GMA and Read with Jenna picks

Good Morning America and Read With Jenna both used their April 2026 book clubs to spotlight first novels. (publishersweekly.com) Good Morning America picked *Yesteryear* by Caro Claire Burke, and the network announced the selection on April 8, 2026. Burke’s novel follows Natalie Heller Mills, a social media “tradwife” whose pioneer-style brand turns into a harsher reality. (goodmorningamerica.com) Read With Jenna picked *Upward Bound* by Woody Brown for April 2026, and TODAY.com described it as Brown’s debut novel. Jenna Bush Hager said the book would “open hearts and change minds” in the club’s April announcement. (today.com) The two selections landed in the same monthly roundup from *Publishers Weekly*, a trade publication that tracks book-club choices because those endorsements can quickly move sales and visibility in bookstores. Its April 14, 2026 list put the Good Morning America and Read With Jenna picks alongside selections from Oprah, Reese’s Book Club, and Belletrist. (publishersweekly.com) That timing matters in publishing because both clubs sit inside national television brands with built-in audiences and regular commerce tie-ins. Good Morning America runs a dedicated book-club page, and TODAY maintains a running Read With Jenna list and shopping features tied to its monthly picks. (goodmorningamerica.com, today.com) Burke’s selection also fits the Good Morning America club’s recent pattern of mixing established names with newer voices. The network’s book-club page lists monthly picks including Hayley Gelfuso in September 2025, Aisling Rawle in July 2025, and Taylor Jenkins Reid in June 2025. (goodmorningamerica.com) Brown’s pick showed an immediate sales effect in trade tracking. *Publishers Weekly* reported on April 10 that *Upward Bound* landed at No. 6 on its hardcover fiction list after becoming April’s Read With Jenna selection. (publishersweekly.com) TODAY also used the April rollout to focus on Brown himself, identifying him in a video segment as an author with autism who communicates with help from a letter board and his mother, Mary Brown. That gave the club pick a second layer of attention beyond the novel’s plot and launch-week sales. (today.com) For April, the clearest throughline is simple: two of the most visible television book clubs chose debut fiction at the same time, giving Burke and Brown a national platform that most first novelists never get. (publishersweekly.com)