12 Books to Read in April

Happy spring everyone! The weather is changing and soon we in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to relax on our porches and decks, at the pool or at the beach with our books and eReaders. If you live below the Equator, then you're looking forward to snuggling up to a fire, book in hand. Here's what I have on my eReader for April -- all 12 books come out this month and I'm sure there are several that will catch your eye.

Escape into a Story

• Beyond the Wild River by Sarah Maine (Atria): Historical fiction that takes us from rural Scotland to urban America to the wilds of Canada in the late 1800s. A father and daughter, a friendship rekindled, and maybe a little romance.
• One Good Thing by Wendy Wax (Berkley): Four women friends facing a variety of life's problems (career, marriage, parenthood) count on each other for support and solutions. Set in Florida and part of the popular Ten Beach Road series.
• The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova (Ballentine): While traveling in Bulgaria, an American woman finds herself on an increasingly dangerous mission to return a lost object to its rightful owners.

Thrills and Chills

• Gone without a Trace by Mary Torjussen (Berkley): In Liverpool, England, A man disappears so completely it's as if he never even existed. The deeper his frantic girlfriend searches for him, the more she fears for her life and sanity.
• A Twist in Time by Julie McElwain (Pegasus): The protagonist of this time-travel mystery series is FBI agent Kendra Donovan. In this outing she's stranded in 1815 England until she can clear a man from murder charges.
• Where the Dead Lie by C. S. Harris (Berkley): The latest installment of this Regency Era mystery series pits our hero, Viscount Devlin (Sebastian St. Cyr) against a London killer who is targeting homeless children.

True Stories about Ourselves and Our World

• Almost Human by Lee Berger with John Hawks (National Geographic): The thrilling true story of the discovery of a new early human species, Homo naledi, by two physical anthropologist who found the fossils, analyzed the evidence, and introduced startling new theories about our origins.
• Saving Arcadia by Heather Shumaker and James Gibson (Painted Turtle): The inspiring story of the decades-long, grass-roots fight to save and restore a community and wild area on the shores of Lake Michigan from destruction by a large corporation.
• Where the Water Goes by David Owen (Riverhead): Follow the Colorado River from source to terminus and learn how the taming of a great river has affected life in the U.S. Southwest.

Short Takes with a Global Perspective

• Red Shoes for Rachel by Boris Sandler (trans. Burnett Zumoff; Syracuse University Press): This award-winning collection of three novellas explores the postwar Moldovan Jewish experience, as colored by travel and emigration.
• Redemption of Galen Pike by Carys Davies (Bilioasis): The stories in this award-winning collection take us around the world and show us both the uniqueness of individual lives and the universal concerns that unite us all as humans.
• What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nineka Arimah (Riverhead): The overriding theme of this collection of stories is mothers and daughters and women's friendships; some incorporate magical realism and many are set in Nigeria.