Book clubs 2026-04: Options for April
March was extremely productive in my personal life, but not so much for reading. I was still finishing My Friends by Fredrick Bachman, and the first 20-25% was a struggle. I loved it, in the end. And I’ve been doing huge personal projects, so no reviews lately. Let’s take a look at the options for April. Ten “YES” and fifteen “MAYBE”. Well, they’ll go on my TBR pile.
I have spent a lot of time this month on a new AI tool that will pull all the books from the book club sites as of a certain early date, then give me an updated list for the month, include options from BestSeller lists, and because it is the computer doing it not me, it will also pull a bunch of other data for my consideration like ratings, Amazon summaries, even a prediction based on my previous books and ratings as to whether I’m likely to say yes or no, thus flagging ones up front that clearly meet my normal criteria. And then throws it into an evergreen Excel spreadsheet, and keeps track of every pick I’ve made now going back 16 months so at the end of this year, when I review the list of book clubs, I can see if it is worth keeping all of them on the list if many of them end up being “no”. Reducing the noise, upping the signal. I also suspect I’m going to move to a 3-tiered system other than YES and MAYBE. Maybe something more like ABSOLUTELY, YES WITH TIME, and TAKE A CHANCE.
YES:
- The Roaring Ridleys, K.M. Colley
- Ways to Find Yourself, Angela Brown
- The Fountain, Casey, Scieszka x 2
- Blood Bound, Ellis Hunter
- Mad Mabel, Salley Hepworth
- Powerless, Lauren Roberts
- The Ending Writes Itself, Evelyn Clarke
- The Dark Time, Nick Petrie
- This Story Might Save Your Life, Tiffany Crum
- The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett
MAYBE:
- Wake-up Calls, Mariah Stewart
- Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke x 2
- An Arcane Inheritance, Kamilah Cole
- To Cage A Wild Bird, Brooke Fast
- The Wrath & The Dawn, Renée Ahdieh
- Here In The Sky, Daniel H. Wilson
- The Lost Daughter of Sparta, Felicia Day
- The Tapestry of Time, Kate Heartfield
- Upward Bound, Woody Brown
- The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey
- Into the Blue, Emma Brodie
- The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson
- The Saint of Thieves, Dana Haynes
| Book Club | Book title & author | Brief Description | Yes/no for me |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon First Reads | Lift Me Up, Milly Johnson | Short romance story, transformation sparked by a man complimenting her? | NO |
| When The Storm Passes, Manuel Loureiro | Possibly haunted island in winter | NO | |
| Where the Sea Lavender Grows, Kitty Johnson | Old mystery and new romance while restoring a house | NO | |
| The Dead Room, Catriona McPherson | Potentially supernatural hometown warping memory and reality | NO | |
| Wake-Up Calls, Mariah Stewart | Inheritance, old camp, secret of her mom’s and aunt’s life | MAYBE | |
| The Roaring Ridleys, K.M. Colley | Speakeasies, murder and family secrets | YES | |
| The Last Sunday in May, Kate Clark Stone | Last chance at Indy 500 for female driver | NO | |
| The Final System, Anthony Tardiff | Rise of the machine/AI | NO | |
| Ways to Find Yourself, Angela Brown | Woman goes back to summer coast and meets younger versions of herself | YES | |
| Kimi the Ballerina, Korey Watari | Young ballerina tries basketball | NO | |
| Audacious | Black. Single. Mother., Jamilah Lemieux | NF about black single motherhood | NO |
| Barnes & Noble | Mothers and Other Strangers, Corey Ann Haydu | Childhood friends separate when mothers fall out, rekindle later when pregnant | NO |
| BBC Radio 2 | Under Water, Tara Menon | Young girl learns to survive loss as she ages | NO |
| Belletrist | The Fountain, Casey Scieszka | An immortal woman wants to know how she became immortal so she can die | YES |
| Black Men Read | Decent People, De’Shawn Charles Winslow | Investigating murder in race-segregated North Carolina | NO |
| Book of the Month | Molka, Monika Kim | Spycam scandal in Korea | NO |
| Blood Bound, Ellis Hunter | A scheduled duel between witches and royals, dragons, and a rebellion | YES | |
| Mad Mabel, Sally Hepworth | Old lady who murders was a young lady who murdered | YES | |
| Annie Knows Everything, Rachel Wood | Sister can’t manage her own life, but will manage others once she gets her stuff together | NO | |
| Porcupines, Fran Fabrickzki | A daughter in sixth grade wants to know her past from a reluctant and odd mom | NO | |
| Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke | Fake rustic farmhouse influencer wakes up in real farmhouse life | MAYBE | |
| What Am I, A Deer? | Young woman starts working at gaming company | NO | |
| Native Son, Richard Wright | Downward spiral in 1930s Black America | NO | |
| Everyday Reading Book Club | Powerless, Lauren Roberts | Medieval realm with the powered and mundanes | YES |
| Good Housekeeping | The Fountain, Casey Scieszka | An immortal woman wants to know how she became immortal so she can die | YES – REPEAT |
| Good Morning America | Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke | Fake rustic farmhouse influencer wakes up in real farmhouse life | MAYBE – REPEAT |
| Good Morning America: YA | Legendborn, Tracy Deonn | Arthurian legend, modern North Carolina | ALREADY READ |
| Good Reads (Mystery, Crime, Thriller Group) | The Quiet Mother, Arnaldur Indridason | Iceland in the 70s | NO |
| Such Quiet Girls, Noelle W. Ihli | Bus of kids doesn’t make it home | NO | |
| I Care About Books | Beartooth, Callan Wink | Desperate brothers living off-grid next to Yellowstone | NO |
| Jack Carr | Jaws, Peter Benchley | Large shark, summer beach crowd | NO — Read long ago |
