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April 14, 2026

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of April 13th and April 20th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.

This week, we are calling attention to our review of YESTERYEAR, which is April’s “Good Morning America” Book Club selection, #1 Indie Next pick, Top LibraryReads Pick --- and an upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On title. In Caro Claire Burke’s much-talked-about debut novel, a traditional American woman, a “tradwife” influencer, suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855.

April 14, 2026

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this spring. Read more about it, and enter our Spring Reading Contest by Wednesday, April 15th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of MIDNIGHT, AT THE WAR by Devi S. Laskar, which is now available. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

Mark Oppenheimer, author of Judy Blume: A Life

Judy Blume’s influential novels turned classics touched the lives of tens of millions of readers. For more than 55 years, her work has done something revolutionary: it rewired the world’s expectations of what literature for young people can be --- frank, candid, earthy, and unafraid to show the messier sides of humanity. But little is known about the real woman behind the iconic persona, and the unlikely journey of her literary ascension, until now. In JUDY BLUME, longtime Blume aficionado Mark Oppenheimer pens a beautiful, multidimensional portrait of the acclaimed author through extensive interviews with Blume herself, invaluable access to her papers and correspondence, and thoughtful analysis of Blume’s beloved novels, including early, unpublished works that shed light on the pathbreaking writer she would become. 

Evelyn Clarke, author of The Ending Writes Itself

Arthur Fletch, one of the world’s bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead…and his last book is unfinished. Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch’s agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter --- for a mind-boggling sum --- they also will help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just 72 hours to finish Fletch’s magnum opus. It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.

Patrick Radden Keefe, author of London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth

In the early morning of November 29, 2019, surveillance cameras at the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s spy agency, captured video of a young man pacing back and forth on a high balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury tower on the bank of the river Thames. At 2:24 a.m., he jumped into the river. In a quiet London neighborhood several miles away, Rachelle Brettler was worried about her son. Zac had told her that he had gone to stay with a friend, but then he did not come home. Days later, a police car pulled up, and two officers relayed the dreadful news: her son was dead. In their unbearable grief, Rachelle and her husband, Matthew, struggled to understand what had happened to Zac. He had his troubles, but in no way did he seem suicidal. As they would soon discover, however, there was a lot they did not know about their son.

Emma Straub, author of American Fantasy

When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous ’90s-era boy band and 3,000 screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood. Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie --- newly divorced, turning 50 with an empty nest, and here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members --- not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend --- she has accessed a new sense of possibility.

Caro Claire Burke, author of Yesteryear

Natalie Heller Mills lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s eight million followers don’t know won’t hurt them. But then one morning, Natalie wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

Editorial Content for Revenge Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Philip Zozzaro

A team of assassins is assembling in the dead of winter to take out a high-value target. Meanwhile, Lucas Davenport and Shelly White are part of a protective detail guarding Leonard Summers and his family. Read More

Teaser

A former high-ranking Russian intelligence officer who defected to the U.S. after providing critical information about Russian spies in U.S. government service, Leonard Summers and his wife and son have spent the past year holed up in a CIA facility near Washington. After the CIA makes a deal with the U.S. Marshal Service’s Witness Protection Program (WPP), Leonard’s family is transported to Minneapolis. The plan is to hide them in a wooded Minneapolis suburb that resembles their former home and dacha near Moscow. The Summers are received at their destination by Lucas Davenport and fellow marshal Shelly White. Unbeknownst to them, the WPP group has been tracked by a Russian hit team. As shots are fired and enemies dodged, Lucas must move quickly to uncover where the leak is coming from before the hit team can strike again.

Promo

A former high-ranking Russian intelligence officer who defected to the U.S. after providing critical information about Russian spies in U.S. government service, Leonard Summers and his wife and son have spent the past year holed up in a CIA facility near Washington. After the CIA makes a deal with the U.S. Marshal Service’s Witness Protection Program (WPP), Leonard’s family is transported to Minneapolis. The plan is to hide them in a wooded Minneapolis suburb that resembles their former home and dacha near Moscow. The Summers are received at their destination by Lucas Davenport and fellow marshal Shelly White. Unbeknownst to them, the WPP group has been tracked by a Russian hit team. As shots are fired and enemies dodged, Lucas must move quickly to uncover where the leak is coming from before the hit team can strike again.

About the Book

Lucas Davenport must track down a ruthless Russian hit team in this latest thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford.

Leonard Summers --- not his real name --- is on the run. A former high-ranking Russian intelligence officer who defected to the U.S. after providing critical information about Russian spies in U.S. government service, Leonard, his wife Martha, and son Bernard have spent the past year holed up in a CIA facility near Washington. After the CIA makes a deal with the U.S. Marshal Service’s Witness Protection Program (WPP), Leonard’s family is transported to Minneapolis. The plan is to hide them in a wooded Minneapolis suburb that resembles their former home and dacha near Moscow.

The Summers are received at their destination by Lucas Davenport and fellow marshal Shelly White. Unbeknownst to them, the WPP group has been tracked by a Russian hit team. And while nobody in the WPP has ever been attacked, Leonard might be the first victim. As shots are fired and enemies dodged, Lucas must move quickly to uncover where the leak is coming from before the hit team can strike again.

