What's on my stack: Spring 2024
Books I can't wait to read being published in spring 2024
*There are so many books in today’s email that to see them all, you’ll need to open in a new browser!*
Welcome to the monthly late round-up edition of Reading Under the Radar, where paid subscribers get to see what new releases are on my radar that I’m looking forward to reading. There are buy and preorder links (preorders are incredibly helpful for authors) for all books featured. These are for March and April books that are already out and available to buy or check out from your local library so you can get to reading them right away.
Weekly Tuesday book recommendations will always be free! The best way to support this newsletter is to become a paid subscriber, but if that isn’t your thing and buying books is, consider sending me a book from my wishlist to review for an upcoming weekly recommendation. Since this is my welcome back after a break, this mega issue is free for all, but please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support my work.
Rather than small roundups more often, how would you like a big list like this more sporadically (think quarterly, or every other month). I also shortened the descriptions so it’s not as much text to read. Do you like to read a lot about each book, or do the quick lines help you figure out what you’d like? Please take the polls! And answer in the comments: Is there something else you’d like to see here, or is it just enough as-is?
The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft: Eight translators show up to a world-renowned author’s house, only for the author to vanish when they arrive? The perfect sweltering summer mystery.
The Invisible Hotel by Yeji Y. Ham: A surrealist horror that seems both ethereal and weird, which is all I needed to know.
Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon: There’s a few topics that will get me to instantly pick up a book, and summer camp setting plus insular, closed community combines two of those, so I know this Persephone remix will be one I grab this spring.
Dominoes by Phoebe McIntosh: Right before a woman’s wedding, she discovers her fiancé’s family may have enslaved her ancestors, and their family history becomes a huge question mark for their future.
Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy: If you’ve been around for a bit, you know how much I loved the first book in this series about a mystery-solving, tattooed, chain-smoking nun and her questions about faith. Cannot wait for the second book.
The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale: Four women come together to hide the bodies of their husbands and hope they get away with it.
The Day Tripper by James Goodhand: I loved Oona Out of Order, so another time-traveling book where someone wakes up in a different day of a different year, trying to piece together their life, sounds right up my alley.
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko: A female friendship evolves over decades as each woman changes and experiences different things.
The Stars Turned Inside Out by Nova Jacobs: I loved Jacobs’s previous book and recommended it this year in anticipation of their new release! The combination of math, science, and mystery intrigues me.
Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash: Murder, intrigue, dark humor, queer love, and Satanic panic!
The Morningside by Téa Obreht: A family saga set in the near dystopian future on a mystical island that dives deep into a family’s past sounds like the perfect poolside read for me.
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin: A dual timeline mystery about a woman who is told she will be murdered in the future but has no idea when, how, where, or why.
The Audacity by Ryan Chapman: Anything that’s billed as “an implosion at a Theranos-like company” gets added immediately to my list. Trainwreck I can’t look away from.
Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne: A memoir from an author who has to come to terms with her own diagnosis of sociopathy and an oft-misunderstood diagnosis.
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio: A speculative contemporary story that I think gives away too much on the flap copy, so just trust me — you want to read this book.
The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas: In a category of “sunshine noir,” this book takes place on a honeymoon on an island but is full of much darker and more sinister secrets from all who stay there.
The Wives by Simone Gorrindo: I’m in my memoir era for sure, and this one about a New Yorker who goes from city girl to army wife sounds like it could give me a whole new perspective on a life I know nothing about.
There’s Going to Be Trouble by Jen Silverman: I shove We Play Ourselves at anyone who will listen, so this next book from Silverman is on my must-read list for the summer.
The Band by Christine Ma-Kellams: Listen, I’m not really into K-pop nor do I know anything about the genre at all, but a book about a K-pop star on the run after recently being cancelled? Suddenly I want to know more!
A Body Made of Glass: A Cultural History of Hypochondria by Caroline Crampton: Along with my memoir era, there’s been a particular focus in my reading of chronic illness memoirs. This specific one about hypochondria and the fear of being ill feels particularly personal to me, and I’m hoping it will help me feel less alone.
Which books catch your eye the most? Did you go put one in your shopping cart or on hold?
Can’t get enough, or looking for a different recommendation? Browse the archives, or check out some popular past recommendations:
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The Extinction of Irena Rey is very rich! I highly recommend it and wrote about it recently in my newsletter too. Would love to hear from anyone who has read the new Tea Obrecht. I loved Inland even though I know it was not that popular… but for some reason I am hesitating in this one.
I just finished Blessed Water earlier this week -- it's even better than the first one. Sister Holiday is addictive and I hope Douaihy writes many more in the series.