Anticipated April 2025 Book Releases

New books on my radar for April, plus my Weekly What

Mar 29, 2025

We are rapidly approaching a fresh month of new book releases! Here’s a roundup of titles on my radar publishing in April 2025.

April 1

Make Sure You Die Screaming by Zee Carlstrom.* An electrifying debut about a nonbinary corporate burnout embarking on a road trip from Chicago to Arkansas to find their conspiracy-theorist father, who has gone missing—for fans of Detransition Baby and Chain-Gang All-Stars.
Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh.* A tense, propulsive drama set in Shanghai, about a fractured American family, secret lives, and the unbreakable bond between two sisters, from the New York Times bestselling author of Mercy Street.
The Usual Desire to Kill by Camilla Barnes.* An often hilarious, surprisingly moving portrait of a long-married couple, seen through the eyes of their wickedly observant daughter—for fans of A Man Called Ove and The Royal Tenenbaums.

April 8

Passion Project by London Sperry.* With emotional resonance and sparkling banter, Passion Project is a fun, flirty, thoughtful story of finding a spark—and igniting happiness.
The California Dreamers by Amy Mason Doan. A group of siblings captured in an iconic beach nostalgia photo reunite on a sunny California island, where they're forced to face the fallout of their unconventional upbringing—and the golden secret that has been simmering ever since.
Audition by Katie Kitamura. One woman, the performance of a lifetime. Or two. An exhilarating, destabilizing Möbius strip of a novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love.
The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong.* From Lynn Steger Strong, critically acclaimed author of Flight, a sophisticated and layered novel about sisters, betrayal, love, and climate change, for readers of The Dutch House and The Most Fun We Ever Had.

April 15

The Death of Us by Abigal Dean. A captivating portrait of a marriage and its implosion, The Death of Us digs into the stories we tell ourselves about love -- and everything love can bear.
The Things Left Unsaid by Sara Jafari.* A dazzling, electrifying, and thought-provoking novel for readers of Maame and Honey Girl, Things Left Unsaid is a mesmerizing and deeply-felt exploration of discovering your place in the world and the lasting power of love.
When the Harvest Comes by Denne Michele Norris. In this heart-wrenching debut novel, a young Black gay man, estranged from his father, must confront his painful past—and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.

April 22

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping novel from Emily Henry.
The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff.* One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga perfect for readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo.
Zeal by Morgan Jenkins. The New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing and Caul Baby returns with an epic, multi-generational novel that illuminates the legacy of slavery and the power of romantic love.
When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy. Nat Cassidy, author of the acclaimed horror Mary, returns with When the Wolf Comes Home, an unabashed, adrenaline-fueled pop horror thriller where the darkest fears can become reality.

April 29

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig.* A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods in this mesmerizing horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Accidents.

Shop these titles: Bookshop | LibroFM

*denotes I have a complimentary advanced review copy

Tell me:

Which April releases are you looking forward to?
What are you planning to read in April? (Front or backlist!)
Leave a comment

What I’m…

Reading

This week’s bookstack theme seems to be a red/pink color palette. Apropo of spring 🌷

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. As previously mentioned, I am currently re-reading The Hunger Games trilogy with my teen and tween. The series has really held up so far. The violence has made an even bigger impact on me this time around knowing my kids are consuming the story. Revisiting stories from my own childhood, or those I read as a young adult at the peak of series hype (like The Hunger Games), through the eyes of a parent and thinking about my kids’ interpretation as well adds an interesting layer to reading.
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor. This is a really interesting blend of literary fiction and sci-fi featuring a story within a story exploring art and AI, the publishing industry, identity, and agency, and it’s just a great story!
Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin. Baby’s first Colwin. Laurie Colwin is an author I’ve wanted to read for a while, one of those authors beloved by authors I love and readers with whom I resonate. I started here as it seemed the most widely read of her novels. First published in 1978 this is a story about couples in NYC as they date and marry, but it’s also about friendship and human nature more generally. An absolutely delightful rom-com/comedy of manners that reads like a modern classic. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Listening

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I finally read The Yellow Wallpaper in October. It’s great, of course, and so well known and such an influence that I had a general understanding of the story and themes going in, but I always appreciate reading seminal classics like this. I’m pretty sure I saw something about Augustina Bazterrica’s The Unworthy being in conversation with Herland (though I can’t remember where 🤔 If you know what I’m referencing please let me know!) so I decided to read Herland first. Published in 1915, Herland is a feminist utopian novel about an isolated society of women free of men and also war, conflict, and domination, which unfortunately seem to follow men wherever they go. The story is told through the POV of a male sociology student, part of a 3 man expedition team seeking to explore this rumored land of women. Much feminist philosophy and ideas are explored in this story; this would be an excellent text for group discussion!
Back After This by Linda Holmes. To further her own dreams a podcast producer reluctantly agrees to be the subject of a new series where she is setup on dates to find The One by an influencer turned relationship guru, but she can’t stop thinking about the cute guy she met rescuing a lost dog with whom her path continues to cross. This is a very cute, very readable rom-com with an interesting layer of modern media. Because it deals with podcasts (Linda Holmes is a podcaster herself!) it lends itself particularly well to audio.
Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. More manifesto than map Abundance is a compelling and persuasive call to abandon liberal policies which have slowed growth and development and commit to a politics of plenty, delivering much needed housing development, infrastructure, and technological progress. I found a lot to chew on here and the fact that I’m seeing conversations about the book in various corners of the internet makes me think the argument has had an impact.
The Book Riot Podcast: Things We Love and Things We Hate about Talking about Books Online with Traci Thomas. I love Traci so I was obviously going to love this episode, but also I really just appreciated hearing this discussion about online book discourse and being a very public reader within the book community.

