New month, new books! Book Light is our Dandelion Chandelier curated list of the most-anticipated new book releases every month, and next up is April 2023. If you ask us, the perfect April read is like a deep, satisfying drink of ice cold water after a long dry spell. Refreshing, cleansing, stimulating and right on time. So what are the best new new novels, poetry collections, memoirs and other nonfiction books to read coming out in April 2023? Our intrepid team has been exploring and here’s what we found: over 20 new book releases coming soon that we cannot wait to read.
what are the most anticipated new novels and nonfiction book releases for April 2023?
Wondering what to read in April 2023? We’ve surveyed the landscape, and rounded up a list of the best new books coming this April.
the best new books coming in April 2023
Here’s our pick of the top new book releases of April 2023 that we cannot wait to read, including novels, poetry collections, memoirs and other nonfiction books. You can pre-order your favorites now, if you like.
The best, most anticipated new novels and nonfiction books coming in April 2023.
Top new book releases April 4, 2023
1. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad.
The author of award-winning The Parisian returns with her second novel, Enter Ghost. In it, a British Palestinian travels to Israel to visit her sister and is drawn into a revealing production of Hamlet in the West Bank.
2. The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe.
With The Middle Daughter, the award-winning author returns with a novel of grief and loss and an indomitable spirit. A modern reimagining of the myth of Hades and Persephone set within a Nigerian family, this is a timeless story well told.
3. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld.
The author of author of Eligible, Rodham, and Prep is back with a sparkling . . . romantic comedy. A female writer for a comedy show much like Saturday Night Live openly mocks the average-looking men who somehow end up romantically involved with supermodels. But then the tables turn when a gorgeous rock star – long known for dating female celebrities – turns his attention to her. Is this a rom-com in the making?
4. This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs.
Songwriter and co-founder of the Bangles has penned a debut novel about “music, fate, redemption, and love.” Shades of Daisy Jones and the Six, perhaps? The New York Times lauds it as a “smart, ferocious rock-star redemption romance.” Yes, please!
5. The Society of Shame by Jane Roper.
This political and social media satire begins with a bang. A viral photo of a politician’s wife’s “feminine hygiene malfunction” garners her global unwanted fame. Never mind that her husband has been caught in flagrante delicto – she’s the one being shamed. She joins the titular Society of Shame—a group of people who are all working to change their lives after their own scandals. Applying their rules, she learns to “reap the benefits of humiliation.”
6. The People Who Report More Stress: Stories by Alejandro Varela.
The author’s prior book, The Town of Babylon, was a finalist for a National Book Award. In this new collection of interconnected short stories, The People Who Report More Stress, the protagonists are those who live outside the spotlight and are often forgotten. Which is stressful.
7. Butter: Novellas, Stories, and Fragments by Gayl Jones.
The author’s previous novel, Palmares, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. In this collection of short fiction, including two novellas and 10 stories, she continues to explore themes of race, colonialization and love.
8. Saltwater Demands a Psalm: Poems by Kweku Abimbola.
The publisher of the new poetry collection Saltwater Demands a Psalm describes it this way: “In Ghana’s Akan tradition, on the eighth day of life a child is named according to the day of the week on which they were born. This marks their true birth. In this debut, the intimacy of this practice yields an intricately layered poetics of time and body based in Black possibility, ancestry, and joy.” It sounds marvelous – we’re all in.
9. George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy by Sally Bedell Smith.
You know this story from the beloved film The King’s Speech, and of course from The Crown, but this new nonfiction book is a far more in-depth examination of the reign of King George VI — the father of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. Just in time for the coronation of their grandson King Charles, this is a fascinating history of how the couple and the rest of the Royal Family rallied in the face of the abdication of Edward. The late Queen gave the author access to her parents’ private correspondence, which is reason enough to dive in.
Top new book releases April 11, 2023
10. Life and Other Love Songs by Anissa Gray.
Life and Other Love Songs is the sophomore novel from the author of The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls. On his 37th birthday. a father leaves behind his wife, daughter, brother and mother. The cause of his disappearance remains murky. And somehow the family must go on, even as they begin to piece together the true nature of their missing patriarch.
11. Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah.
In the new novel Small Joys, a young man returns to his childhood home in rural England after dropping out of college. On the verge of disaster, though, his new roommate pulls him back from the brink. Their friend group – their chosen family – is tightly bound. And like most families, there are some deep issues among them that have to be addressed before any of them can move forward.
12. Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti.
