
Books


If you're looking for some new books to add to your April reading list, then we've got you covered. April is set to be one of the biggest months for the publishing world, with a new release from Irish author Louise O'Neill, as well as the publication of the most anticipated novel, Yesteryear.
We've put together a list of the top books you need to read this month. Trust us when we say you will regret not picking up these incredible books.
Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone? by Louise O'Neill (Published April 9th)
Louise O'Neill is finally back, and we couldn't be more excited about her novel, Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone?
2002.
Twin sisters Madeline and Chelsea Stone are joint stars of the AtomicKids sitcom Double Trouble, but everyone knows it’s Maddie who shines most brightly. Until Chelsea beats her sister out for the role of a lifetime and is catapulted into the spotlight. And just as Chelsea’s star reaches impossible new heights, Maddie disappears.
2025.
Chelsea Stone retired from acting after her sister’s disappearance – but living life under the radar is easier said than done when you’re the most famous woman of your generation.
When a storage locker is found containing heartbreaking truths about the year Maddie went missing, Chelsea feels a flicker of hope for the first time in twenty years. This is her chance to discover what really happened to her twin, but to follow the trail she’ll have to face the past and step back into the spotlight.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (Published April 7th)
Is this one of the most-anticipated novels of the year?
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle - and has the social media accounts to prove it. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What Natalie's followers don't know won't hurt them.
The Keeper by Tana French (Published April 2nd)
On a cold night in a remote Irish village, a girl goes missing. Sweet, loving Rachel Holohan was about to be engaged to the son of the local big shot. Instead, she's dead in the river. In a place like this, her death isn't simple. It comes wrapped in generations-old grudges and power struggles, and it splits the townland in two. Retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper has friends here now, and he owes them loyalty, but his fiancée Lena wants nothing to do with Ardnakelty's tangles. As the feud becomes more vicious, their settled peace starts to crack apart. And when they uncover a scheme that casts a new light on Rachel's death and threatens the whole village, they find themselves in the firing line.
Few and Far Between by Jan Carson (Published on April 9th)
It's summer 2017, and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years. Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s, following their mercurial father, an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn't all that it seemed. Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark, monitoring the mysterious Far Side, where ghostly figures linger, and the land swallows secrets whole. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go?
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister (Published April 9th)
A road trip across America with her teenage daughter was meant to be much-needed bonding time for Simone before Lucy leaves home for university. But on the first night of their stay, in a cabin deep in the Texan desert, Simone wakes to find Lucy missing and a mobile phone in her place. The phone rings and the voice on the other end issues instructions: Don't tell the police. Come to this location. Be prepared to do a deal… There is nothing Simone wouldn't do to save her daughter. Hide the truth. Commit a terrible crime. Become a wanted woman. But this is no ordinary kidnap and ransom. Getting Lucy back is just the beginning.
Hungry by Katriona O'Sullivan (Published April 23rd)
Hungry is the powerful new memoir from Number One bestselling author Katriona O'Sullivan - a raw, courageous exploration of survival, identity, and the lifelong search for self-acceptance. Raised in a home marked by poverty, addiction, and abuse, Katriona defied the odds: from teenage motherhood, struggling with her own addictions, to becoming a university professor and successful author. But beneath the achievements lay a more private struggle - with her body, her worth, and the unrelenting drive to be enough. In this fiercely honest memoir, she interrogates how trauma, class, and gender shape the way women see themselves - and how society teaches them to measure their value. Told with stunning courage and vulnerability, Hungry is both a personal reckoning and a powerful reclaiming of body, voice, and self. It is one woman's story - and a rallying cry for every woman who has ever felt she had to shrink to survive.
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Published 11:35 7 Apr 2026 BST