give him the chance to rebuild his career after a terrible mistake that nearly ended it.
Then a dark discovery leaves Evan with only one way out: to bury the truth Russell is so determined to uncover. (Credit: Crooked Lane Books)
- Quote of the Day – April 7, 2026
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