In this new novel from the author of Dava Shastri’s Last Day, twenty-six year old Advika considers herself a has-been in Hollywood. Her screenplays have all been rejected, and she’s working as a bartender at glitzy events like the Governor’s Ball – held annually right after the Oscar show ends. There, she meets a famous producer and after a whirlwind courtship, they marry. But when his first wife dies, leaving a strange codicil in her will, Advika sets out to learn who her husband really is by examining the lives and opinions of his three ex-wives.
13. Minor Notes, Vol. 1, edited by Joshua Bennett and Jesse McCarthy.
Minor Notes is an anthology of work by Black poets from the 19th and 20th centuries. This first volume in a planned series includes work from George Moses Horton, Henrietta Cordelia Ray, David Wadsworth Cannon Jr. and Angelina Weld Grimké. Poet Laureate Tracy Smith provides the foreword.
14. You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith.
Poet Maggie Smith’s sixth book and first memoir, You Could Make this Place Beautiful, is a candid look at her life – and the lives of her children – after a painful divorce. It reminds us of Rachel Cusk’s revelatory memoir Aftermath. Meaning it’s probably heart-breaking – and beautiful.
Top new book releases April 18, 2023
15. The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa by Stephen Buoro.
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa is a debut novel addressing colonialism, race, romance, and life in modern Africa. Andrew Aziza (“Andy Africa”) is a fifteen-year-old in Nigeria who falls in love with a white girl, leaving him to reckon with his identity and desires.
16. Greek Lessons by Han Kang. Translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won.
The author’s previous novel The Vegetarian won the International Booker Prize. In this new work, a woman who has all but lost her voice after two family tragedies studies ancient Greek and forms a close bond with her teacher.
17. Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks.
Set in 1970’s and ’80’s London, Bristol and Jamaica, Fire Rush centers on Yamaye, a young Jamaican woman who sets out on a journey to find herself after a tragedy.
18. Symphony of Secrets by by Brendan Slocumb.
The author of the twisty The Violin Conspiracy returns with Symphony of Secrets, another novel set in the world of classical music and told from the perspective of a Black protagonist. In this new work, a professor learns that a famous American composer actually stole all of his music from a young Black woman.
19. If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook.
The debut novel If We’re Being Honest begins with a funeral. The Williams family patriarch has died and his four grandchildren and their parents return to rural Georgia for his service. But when a shocking admission from a mourner turns all of their assumptions about him upside down, the extended family ends up having a transformative summer – especially his widow.
20. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal.
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is the latest from the author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest. Two intermarried families of restauranteurs in rural Minnesota are both on the verge of economic collapse. With three generations on each side holding onto hurts and grudges, will either of their family restaurants live to see another day?
21. Games and Rituals: Stories by Katherine Heiny.
In Games and Rituals, the author of the delightful novel Early Morning Riser brings us glittering stories of love—friendships formed at the airport bar, ex-husbands with benefits, mothers of suspiciously sweet teenagers, ill-advised trysts—in all its forms, both ridiculous and sublime.
22. Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America by Julia Lee.
In Biting the Hand, the author explains how writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison guided her journey toward a deeper and more visceral understanding of how her identity as Korean American fits into – and perhaps helps foster – racial stratification the U.S. At 15, she watched LA implode in an epidemic of violence driven by race – this is her cri de cour about how social justice and racial equality is the responsibility of us all.
Top new book releases April 25, 2023
23. Happy Place by Emily Henry.
The author of several smart romantically comic novels returns with Happy Place. “A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends.” What could possibly go wrong?
24. Rosewater by Liv Little.
25. The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher.
26. Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe.
The author of In the Wake returns with a series of reflections that excavate the condition of being Black in North America. Weaving in letters, photographs and more, she explores what happens to people left behind in the wake.
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27. Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer.
Building on an essay she wrote in The Paris Review, “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?,” the author expands her scope and explores the moral dimensions of art made by people who behaved monstrously, from Pablo Picasso to V.S. Naipaul to Ernest Hemingway. To cancel or not to cancel – that is the question.
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28. Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd.
29. Sweet Enough: A Dessert Cookbook by Alison Roman.
The author of Dining In and Nothing Fancy returns with
30. The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption by Katy Kelleher.
We end our list of the best new novels and nonfiction books coming in April 2023 with a meditation on the price of luxury. In a series of essays, the author investigates the darker side of beautiful objects, including makeup, flowers, perfume and silk, and makes the case that there’s a moral imperative to understand how such things are made, and at what cost.
the best new novels and non-fiction books coming in April 2023
If you’re wondering what to read in April 2023, we hope you’ve got some ideas now! That’s our take on the best, most anticipated novels and non-fiction book releases to read among the top new books coming out in April 2023. What’s at the top of your list, dear reader?