Audiobook available, read by Robert Petkoff 

Editorial Content for Rory: The Heartache and Triumph of Golf's Most Human Superstar

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Stuart Shiffman

On February 7, 2007, Rory McIlroy became the #1 ranked amateur golfer in the world. At the age of 18, he already was looked upon as a potential heir to the stardom of Tiger Woods. A few years later, McIlroy met golf writer Alan Shipnuck. “What’s he really like?” was his first question to Shipnuck about Woods. Read More

Teaser

Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. He can overwhelm a golf course with his transcendent talent and then, at the next tournament, look utterly lost. McIlroy is golf’s most eloquent ambassador and a trash-talking troll, sometimes in the same press conference. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. A dozen years ago, McIlroy asked Alan Shipnuck a question about the player he had modeled himself after, Tiger Woods: “What’s he really like?” As McIlroy enters the last act of his highly eventful career, this book is a chance to redirect that old question and try to understand a man of deep complexity and contradictions.

Promo

Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. He can overwhelm a golf course with his transcendent talent and then, at the next tournament, look utterly lost. McIlroy is golf’s most eloquent ambassador and a trash-talking troll, sometimes in the same press conference. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. A dozen years ago, McIlroy asked Alan Shipnuck a question about the player he had modeled himself after, Tiger Woods: “What’s he really like?” As McIlroy enters the last act of his highly eventful career, this book is a chance to redirect that old question and try to understand a man of deep complexity and contradictions.

About the Book

The definitive biography of the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era, masterfully chronicled by Alan Shipnuck, the bestselling author of PHIL and LIV AND LET DIE.

Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. He can overwhelm a golf course with his transcendent talent and then, at the next tournament, look utterly lost. McIlroy is golf’s most eloquent ambassador and a trash-talking troll, sometimes in the same press conference. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. A dozen years ago, McIlroy asked Alan Shipnuck a question about the player he had modeled himself after, Tiger Woods: “What’s he really like?” As McIlroy enters the last act of his highly eventful career, this book is a chance to redirect that old question and try to understand a man of deep complexity and contradictions.

McIlroy’s victory at the 2025 Masters packed such an emotional punch because he is golf’s most vulnerable superstar. Across two decades as a pro, he has been the anti-Tiger, letting fans into his heart and into his world. When McIlroy collapsed onto the final green at Augusta National, having at last completed the career Grand Slam, golf fans cried along with him because so many saw themselves in his struggles.

But there is much that the public does not know about McIlroy. With reporting chops honed across 30 years on the golf beat, Shipnuck traces McIlroy’s evolution from a young phenom in Northern Ireland to a game-changing force on and off the golf course. Shipnuck has shadowed McIlroy throughout his career, and he brings to life all the heartbreaks and triumphs with thrilling immediacy and unparalleled access. Tabloid romance, bitter business disputes, divisive politicking --- it is all part of this portrait of a man in full.

Shipnuck has long been known as the most fearless writer on the golf beat, and he goes deep into McIlroy’s personal history at a time when the spotlight on Rory has never been brighter. This book is squarely in the tradition of extraordinary golf biographies like Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian’s TIGER WOODS and Shipnuck’s own PHIL.

Audiobook available, read by Alan Shipnuck

Editorial Content for Mothers and Other Strangers

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

Corey Ann Haydu has been a popular author for younger readers for a while now. With MOTHERS AND OTHER STRANGERS, she is writing for adults for the first time, but still with an eye toward the complexities of growing up --- and how dynamics established in youth can evolve, collapse or grow rigid over time.  Read More

Teaser

When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers --- the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni --- agree the girls are made for each other. Then a falling-out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme. Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni. When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another’s lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. But soon they will discover a devastating secret at the center of their orbits --- a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them for good.

Promo

When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers --- the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni --- agree the girls are made for each other. Then a falling-out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme. Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni. When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another’s lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. But soon they will discover a devastating secret at the center of their orbits --- a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them for good.

About the Book

Two estranged childhood best friends reunite as expectant mothers after a mysterious falling-out between their own mothers keeps them apart for years​. Perfect for readers of Claire Lombardo and J. Courtney Sullivan.

When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers --- the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni --- agree the girls are made for each other, and it's not long before even the mothers become inseparable.   

Then a falling-out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme, exacerbated by the demands of her inflexible mother, Beth Ann, whose constant scrutiny seems reserved only for her daughter.   

Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni, whose mysterious death holds as many unanswered questions as Mae does herself. Mae is an artist who has lived under the shadow of the one painting (of two girls) that made her famous years ago, the success of which confines as much as it defines her.   

When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another’s lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. Each begins to pull the other away from the coercive influence of outsiders --- mommy groups, marketing schemes, artistic pressures and ex-boyfriends. But the two women will soon discover that it’s not destiny that has drawn them together this time, but a devastating secret at the center of their orbits --- a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them, for good.   

An intimate and searing novel about mothers and daughters, and destiny and desire, MOTHERS AND OTHER STRANGERS takes a full-hearted look at those relationships in life that are as impossible as they are utterly essential.

Audiobook available, read by Beth Hicks