Reading time! The best books you just need to read in April

Reading has been a true gift since lockdown began. It has been the ultimate form of escapism for millions and the perfect excuse to avoid the never-ending negative news that is taking over our lives at the moment. 

There are so many incredible books out in April, so bookworms prepare to be truly spoiled for choice. We’ve gathered up our top ten releases of April and you just need to treat yourself to a book or three this weekend.

1. Pretending by Holly Bourne

April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal – yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry.

If only April could be more like Gretel. Gretel is exactly what men want – she's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems.

The problem is, Gretel isn't real. And April is now claiming to be her.

2. The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves

By all appearances, Frank and Maggie share a happy, loving marriage. But for the past six months, they have not spoken. Not a sentence, not a single word. Maggie isn’t sure what, exactly, provoked Frank’s silence, though she has a few ideas.

One day Frank finds Maggie collapsed in the kitchen, unconscious, an empty package of sleeping pills on the table. Rushed to the hospital, she is placed in a medically induced coma while the doctors assess the damage.

If she regains consciousness, Maggie may never be the same. Though he is overwhelmed at the thought of losing his wife, will Frank be able to find his voice once again—and explain his withdrawal—or is it too late?

We Are Not In The World by Conor O’ Callaghan

Heartbroken after a long, painful love affair, a man drives a haulage lorry from England to France. Travelling with him is a secret passenger – his daughter. Twenty-something, unkempt, off the rails. 

With a week on the road together, father and daughter must restore themselves and each other, and repair a relationship that is at once fiercely loving and deeply scarred.

As they journey south, down the motorways, through the service stations, a devastating picture reveals itself: a story of grief, of shame, and of love in all its complex, dark and glorious manifestations

Strangers by C.L Taylor

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.

Gareth's been receiving strange postcards.

And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers' lives unexpectedly collide, there's only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

A Good Father by Catherine Talbot

Des is a good husband, a good father – a good man.

He encourages his wife's artistic endeavours. He holds down a well-paid, if unfulfilling, job. He is manager of his sons' Under-11s football team. He reads bedtime stories to his children every night.

But appearances can be deceptive, and behind closed doors secrets threaten to ruin everything.

Des is afraid…

He is afraid of the world encroaching on his family.

Afraid of past mistakes catching up on him.

Afraid of losing control.

Des is master of his home, and he must maintain his authority over it – and everyone in it – at all costs

The Fallout by Rebecca Thornton

Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a secret.

I only took my eyes off him for a second.

One little mistake is all it takes . . .

When Sarah forgets to check on her best friend’s little boy, distraction turns to disaster. And she’s faced with a dilemma.

Tell the truth, lose a friend.

Tell a lie, keep her close.

In a split second, Sarah seals her fate. But accidents have aftershocks, and lies have consequences. And when it’s someone else’s child, the rumours are quick to multiply.

Everyone’s talking about what happened. And sooner or later, the truth will have to come spilling out

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

Ava moved to Hong Kong to find happiness, but so far, it isn’t working out. Since she left Dublin, she’s been spending her days teaching English to rich children and her nights avoiding petulant roommates in her cramped apartment.

When Ava befriends Julian, a witty British banker, he offers a shortcut into a lavish life her meager salary could never allow. Ignoring her feminist leanings and her better instincts, Ava finds herself moving into Julian’s apartment. When Julian’s job takes him back to London, she stays put, unsure where their relationship stands.

Enter Edith. A Hong Kong–born lawyer, striking and ambitious, Edith takes Ava to the theater and leaves her tulips in the hallway. Ava wants to be her—and wants her. Ava has been carefully pretending that Julian is nothing more than an absentee roommate, so when Julian announces that he’s returning to Hong Kong, she faces a fork in the road. Should she return to the easy compatibility of her life with Julian or take a leap into the unknown with Edith?

The Switch by Beth O’ Leary

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.

Once Leena learns of Eileen's romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another's shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.

Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn't as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?

My Pear Shaped Life by Carmel Harrington

Greta is hiding so much behind her big smile she’s forgotten who she is. But Greta is about to discover that the key to being happy is…being you.

Greta Gale has played the part of the funny fat one her entire life, hiding her insecurities behind a big smile. But size doesn’t matter when you can laugh at yourself, right?

Until Greta realises she’s the only one not laughing. And deep down, she’s not sure if she’ll ever laugh again.

But with her world feeling like it’s falling down around her, Greta is about to discover she’s stronger than she feels. And that sometimes the best moments in life come when it’s all gone a bit pear-shaped

A Talented Man by Henrietta McKervey

Ellis Spender, only son of a once-esteemed society family, believes money, success and the high life are his birthright — only prevented by a cruel trick of fate.

Struggling to stay ahead of his creditors, the dejected writer decides to forge a sequel to one of the most famous novels of all time, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Its remarkable ‘discovery’ will create the lifestyle he believes is his due. But as his scheme begins to bear fruit, others who stand to gain become obstacles. And Ellis will stop at nothing to achieve his desires.