Natalie is the perfect mom, housewife, and social media influencer at the Yesteryear ranch, until she is transported back to the all natural, anything-but-picturesque reality of homesteading in the 1800s. This exhilarating debut by Caro Claire Burke is a must-read for Mona Awad fans and #MomTok subscribers.

Also loved by Abigail, Hannah P., Aly, Genevieve, & Kim!

Amal El-Mohtar is a short story wizard and this collection proves it. Seasons of Glass and Iron holds the sort of magic every reader hungers for. These stories pack punch after punch, and I will return to them again and again, to renew the magic.

Also loved by Cat!

Historical fiction about the woman who rescued hundreds of abandoned and unwanted biracial children after WWll, after adopting 12 children in her own marriage. Told in such clear, readable prose – a hallmark of Sadeqa Johnson’s work – this is such a moving and satisfying read.

Imagine you’re on a cruise with hundreds of other people who love the band you loved growing up. Now imagine you’re in that band. Now imagine you’re working on this cruise. Emma Straub gives us all this and more in a hilarious and heartfelt journey at sea. This book is for anyone who has unapologetically loved anything, but especially boy bands.

Also loved by Abigail, Cat, Rae Ann, Lindsay & Elizabeth!

Overworked and underpaid, Sam takes a last minute gig lecturing at a private uni in Baltimore. To her surprise, her former advisor has taken a position at the same school and is publishing a novel, which just so happens to be about her. Drowning in bills, job applications, and grades, Sam must navigate academia while regaining ownership of her story. As an adjunct myself, this book was a little too real.

You don’t have to read Throne in the Dark first, but you should. This is the second in this romantasy series. Evil can also be cute. Damien wants to destroy the realm and Amma wants to save it. Locked in a tower, trapped with vampires, or learning from witches in a jungle, Amma is always thinking of him and he may actually have a heart…

Sonia Wilson was desperate when she accepted the offer to be an illustrator for famously cold and cruel Dr. Halter in the post-Civil War South. However, nothing could have prepared her for what lurks in the basement of the shed. Witty, hilarious, and spooky, Wolf Worm is perfect fans of a real but brave heroine and things that go bump in the night.

Like the film Past Lives but with a nostalgic yearning for the obsessive friendships of girlhood with a dash of bicuriousity. Are they lovers? Worse.

Also loved by Abigail!

Bugonia, Awad’s Rouge, and The Witch had a baby, and her name is Anna Frenza––the first woman CEO of Poland’s largest oil company. Anna hates hippies, but one night, while sleepwalking, she is caught on camera having sex with a tree. Swiftly fired and falling into madness even faster, Anna has hallucinations that send her centuries into the past, where she joins a feminist coven. The perfect unhinged spring read.

A beautiful and haunting story about a boy who creates a friend and falls in love with her as they grow older, but his love turns into obsession and control. This debut novel from Bar Fridman-Tell feels like a whimsical, feminist take on Frankenstein. I cannot stop thinking about this novel!

What do you do when you like a guy who’s not romantically interested in you? You hire a starter ex to date him instead, duh. The Starter Ex is How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days with a Latin twist! The shenanigans? Hilarious. The chemistry? Palpable. The relationships? Fun and heartfelt. The stress? Real. I ran laps around the register to calm down—and I haven’t stopped thinking about this book since.

A stunning fictionalized account of Cleopatra’s life from the immensely talented author of Faebound, Saara El-Arifi. Seductress, Witch, Queen – much has been said about Cleopatra but little is actually known. Both a coming of age and a coming into power, El-Arifi crafts a beautiful story about one of history’s most iconic Pharaohs. I couldn’t get enough of this book!

Told through fragments of a fictional lost Trojan War epic on the top of the page and footnotes at the bottom to provide both Homeric context and the linguist-narrator’s inner monologue, follow a structurally unique reflection on antiquity, storytelling, academia, fatherhood, family, and the sacrifices one has to make to do what they love.

What do you get when two authors – friends but who write very different genres – merge? A locked room mystery by Evelyn Clarke, aka Cat Clarke and V.E. Schwab. A remote Scottish island. Six authors. A contest to ghostwrite the last chapter of a famous author’s final novel. And then murder…I hope Evelyn Clarke keeps up the collaboration because their twists and turns made for a page-turner.

