As spring creeps along, put away your phone, find yourself an outdoor reading nook and delve into April's most exciting literary offerings. From anticipated memoirs to exciting new novels, here are the six new books you should be adding to your reading list right now.
Nevertheless by Alec Baldwin
Baldwin's memoir chronicles his childhood on Long Island, his former desire to pursue a career in politics, his relationship with alcohol and drugs and his becoming a husband and father—all things that eventually led him to land the Donald Trump impersonator-in-chief role on Saturday Night Live.
American War by Omar El Akkad
In his debut novel, Akkad tells the story of the Second American Civil War in a not-so-distant 2074, when six-year-old Sarat Chestnut becomes an instrument of war following her father's murder and her family's move to Camp Patience for displaced persons.
Marlena by Julie Buntin
Cat is a fifteen-year-old girl living an average life in rural Michigan until she meets her beautiful and manic neighbor Marlena. Following Marlena's lead, Cat experiences a set of memorable and dangerous firsts, until her friend is found dead, drowned in the woods near her home.
The Best Minds of My Generation: A Literary History of the Beats by Allen Ginsberg
Best Minds of My Generation: A Literary History of the Beats is a compilation of the lectures that poet Ginsberg taught five times throughout his life, first at the Naropa Institute and then at Brooklyn College. Ginsberg thought up the course in 1977, twenty years after the publication of his famous poem Howl and Jack Kerouac's beat generation landmark book On the Road.
Beartown by Fredrik Backman (drops April 25)
The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove writes the story of Beartown, a small town that rests its future hopes on the junior ice hockey team's national semi-finals game—until a violent act forces the community to face life-changing secrets and situations.
Oola by Brittany Newell (drops April 25)
Newell's debut novel is narrated by 25-year-old Leif, who becomes infatuated with Oola after meeting her outside of a London flat. The two embark on a tour that takes them to Big Sur for a summer, until things slowly fall apart.