Watching

Severance, Season 2 (Apple TV+). We finished our rewatch of season 1 and are about halfway through season 2. Interested to see where we end up!

Eating & Drinking

Used the leftover corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes from last week to whip up some hash. Served topped with a poached egg.
This Lasagna Soup comes together quick and easy in the Instant Pot. The cheese bomb bloop in the middle really makes it dreamy.
Creamy Salsa Chicken is a very simple go-to when I need a Crock Pot meal. 1-2 lbs chicken breast (I usually do 2-3 good size) + a can of rinsed and drained black beans + taco seasoning (a packet, or I usually just mix up my own) + 16 oz salsa of choice. When it’s finished cooking shred the chicken, stir in 8 oz of cream cheese (I usually use Neufchatel) + a cup of frozen corn. This is good over rice, wrapped in a tortilla, scooped up with tortilla chips and it makes plenty of leftovers 🙌
Beer and Brown Sugar Kielbasa with Sauerkraut also came from the Crock Pot this week. I make it with smoked turkey sausage. Served on buns with chips and fruit on the side. I was working on my kitchen refresh and needed some quick, easy, and hands off meals this week!
These pan-seared Buffalo Chicken Burgers are a new-to-me recipe and were a huge hit! They come together quickly (theme of the week!) with few ingredients. I made 6 bun sized patties even though the recipe recommends 4-5, I have a hungry man-boy to feed! The recipe also calls for making or buying (Trader Joe’s) whipped feta and while that sounds delightful (see: keeping it simple this week) I whipped up a blue cheese spread I got many years ago from a Rachel Ray recipe, which is just sour cream with blue cheese smushed in (the recipe is 2:1, but I probably make mine closer to 1:1) plus a little salt and pepper, chives or green onion are a nice addition if you have them. A schmear of this on the bun plus lettuce and tomato and a little extra wing sauce made an incredibly tasty sandwich. I served this with waffle fries from the freezer, carrots, and cucumber and we had zero leftovers.
I made a batch of these freezer-friendly Breakfast Sandwiches for the first time in a while and I predict I’ll be making more very soon.

Links + Loves

I planted spring seeds in one of my garden beds this week. This photo is helping me remember where I planted things. It’s officially stare at your dirt patch waiting for signs of sprouts season 🌱

I finally finished my kitchen refresh this week! When we moved into our home 10 years ago I painted our kitchen cabinets white (they originally had a horrible cherry stain that was in bad shape) as well as the walls. A decade later (?!) it was time for this frequently used space to get a little TLC.
- Week 1: I scraped the popcorn ceilings and painted, this officially means we have no more popcorn ceilings on our main floor 🎉
- Week 2: I painted the walls. This is quite a project given the size of the space, all the cutting in and around that’s required, and that our attached laundry/mud room is also included.
- Week 3: I pet sat my dad’s 120 lb black lab. The project was on hiatus.
- And finally, Week 4: I repainted our cabinets. I was just planning touch up the spots that needed attention until I realized that basically meant touching everything so I decided just to properly prep and paint and protective coat and all that. Thankfully because they were already done one coat of paint did the trick in most places, though I did do 3 coats of protective finish.
I had to stretch out the project because it was quite a big undertaking, but also it is an extreme PITA to have your kitchen unusable. We needed breaks where things were back in reasonably working order while I geared up to tackle the next phase.
As a result of all this, one of my new loves is Sherwin-Williams Halcyon Green paint. This is a gorgeous, neutral sage green with a slight blue undertone. I stress when choosing paint colors because even with samples I find it hard to know just how it will look once the entire room is painted. I hemmed and hawed and ordered swatches from Samplize (which worked out quite well!) and I kept returning to Halcyon Green so I went for it and I’m super happy with how it turned out. I’m now a Halcyon Green evangelist!
I’m probably actually years late to this party, but a Scrub Daddy sponge + The Pink Stuff paste really is a magical combination. I bought these items to tackle some stains left from bottles sitting on the shelves of my shower insert. I have no idea why these newly formed stains were so stubborn, but this combo did a pretty good job. I next deployed this team to deep clean my stove and wow, was I impressed! Soft enough not to scratch, but strong enough to make quick work of all those little splatters and gunk that gets left behind after a regular wipedown. I’m a fan! I have sort of a thing about sponges (my thing being I think they’re gross and I hate touching them) but the Scrub Daddy texture is different than traditional sponges and doesn’t skeeve me out as much.
This journey through the manuscript slush pile is fascinating! (textCrunch)
Very important context for the Trump administration’s Signalgate scandal from historian and fascism expert Timothy Snyder (Thinking About)
As if Meta wasn’t already high enough on my Shit List The Atlantic is reporting they pirated millions of books and academic papers to train their AI model.
This piece from Lit Hub from an affected author’s POV is also a good read.
The stories coming out about the Trump administration’s cruel and unconstitutional handling of immigrants are harrowing. I heard Canadian Jasmine Mooney interviewed on Pod Save America and then sought out her essay detailing her experience being wrongfully detained by ICE for 12 days. Her story is important. “I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky.” (The Guardian)
While we’re on the topic, Mother Jones is doing important reporting about the Venezuelans unconstitutionally deported to be imprisoned by El Salvador.
The third annual Trans Right Readathon is happening now! It goes through this weekend so there is still time to participate.

Tell me:

What are you reading/watching/eating/drinking/loving this week?
Anything, let’s chat!

That Bookish Life {Stacked}

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