Also loved by Jenness!

This one goes out to all my girls who love to yell “Now kiss!!!” at their favorite tv shows, especially when the likelihood of said kissing on screen is incredibly low. Simon and Charlie are the leads on a hit sci-fi show and they have the fandom to prove it. They might hate each other behind the scenes, but a PR stunt road trip could change that. I loved Star Shipped. Now kiss!!!

Go into this book as blind as possible, and watch as Laure and Erica’s world(s) unfold before your eyes with such sorrow and beauty––like those final days of spring before summer’s oppressive heat. Normal People meets The Way We Were but make it sapphic & French. No, I will never recover, thanks for asking!

A beautiful portrait of female friendship at the cusp of your 30s — the trials of navigating life events with established friend groups, and the exhilarating joy of finding your new bestie.

Abby Jimenez has a way of treating difficult topics couched in a romance. In this one, what would happen if you say yes to a ride from one person and after months of dating, convince yourself they are “the one,” despite interactions with somebody else who actually feels like “the one?” A life-threatening situation brings about realizations for all the parties involved that change the trajectory of everyone’s lives.

Calling all horse girls – if you devoured The Saddle Club and are looking to chase that high, you must pick up The Jump. Set in Florida horse country, Brooke is chasing a dream of being a world class eventer but is running out of time…and money. When she lands the opportunity of lifetime to train at an elite barn she leaps at the chance. Romance! Barn drama! Horsies! This book has everything I need to be happy.

Ottessa Moshfegh meets HBO’s Girls in this debut story collection following ten power-hungry potential stars. Arlo Banks, a washed up actor with cannibalism allegations, serves as the connective tissue tying these pieces together. Read if you’re interested in: dead moms haunting the narrative, method acting, Vogue‘s 73 questions, breaking up with your boyfriend after he gives you a kidney, and reality TV crash outs.

If, after all of the Wuthering Heights buzz, you find yourself wanting to further explore the legacy of Emily Brontë (and her sisters), might I suggest this lyrical re-imagining of her early years on the Yorkshire Moors. Powell offers a poignant take on the love, passion, and grief that fueled each of her creative endeavors, further illuminating just how brilliant of a writer she was.

After her husband flees for fraud, Lila and ten year-old daughter Bea land at the Primrose, a 55+ apartment building. Bea, a tremendous fan of Murder She Wrote, loves nothing more than a crime to solve, so is determined to find out how the niece of a former resident died. This cozy mystery is a fun for read fans of Finlay Donovan and The Thursday Murder Club.

The author’s notes alone are worth the price of admission. If you need a reminder of how powerful righteous rebellion has been and will continue to be, this is the book for you.

Scrabble nerds unite! In this tender story, Sally moves into an independent living home and immediately makes friends with Walter over a game of Scrabble. Their lives become more entwined as they spend more time together, face past hurts and learn how to handle new health struggles. You’ll be cheering for their relationship just as they cheer each other and their Scrabble-loving friends on in competitions.

I’m a Riss Neilson stan. Her books are always a little sad, a lot tender and so romantic. I will always be excited when a new one comes out, and The Bridge Back to You is no exception.

Historical telling of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb by the Earl of Carnarvon as told by his daughter Eva, who was also an archeologist. The other storyline is about the lost female pharaoh Hatshepsut. This is the tomb that Eva was eager to find. For fans of Egypt and Downton Abbey.

Also loved by Jenness!

This book is the love child of Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, and the movie Juno. Perfect for weirdos who love dual timelines and character-driven stories!

Also loved by Abigail!

This is the story of Melantho and Penelope and an Ithaca that women thrived in while the men went off to fight in the Trojan War. Perfect for fans of Song of Achilles, Sweetbitter Song is a compelling love story between two women who fought to protect their love. You will feel wrung out by the end of this book. But I loved it.

A slim, accessible meditation that packs a punch. The 24th U.S. Poet Laureate makes her case for poetry as a vital source of healing and transformation, a pathway to appreciating our natural world, and proof of our shared humanity.

