JORDY'S 10 MOST-ANTICIPATED APRIL BOOKS
Happy Sunday, everyone!! And Happy Easter! It’s the last day of March, and what better way to celebrate, than with my MOST ANTICIPATED APRIL BOOKS. Here’s the TL;DR: if you thought March was a busy month of new books hitting bookshelves, you have no idea. April is about to be OUT OF CONTROL. Do you know how hard it was to narrow this list down to just 10 books? I mean, 5 of these featured books were in my MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2024 list!! That’s bananas, and a sign of all the amazing books and content to come in April.
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Onto the books!! Eager to hear which of these you’ve already read and loved, and which you’re most excited about this month. Happy reading!!
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE PUZZLEMAKERS by Samuel Burr (April 9)
SYNOPSIS: Clayton Stumper might be in his twenties, but he dresses like your grandpa and fusses like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution. When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton’s life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. So begins Clay’s quest to uncover the secrets surrounding his birth, secrets that will change Clay—and the Fellowship—forever.
TELL ME MORE: I dunno, the concept here seems so out of left-field (a 20-year-old orphan raised on a commune by an enigmatic group of puzzlemakers is given one final puzzle that will solve the mystery of his parentage), that i’m really intrigued…it’s giving me Kevin Wilson meets J. Ryan Stradal vibes, and the “uplifting”, “pure joy” vibes this one is giving me makes it a book i’m hoping to prioritize this month.
GENRE BUZZWORDS/FOR FANS OF: feel-good family drama; mystery; puzzlebox fun; found family; NOTHING TO SEE HERE by Kevin Wilson, KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST by J. Ryan Stradal
ONE OF US KNOWS by Alyssa Cole (April 16)
SYNOPSIS: Years after a breakdown and a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder derailed her historical preservationist career, Kenetria Nash and her alters have been given a second chance they can’t refuse: a position as resident caretaker of a historic home. Having been dormant for years, Ken has no idea what led them to this isolated Hudson River island, but she’s determined not to ruin their opportunity. Then a surprise visit from the home’s conservation trust just as a Nor’easter bears down on the island disrupts her newfound life, leaving Ken trapped with a group of possibly dangerous strangers—including the man who brought her life tumbling down years earlier. When he turns up dead, Ken is the prime suspect. Caught in a web of secrets and in a race against time, Ken and her alters must band together to prove their innocence and discover the truth of Kavanaugh Island—and their own past—or they risk losing not only their future, but their life.
TELL ME MORE: Cole has been traditionally been known for her romance novels, but she burst onto the thriller scene a few years ago with her EXCELLENT, creepy gentrification suspense novel WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING (a JBC 2020 favorite). She’s back, and you better believe this one is at the top of my #tbr. You had me at “dissociative identity disorder”!! It’s giving Agatha Christie vibes, but knowing Cole, I expect the book will take the whodunnit to the next level in its exploration of themes of race, privilege, and class.
GENRE BUZZWORDS/FOR FANS OF: horror thriller; murder mystery; SHUTTER ISLAND; AND THEN THERE WERE NONE; Agatha Christie
REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong by (April 9)
SYNOPSIS: Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love. In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something.