The Goodreads Editors Share Their April Book Picks

Posted by Sharon on March 31, 2025

Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is exactly that—selections based on the data about the books that Goodreads members are placing on their Want to Read shelves. Essentially, these are the books that your fellow Goodreads regulars are excited about.
 
Of course, the Goodreads editorial staff gets excited about books, too. And we regularly come across specific new releases that we can’t wait to read—or “won’t shut up about,” to borrow a phrase from the colleagues who sit right next to us.
 
As to be expected, there are always way more great books each month than we have time to read, so we're passing our findings along to you, complete with genre tags, our unhinged commentary, and general enthusiasm. Think of this list as our intel on the books you might not be hearing about absolutely everywhere else, from two people who really, really want to help you find a great read.
 
As you may be aware, April showers bring May flowers. But this time around, April also brings some fascinating new books regarding Scottish ghosts, African kingdoms, and Vietnamese sandwiches. Bonus pick: a fairy tale of New York.  
 
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Political intrigue and hijinks on the eve of the election of a new tribal president test the boundaries of friendship, family, and sense of belonging in this twisty new debut novel. I've been looking forward to this one for a while!

Genre: Contemporary fiction 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: In this translated work from an emerging Colombian writer, this is a duel-timeline story about a mother and son that spans two continents and five decades starting at a 1970s Madison Square Garden concert for the famous Argentine singer Sandro. This heartfelt novel asks questions about the decisions we make in our youth and the reverberations they cause through history.

Genre: Historical fiction/contemporary fiction 
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: If you've been following along with our editors' picks article series, you know I am a complete sucker for a sprawling, multigenerational family epic. This one from the very talented fiction and nonfiction writer Morgan Jerkins spans 150 years and follows a Louisiana clan through Emancipation, the Great Migration, and into the present day.

Genre: Historical fiction 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: In this dystopian novel, the U.S. government forces people into detention camps where imprisoned teens record TikTok dances. Meanwhile, newsrooms put clickbait over informing the public. Hard to imagine, right? In the midst of it all, a Vietnamese American family is thrown into chaos and will see their resilience tested in the face of sanctioned injustice. 

Genre: Literary fiction/Dystopia


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: In this 21st-century update on the inheritance plot novel, the patriarch of a Vietnamese American family pits his children against one another to determine which one will succeed him at the helm of the family's national bánh mì chain. The four daughters are tasked with reviving failing stores around the country. The hapless firstborn son must get married. Winner takes all. These better be some A+ sandwiches…

Genre: Contemporary fiction
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Cybil makes fun of me for making Ann Patchett Stan my entire personality for months after I read Tom Lakebut it's true that if Patchett blurbs a book I'll automatically add it to my WTR shelf. She deemed this expansive epistolary novel wherein a 73-year-old woman reflects on her life "a cause for celebration." I'll be there with bells on!

Genre: Fiction


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: I first became aware of the talented Perkins-Valdez through her 2023 historical fiction novel, Take My Hand. In her new novel, she tells the duel-timeline story of a community settled in North Carolina at the end of the Civil War called the Kingdom of the Happy Land. Early reviewers are saying this one would be a fantastic book club pick!

Genre: Historical fiction


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Clearly I'm in a big historical fiction mood this month. Based on a true story, Jo Harkin's sophomore novel sweeps us back to 1480 and the life of Lambert Simnel. Raised in obscurity as a peasant and believed to be a nephew of (the famously murderous) Richard III, Simnel gets swept up in court intrigue and becomes the figurehead for a political rebellion. Early reviewers say this book is exquisitely written.

Genre: Historical fiction
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: The protagonist of this novel is a woman who is sexually attracted to airplanes and fantasizes about "marrying" an object of her desire (via a crash), and look, I'm not here to kinkshame anyone, but that is a premise that made me look twice.

