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Big Books of the Week

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (St. Martin’s; LJ starred review) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

A Woman's Place by Danielle Steel (Delacorte)

The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Susan Patterson & James Patterson (Little, Brown)

Paradox by Douglas Preston & Aletheia Preston (Forge)

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer (Atria/Emily Bestler)

These books and others publishing the week of April 20, 2026, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Four LibraryReads and six Indie Next picks publish this week:

Hall of Fame pick The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman’s Legacy by Kim Michele Richardson (Sourcebooks Landmark) is also an Indie Next pick:

“Unjustly incarcerated, Cussy Lovett’s steadfast courage is at the heart of this historical fiction novel set in 1950s Kentucky. As a believer in the power of literacy, and as a devoted wife and mother, Cussy stays forever hopeful even in the toughest of times.”—Caroline Buchta, Andover Bookstore, Andover, MA

Hall of Fame pick Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (St. Martin’s; LJ starred review) is also an Indie Next pick:

“Hepworth once again excels at pulling the rug out from under the reader’s figurative feet with the story of octogenarian Elsie Fitzpatrick, whose quiet life on a small Melbourne street is blown up by her discovery of her next door neighbor dead.”—Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, Scottsdale, AZ

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer (Atria/Emily Bestler)

“Macy thinks she’s finally caught a break when she answers an ad for a weekend house-sitting gig that pays a ridiculous amount of money, even if it comes with some…unsettling instructions. Unsettling turns eerie, which turns to horrifying as Macy realizes—too late—this is one job that she should have never accepted. The chills ramp up fast and never stop in this page-turner horror novel.”—Sharon Layburn, South Huntington Public Library, NY

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“The Caretaker is deeply unsettling in the best way, with smart ties to Kliewer’s previous novel while still standing strong on its own. It’s emotionally intense, psychologically rich, and genuinely scary. So good.”—Brynna Neal, Severna Park Books & LitCoLab, Severna, MD

Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan (Berkley; LJ starred review)

“WWI nurse Mouse receives notice that she is next in line to inherit the Faerie-blessed Thistlemarsh Hall in the English countryside. But she must do the impossible: fix the crumbling manor in just one month with the surprise aid of a handsome Faerie who can help defeat the magic protecting the manor. Fantastic atmospheric style, world-building elements, and sympathetic characters.”—Kristin Skinner, Flat River Community Library, MI

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Thistlemarsh was so easy to get swept into as our main protagonist Mouse comes back to a home she doesn’t recognize to meet expectations that seem impossible. This book pulled at my heartstrings with the trauma and grief but it never took me out of the story.”—Mekhala Villegas, Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, VA

Two additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez (Flatiron)

“Gonzalez has a gift for capturing the essence of a specific time and place. She does it again with Brooklyn in the mid-2000s and the gentrification of the area. The story of La Garza, a fashion designer and an icon of the neighborhood, explores racism, misogyny and class struggle.”—Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books, Santa Rosa Beach, FL

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, tr. by Helen Stevenson (Mariner)

“A short, translated novella based on the deadly travels of a migrant dinghy across the Channel from France to Britain, and the questionable morals of the rescue operators—one in particular, who put aside the truth of these migrants as human beings in order to do their job.”—Jennifer Bischof, Frisco Booksellers, Frisco, TX

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Go Gentle by Maria Semple (Putnam). Also getting attention are The Insomniacs by Allison Winn Scotch (Berkley) and The Take by Kelly Yang (Berkley). “Must Read Fiction” includes Too Close to Home by Seraphina Nova Glass (Park Row), Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell (Morrow; LJ starred review), and My Dear You: Stories byRachel Khong (Knopf; LJ starred review).

There is a feature on Lena Dunham and her memoir Famesick (Random) and The Housemaid author Freida McFadden’s real name. Plus, a summer movie preview featuring adaptations The Devil Wears Prada 2, based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger; Remarkably Bright Creatures, based on the novel by Shelby Van Pelt; The Odyssey, based on the epic by Homer; and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Mandalorian and Grogu, Masters of the Universe and Supergirl, all with associated titles.

Reviews

NYT reviews When We See You Again by Rachel Goldberg-Polin (Random): “When We See You Again brings the miracle of the everyday into sharp relief. It is a paean to pain; a difficult gift”; This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark by Craig Fehrman (Avid Reader): “This Vast Enterprise is a page-turner and a fantastic achievement”; and How To Be a Dissident by Gal Beckerman (Crown): “When those courageous young people stood up to the Alabama authorities, their dissent was grounded in solidarity and guided by well-honed strategy. As readers of How to Be a Dissident think about the kind of dissidents they might want to be, they would be wise to remember that potent combination.”

WSJ reviews Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity by Matthew A. Sutton (Basic): “Because Mr. Sutton uses a political timeline to narrate the history of American Christianity, he gives away his own view of which direction the influence went—more Christian nation than Americanized Christianity.”

Briefly Noted

The LA Times Book Prize winners are announced, including Bryan Washington, Megan Abbott, Silvia Park, Ekow Eshun, Karen Hao, and more. Adam Ross receives the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, while Justin Haynes, author of Ibis (Abrams), wins the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction.

The Publishing Triangle Award winners are revealed. 

Winners of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award are announced, Publishing Perspectives reports. 

BookCon 2026 wrapped up this weekend in NYC; it included an interview with Rachel Reid and the news that Veronica Roth is writing a new duology related to “Divergent.” Variety and CBS News have coverage.

National Library Week begins, with the theme “Find Your Joy.” Mychal Threets is honorary chair. 

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week. 

WSJ celebrates new books for spring.

The Guardian ranks Bernardine Evaristo’s best books. 

Authors on Air

Blair Underwood, author of A Soldier’s Wife: My Mother, the Marvelous Mrs. Marilyn A. Underwood (Amistad), visits the Sherri Shepherd Show today.

Rachel Goldberg-Polin, When We See You Again (Random), visits GMA. 

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