Highlights: April 2021

Birds are chirping, rain is falling, the air smells great, and in Minnesota people around us are leaving their homes for outdoor activities (while being safe, of course). Just get some vaccines in everyone’s arms, and it will be a great spring indeed! Until then, we have some books that we are hoping will help pass the time.

Serena’s Picks

Book: “Dustborn” by Erin Bowman

Publication Date: April 20, 2021

Why I’m Interested: First things first: I absolutely love the cover art for this book. It’s kind of creepy, but also sci-fi feeling, and definitely post-apocalypitic. Which is perfect for a book that is being marketed for fans of “Mad Max.” Well, I’m that fan, so here I am! The story is that of a young woman who’s grown up in a water-less wasteland. Every day is a struggle, tormented by dangerous dust storms that can strike at any moment. For Delta, these everyday struggles are made all the harder by the dangerous secret she carries burned into her very skin: a map to the one oasis left in his deserted place. But no one can read it. When her entire family and tribe is captured by a maniacal tyrant, Detla is left with no choice but to venture out into the unknown in search of this mystical place and the secrets locked in her own history. Very excited to check this one out!

Book: “The Helm of Midnight” by Marina Lostetter

Publication Date: April 20, 2021

Why I’m Interested: A heist book that isn’t be touted as the next “Six of Crows” in all of the marketing promotions! Mostly because it’s not YA, I think. But the combination of heist story and serial killer/murder mystery sounds very intriguing. Add in some steampunk fantasy elements and an adult fantasy story, and I’m all in! When an ancient mask is stolen, the thieves unwittingly release the spirit of a deadly, serial murderer from long ago. Now terror wanders the streets and death strikes again. But there is a pattern and motive behind these killings, and it is up to a wily group of individuals to crack the code and uncover the dark mystery at the heart of their deadly foe. There’s not tons to go on from the description, but in some ways that makes it all the more appealing. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to get. But I’ve been hankering for a good mystery story, and if fantasy comes along with it, all the better!

Book: “The Light of the Midnight Stars” by Rena Rossner

Publishing Date: April 13, 2021

Why I’m Interested: I really enjoyed “The Sisters of the Winder Wood” with its creative, lyrical style of writing and the Jewish folk stories woven throughout the atmospheric story. So I was really excited to see another book by this author coming out this spring. In many ways, it sounds a lot like the first books. Instead of two sisters, this time there are three, each with their own special kind of magic. When they and their family begin to fall under suspicion for these abilities and for their religious beliefs, they must strike out into a new world. There, each sister must confront her own unique challenges and find her own path through this perilous world. On one hand, there’s a lot here that may be too similar to the first book. But on the other hand, I really liked that one? So, do I really care?? We’ll find out soon!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “Whisper Down the Lane” by Clay McLeod Chapman

Publication Date: April 6, 2021

Why I’m Interested: Even though it is a topic that is sure to send me into the white hot rage of 10,000 suns, the Satanic Panic period in our culture, aka when people were convinced that devil worshippers were hiding in plain sight all over the country, is deeply fascinating to me. So when the description for “Whisper Down the Lane” by Clay McLeod Chapman ended up in my email box, along with a download link, I was on board. Even if I knew it was going to be an emotional read. Richard is starting a new life as a husband, stepfather, and teacher at an elementary school. He’s trying to forget the days that he was Sean, a five year old who found himself enmeshed in accusations towards his Kindergarten teacher of Satanism and dark rituals, which led to his teacher’s suicide. But now, a mysterious notes and calls are being sent Richard’s way, and someone is starting to accuse him of terrible things. Or is it just his guilty conscience?

Book: “The Forest of Stolen Girls” by June Hur

Publication Date: April 20, 2021

Why I’m Interested: Given how much I liked June Hur’s previous historical mystery, “The Silence of Bones”, I snatched up the opportunity to get “The Forest of Stolen Girls” from NetGalley. And one again, Hur takes a historical setting I’m not as familiar with (1400s Korea) and gives it a timeless feel, as well as a dive into a dark history that still echos today. Hwani is returning to home village on Jeju Island after years of being on the mainland. A few years earlier, she and her sister were found unconscious in the forest, not too far from the horrific murder scene of another girl. Their father has made it his mission to find out what happened to her, along with other girls who went missing…. but then he too disappeared. Hwani teams up with her estranged sister in hopes of finding their Dad, but stumbles upon a far reaching and dark web of murder, disappearing women, and a man in a mask. This all sounds right up my alley.

Book: “You Love Me” by Caroline Kepnes

Publication Date: April 6, 2021

Why I’m Interested: Because it’s Joe Goldberg, that’s why. Okay, I will expand upon that. I have loved Caroline Kepnes’s “You” series ever since I read “You” and “Hidden Bodies” in 2016, and I was hoping, HOPING that she would write more stories about Joe, the obsessive and creepy (but incredibly funny) psychopath. And now, five years later, it has finally happened. Joe has left Los Angeles, left his criminal charges behind, and is once again unattached (as things with Love blew up after the whole accused of murder thing). Now he’s in a small town in the Pacific Northwest, volunteering at a library and trying to live more on the straight and narrow…. Until he meets Mary Kay, the friendly librarian. Joe is in love again, and you know what that means… Nothing good will follow. I’m so, so happy that we have finally come back to this awful, and awfully funny, character.

What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!