Rightly or wrongly, I usually consider the summer months a lean time for reading. Everyone is outdoors/traveling/whatevering, and reading is not a high priority.
In spite of that, I see some lovely books coming down the publishing pipeline this month.
Hot new books in April
Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman is a mystery/thriller novel where a mom wakes up to find her children missing and has to uncover who took them and why. This book has fairly mixed reviews, but thrillers are generally easy reading for me, and this book does sound decent.
Paris at the End of the World by John Baxter is a non-fictional take on life in Paris during World War 1. Paris has been at the forefront of my mind ever since my botched plan to visit Paris last December, and even though this book is set during World War 1, it doesn’t sound like a grim war book.
What do I say about Frog Music by Emma Donoghue? This is the hottest book this month. I’ve already seen many glowing reviews from trusted book bloggers who were lucky to get an ARC of this one. The book features San Francisco, and burlesque, and prostitutes, and a murder or two – all elements that seem to have meshed perfectly in the writing of this book. I know I will definitely be reading this one.
Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead deals with a protagonist who is a ballet dancer. When her son enters the competitive ballet world, he uncovers a bunch of secrets that could tear the family apart. The story sounds a little clichéd but it’s got fantastic reviews and I suspect/hope that there is more going on with the story than what I have guessed already.
Django Wexler is the only author among this lot who I have actually read. I liked The Thousand Names very much, but I think I”ll like The Forbidden Library a lot better. For one, the cover looks so fun, the protagonist is a girl named Alice, and it features a massive, magical, and mysterious library. What more could a reader want?
And the last book on this list is The Frangipani Hotel by Violet Kupersmith, which is a compilation of stories set in Vietnam. I don’t know much about the book or the author, but the setting of Vietnam and the background of the Vietnam War makes this sound like an intriguing read.
So, these are the new books coming out in April that caught my eye.
Which new books have pricked your interest lately?