Genre: Contemporary literary fiction


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Two young Black men with opposing viewpoints on the world are charged with the, ahem, "revitalization" of the predominantly Black neighborhoods surrounding Atlanta ahead of the 1996 Olympics. This stylish debut novel promises to examine complicity, community, internalized homophobia, and queer Black intimacy.

Genre: Literary fiction


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: After having too many drinks one evening, a jaded newspaper obituary writer publishes his own death notice. Oh no! The newspaper wants to fire him, but since he's listed as deceased, HR can't actually file the paperwork. Oh yay? In the meantime, he attends a series of strangers' funerals and learns a little bit about the Meaning of Life. Oh fun.

Genre: Contemporary fiction


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Some of you may be thinking, "This woman needs to read something a bit lighter!" I hear you. That's why I am intrigued by this new cozy mystery about a former nun searching for her disappeared pen pal. This new historical series is from the same author who penned the atmospheric Things in Jars, so you know you'll be immersed in the setting of a 1950 seaside town.

Genre: Cozy historical mystery


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: An epistolary murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence from the author of HHhH? SIGN ME RIGHT UP.

Genre: Historical mystery


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: A perennially single matchmaker sounds like the start of a bad joke, which is why Nura Khan, a successful third-generation matchmaker, has her childhood bestie pose as her fiancé at her clients' weddings. She's about to encounter bigger problems, though, when a saboteur begins targeting her business. Disgruntled customer? Industry competitor? I'll be reading to find out!

Genre: Mystery/romance


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: I will immediately pick up any book that reminds me of my passionate fandom for the Alien movies. So, yes, I am all about this space horror novel from Barnes, who is quickly becoming a must-read author for me. Here a woman stows away on a barge full of Earth’s most wealthy citizens (all cryogenically frozen). But is something slithering around on the ship with her? You know I'm gonna find out!

Genre: Space Horror
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: On 1910s Coney Island, a Boricua metalsmith working for the circus falls in love with the merman whose cage he built. If this is giving you big gay historical Shape of Water vibes, you're not the only one!

Genre: Historical fantasy


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: In Cooke's latest, she take us into a dark tale about the historical plight of unwed mothers, a tale woven through with threads of fables and folklore and set in a manor lost in the Scottish woods. Cooke has made a name for herself crafting unsettling Gothic mysteries, so this one is an automatic Want to Read add for me.

Genre: Gothic Horror/Historical Fiction


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Another very promising debut novel, this one a twisted retelling of Bluebeard. I was just scrolling through the early reviews of this book, and the common review here is "wow." Literally, I am staring at review after review exclaiming "WOW!" OK, I'm all in! 

Genre: Horror/Gothic


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Speaking of sprawling, multi-generational family epics, this one begins on the coast of Scotland and ends on...Mars? Hannah, a fusion scientist in Earth's near future, is approached by Roban, a first-generation Martian who travels back in time to intervene in the fate of our warming planet. I'm getting Sea of Tranquility vibes from this one...

Genre: Literary science fiction


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Fake dating is one of my absolute favorite romance tropes. In Myah Ariel's sophomore novel, a pop star who may or may not be based on Mariah Carey and an MLB player who may or may not be based on Derek Jeter embark on a PR relationship. Oh, I bet the mutual pining is epic.

Genre: Romance


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Spoiler: I have already read an advanced copy of this book, and yeah, it's amazing. In this collection of linked stories, Millet does that magical thing she's famous for where she describes a situation so astutely you have to put the book down for a second and ponder what you've just read. 

Genre: Connected stories/fiction


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: I am not often swayed by author blurbs on books, however when both Carmen Maria Machado and Jeff VanderMeer are praising a short story collection, I will be taking note! Let's word cloud some ways people are describing this intriguing collection: Gothic, magical, lavish, unsettling, forbidding, feral. 

Genre: Short stories


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: I love a riveting nonfiction investigation a la Bad Blood or Empire of Pain. Here, Harris' deeply reported work uncovers evidence of calamitous coverups, dangerous drugs, and criminal campaigns. 

Genre: Nonfiction





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