Also loved by Abigail!

Lindy faces her dark night of the soul in a custom van named BAAA. After a years-long depression, and the realization that her husband has a girlfriend, Lindy sets off on a solo, cross-country road trip to find herself and to make a decision about her marriage. Along the way she meets friends, campground characters, and most importantly, herself. Whether she intended to or not, Lindy wrote one helluva hero’s journey.

If you want to do something to support our neighbors and respond to pressing needs in our community but you’re not sure what to do or where to start, read this book.

Also loved by Abigail & Hannah P.!

Equal parts mesmerizing and devastating, the second collection from Skeets explores the vast beauty of the Navajo landscape and the climate-stricken grief that is inextricable from it. Stunning and evocative from start to finish.

Also loved by Abigail!

Poems as fluid as their subjects written in a gripping, conversational tone.

The myth of fight or flight has harmed women for decades, causing us to shame ourselves for how we respond to sexual violence. In this brutal and powerful work of nonfiction, Jen Percy explores sexual assault, PTSD, and women’s broader cultural history of trauma. She reminds us that submission and acquiescence are methods of survival rather than weakness or a form of relinquishing consent.

A diagnostic look at the misdiagnosis crisis in America.

This is a true tale of a Louisiana governor and his Tennessee attorney in a wild drama that plays out in courtrooms by day and New Orleans bars and restaurants at night.

Vonnegut at his best. Howard W. Campbell Jr. is a double agent during WWII, publicly spreading Nazi ideology while secretly aiding The Allies; in his heart, he’s politically apathetic. An essential read for all Americans living under fascism, Mother Night is yet another of Vonnegut’s prescient warnings. His novel reminds us: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

Also loved by Jake!

An exceptionally clever riff on And Then There Were None, this Japanese cult classic follows a group of students who spend a week on a remote island that was the scene of a brutal murder the year before. Soon they too find themselves being picked off one by one, and must discover the truth before it’s too late. A love letter to the genre, The Decagon House Murders is the kind of mystery you never want to put down.

I love a short story collection. This one is so beautiful and weird. Each story is unique and surprising, but with a connection to each other that will have you thinking about them long after you’ve closed the cover.

Samantha loves the thrill of killing, but when a new serial killer pops up in her perfect small town, she needs to figure out who the culprit is before the town finds out her secret. I had so much fun reading this! So many twists and turns I never saw coming!

A newspaper advertisement. A villa in Italy. Four women who feel the need to escape their dreary London lives. This classic from the 1920s offers a reminder that beauty can often be the catalyst for personal renewal and transformation. It is a perfect read to thaw any remaining winter chill.

First Editions Club: April Selection

The first book of Willy Vlautin’s I read was Lean on Pete, the story of a boy in need of rescue who instead rescues a horse from a seedy racetrack. The novel is clear-eyed, powerful and very, very sad. In the tradition of Steinbeck, Willy shows us people (and horses) we rarely see in literature. It turns out, we need to see them.

Willy is a prolific author, as well as being a songwriter and musician. In every book, he writes about people who are overlooked. Things rarely work out for his characters but then, how could they? He tells the whole truth. I’ve long been his great admirer of his, and I’ve wanted to pick one of his books for the First Editions Club, but I always wondered if people would be up for it.

Then along came The Left and the Lucky and two things changed: first, by the standard of Willy Vlautin novels, this one isn’t so sad. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a lot of hard living here, but there’s also hope. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, go read his backlist. Second, the times are changing in our country, and the need to know about people who are living lives that are different from our own is imperative. This song that Willy has been singing all along? More people need to listen to it. Plus it’s just a really good book, whose story sails forth like an arrow shot from a bow. At every turn, you’ll need to know what happens next.

Enjoy.

Ann Patchett

More about our First Editions Club: Every member receives a first edition of the selected book of the month, signed by the author. Books are carefully chosen by our staff of readers, and our picks have gone on to earn major recognition including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Plus, there’s no membership fee or premium charge for these books. Build a treasured library of signed first editions and always have something great to read! Makes a FABULOUS gift, too.

Love, Parnassus: April Selection