April’s book roundups to bookmark

Two of the major entertainment and news sites have just published short, practical guides to the season’s new releases to help readers decide what to buy or borrow this spring. (time.com 1) (time.com 2) (eonline.com) TIME assembled a 12‑book list titled “Best New Books to Read in April 2026,” grouping fiction and nonfiction that arrive across the month. (time.com 1) (time.com 2) The choices span true crime, speculative fiction, literary experiments, and nature writing, so a single skim gives a quick sense of notable releases. (time.com) (time.com) E! Online published a spring roundup that highlights returning favorites and buzzy authors, calling out names readers are likely to recognize. (eonline.com) (eonline.com) The piece points to recent work from Patrick Radden Keefe, Emma Straub, Carley Fortune, Tana French, and Marcus Kliewer, among others, and includes brief notes on setting and release timing. (eonline.com) (eonline.com) Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling appears on both outlets’ radars; it expands a New Yorker piece into a book about a 2019 death in London and is slated for release April 7, 2026. (time.com) (time.com) (eonline.com) Emma Straub’s American Fantasy, another April 7 title about fandom and midlife reinvention, is also flagged. (eonline.com) (eonline.com) Carley Fortune’s Our Perfect Storm is listed as a May 7 release in E!’s spring roundup, an example of how these lists cover not just the current month but the whole season so readers can plan ahead. (eonline.com) (eonline.com) The entry mentions the book’s Vancouver Island setting and the rom‑com premise—details that help decide whether to preorder or wait for library copies. (eonline.com) (eonline.com) Why a curated list is useful: publishers release dozens of titles every week, and aggregate lists condense those waves into a manageable shortlist. (time.com) (time.com) (eonline.com) With a shortlist, a reader can prioritize a purchase, place a library hold, or preorder a bestseller instead of scanning dozens of jacket copy pages. (time.com) (time.com) (eonline.com) Editors pick for different reasons: some titles are chosen for author reputation, others for topicality or an unusual premise. (time.com) (time.com) (eonline.com) That variety is practical—if you want a thrill, the lists point to thrillers; if you want something small and strange, the list can surface a debut you’d otherwise miss. (time.com) (time.com) (eonline.com) If you want to act this week, two concrete targets: London Falling and Emma Straub’s American Fantasy are due April 7, 2026, and Carley Fortune’s Our Perfect Storm is due May 7, 2026—dates that let you preorder or place a library hold now. (time.com) (time.com) (eonline.com)