| Anthony Jeselnik | Dept of Speculation, Jenny Offill | Reexamining a relationship from start to current | NO |
| Jewish Book Council: NF | As a Jew, Sarah Hurwitz | Woman’s look at history of modern Judaism and anti-semitism | NO |
| Jewish Book Council: F | DOG, Yishay Ishi Ron | PTSD after Gaza | NO |
| Katie Couric | James, Percival Everett | Huck and Jim, without Huck and from James’ point of view | NO |
| Late Show | London Falling, Patrick Radden Keefe | NF search into reasons for son’s apparent suicide | NO |
| Library Science | Ruins, Child, Giada Scodellaro | Six women living in rundown apartment tower | NO |
| Main Street Reads – Fab Fantasy | An Arcane Inheritance, Kamilah Cole | College and magic, and potentially wiped memories | MAYBE |
| MSR – Thrill in the ‘ville | Warning Signs, Tracy Sierra | Wilderness thriller, boy with father clients, and a creature | NO – REPEAT |
| MSR – Kids | Lola, Karla Arenas Valenti | Magical trees and dying brother | NO |
| MSR – Kiss & Tell Romance | To Cage a Wild Bird, Brooke Fast | Bounty hunter goes in brutal prison in dystopian future to save brother | MAYBE |
| MSR – Books & Banter | Lake Effect: A Novel, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney | Sexual awakening in ’77 with consequences for teenage daughter when adult | NO – Repeat |
| Mindy’s Book Studio | As Far As She Knew, Diana Awad | Arab husband dies, had unknown second house, why? | NO – Repeat |
| Mocha Girls Read | The Wrath & The Dawn, Renée Ahdieh | Bpy-King chooses new bride every night and kills next day, but girl wants to solve puzzle | MAYBE |
| Natalie Portman | The Roots of Heaven, Romain Gary | Save the elephants | NO |
| Native American | n/a but March is now out: Hole in the Sky, Daniel H. Wilson | First contact with an Indigenous lens | MAYBE |
| Oprah 2.0 | Go Gentle, Maria Semple | Contented life upended by desire | NO |
| PBS Book Readers | Wildling, Isabella Tree | Rewilding project | NO |
| Poisoned Pen – Cozy Crimes | The Ending Writes Itself, Evelyn Clarke | Six authors on remote island | YES |
| PP – British Crime | The Secrets of the Abbey, Jean-Luc Bannalec | Omens of death before an aunt dies and team investigates | NO |
| PP – First Mystery | n/a | ||
| PP – Crime Collectors | The Dark Time, Nick Petrie | Soldier bodyguard protects journalist and daughter | YES |
| PP – Historical | Death Times Seven, Anne Perry | Last Daniel Pitt novel, trial of man accused of rape & murder | NO – Maybe later |
| PP – Notable new fiction | The Lost Daughter of Sparta, Felicia Day | Fourth Troy sister survived Aphrodite’s curse | MAYBE |
| PP – Hardboiled/noir | A Violent Masterpiece, Jordan Harper | Investigation into LA’s seedier side | NO |
| PP – Romance | Happy Ending, Chloe Liese | Fake romance to friends to something more | NO |
| PP – Historical | The Tapestry of Time, Kate Heartfield | Two sisters with strong perception or perhaps some abilities fight Nazi plans | MAYBE |
| Read with Jenna | Upward Bound, Woody Brown | Glee club for an adult daycare for LA’s disabled community | MAYBE |
| Reader’s Digest | This Story Might Save Your Life, Tiffany Crum | Survival podcaster goes missing, cohost is suspect | YES – Repeat |
| Reddit /BookClub | The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett | If Nero and Sherlock had a child who was a medieval detective investigating magical deaths | YES |
| My Friends, Hisham Matar | SS transforms man’s life, goes abroad, meets author, rebels in Libya | NO | |
| Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country, Patricia Evangelista | Philippines war on drugs | NO | |
| The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett | Discworld #1 | MAYBE | |
| Bel Canto by Ann Patchett | Hostage taking, mitigated by music | NO | |
| Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck | Two labourers trying to build a life | MAYBE | |
| Song of Solomon by Toni Morisson | Story of Milkman, coming of age story for Black man | NO | |
| The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov | Two worlds, one of power and the other of slavery, with scientist with wiped memory | NO | |
| Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai | Memoir | NO | |
| A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie | Machine vs. magic | NO | |
| The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke | SSs of land of enchantment with fairies intervening in historical lives | NO | |
| Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky | Generations, space arks, terraforming, and innovating scientists | NO | |
| Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey | Last book of Expanse series | MAYBE LATER | |
| De Profundis by Oscar Wilde | Letter writen during imprisonment | NO | |
| Reese | Into the Blue, Emma Brodie | From video store clerk to actor to love interest | MAYBE |
| Richard and Judy | n/a Spring picks were out last month | ||
| Secret Chapter Mystery (Cumberland) | The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson | Flirty strangers on a plane plot to kill the man’s wife | MAYBE |
| Service 95 | Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth | Play set on morning of county fair | NO |
| Stacks Book Club | Room Swept Home, Remica Bingham-Risher | Poetry about two ancestors meeting over trauma | NO |
| Sunnie Reads | n/a | ||
| Sunriver – Fiction | Super Sonic, Thomas Kohnstamm | History of a Seattle neighbourhood through the years | NO |
| Sunriver – Mystery | The Saint of Thieves, Dana Haynes | Organized vigilante team take on the bad guys | MAYBE |
| TeaTime | Under Water, Tara Menon | Young girl learns to survive loss as she ages | NO – Repeat |
| Zibby’s Book Club | No One You Know, Emma Tourtelot | Curated mother’s life and bond with daughter start to crumble with daughter’s loss of a friend | NO |