Staff Picks
LibraryReads for April 2026
- Sarah C.
- Tuesday, March 24
Collection
Each month, LibraryReads lists the top upcoming titles recommended by librarians across the country. All these books will be published in April, so stay ahead of the curve and get on the holds list now!
Japanese Gothic
A Gothic Dual-Timeline Novel of Ghosts, Hauntings and Redemption (Original)
Published in 2026
Yesteryear
A Novel
Published in 2026
"A social media celebrity, a wife and mother who sells her fantasy pioneer lifestyle of sourdough and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of followers, suddenly wakes up cold, dirty, and hungry in the year 1805 and must uncover the nature--hoax, reality show, test from God--of her terrifying new existence in this sensational debut novel. "My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive." Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie's followers--all 8 million of them--don't know won't hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They're sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn't simply living the good life, she's living the ideal--and just so happens to be building an empire from it. Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn't hers. Her home, her husband, her children - they're all familiar, but something's off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she's expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible. A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood"-- Provided by publisher.
Start at the End
A Novel
Published in 2026
Is it ever too late to find love--again? This powerful, soul-stirring, sliding-doors novel from the bestselling author of The Last Love Note and Pictures of You explores second chances and unwritten endings. Audrey and Fraser tumble into a romance for the ages. After an unlikely start, they fall deeply in love and dream of the life they'll build together--until one tragic moment upends everything. Facing the unimaginable and wrestling with guilt, they're left haunted by "what ifs," each asking where they would be if fate had spun a different story. Start at the End is an unforgettable drama of two soulmates who have to find a way to start over when they had only just begun.
London Falling
A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth
Published in 2026
The Name Game
Published in 2026
A man and a woman with the same name are looking for a fresh start only to discover they have landed the same job in this charming new romance by bestselling author Beth O'Leary. Charlie couldn't be happier to take the job of farm-shop manager on the remote, wild Isle of Ormer. She's grieving, a little lost, and in desperate need of a fresh start. Jones has come out of a difficult breakup and is looking forward to some peace away from the noise of his city life. Moving to Ormer couldn't have come at a better time. But when Charlie Jones and, ahem, Charlie Jones both turn up at Ormer's one and only farm shop, claiming to have been offered the role of manager, everyone is baffled. How could this have happened? And just who is the real Charlie Jones?
The Mountains We Call Home
The Book Woman's Legacy
Published in 2026
"In this standalone and companion novel to the The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, our heroine for the ages, legendary book woman, Cussy Lovett, returns home. A powerful testament of strength, survival, and the magic of the printed word, The Mountains We Call Home is wrapped into a vivid portrait of Kentucky life: examining incarceration and criminalization, exploring the effects on the poor and powerless, and tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds, along with nostalgic glimpses of a bustling, multifaceted Louisville, and heartwarming portraits of reading efforts in every facet of life. Meticulously researched and richly detailed with a new cast of absorbing and complex characters, this beautifully rendered, authentic Kentucky tale is gritty and heartbreaking and infused with hope, spirit, and courage known only to those with no way out"-- Provided by publisher.
The Lost Cities of El Norte
Coronado's Quest, the Unconquered West, and the Birth of American Indian Resistance
Published in 2026