The weather is getting warmer; spring is finally here! When you pack your bags for spring break, make sure you add at least one of these highly anticipated new releases.
Lost and Wanted by Nell Freudenberger (April 2)
Best-selling author Nell Freudenberger’s latest novel is a Black Mirror take on lost (and perhaps regained) friendship. Helen Clapp is a respected physicist who takes the skeptical approach to anything supernatural. But when she gets a phone call from her college roommate Charlotte Boyce, who is not only “long-lost” but actually, physically dead, Helen must reevaluate not only their history together, but her most rooted beliefs.
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott (April 2)
Philpott once belonged to the camp of women that approach life as a checklist: college, check, career, check, marriage, check, baby, check. But into her adult life, she soon realizes that “having it all” doesn’t really mean . . . well, anything. Early readers of this collection of essays on the struggles of any-time life crises have raved about Philpott’s ability to be simultaneously frank and funny, recalling the work of the dear, departed Nora Ephron.
A Wonderful Stroke of Luck by Ann Beattie (April 2)
Beloved author Ann Beattie’s 21st book explores the power of a teacher over the life of a young man who finds himself lost in adulthood, and even more conflicted about his days under the influence of said teacher when the man reappears in his life.
Working by Robert A. Caro (April 9)
If there’s any person on earth that understands the work of the writer, it’s Robert A. Caro, author of The Power Broker and the series The Years of Lyndon Johnson. At 83, Caro is hard at work on the fifth volume of LBJ’s life. In his memoir on writing and working, Caro reflects on his career in pursuit of the facts and the fascinating and touching lessons he’s learned along the way.
Normal People by Sally Rooney (April 16)
Literary wunderkind Sally Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, is so hotly anticipated that American fans have been purchasing the British version of the book, which has been out for some months. Normal People explores the romantic relationship between Connell and Marianne, who come from very different backgrounds. In other words, Connell’s mother cleans Marianne’s house. The class divide doesn’t stop the two from forming an intense and fraught connection.
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan (April 23)
Ian McEwan is still churning them out—compulsively readable novels, that is. His last, Nutshell, was told entirely from the point-of-view of an unborn fetus, and now he tackles artificial intelligence with his latest, Machines Like Me. Charlie and Miranda are in love—until Charlie buys Adam, “one of the first synthetic humans,” and before they know it, the three are embroiled in a SciFi love triangle that has them questioning what it means to be human.
Cape May by Chip Cheek (April 30)
Drawing comparisons to Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach, the perils of newlywed bliss are also at the heart of this debut novel by Chip Creek. In Cape May innocent, just-married Henry and Effie befriend older, sophisticated Clara and Max, who might as well be their polar opposites. Fueled by gin and budding attractions, heartbreak ensues.
