Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in April

Just days after mathematician and family patriarch Isaac Severy dies of an apparent suicide, his adopted granddaughter Hazel, owner of a struggling Seattle bookstore, receives a letter from him by mail. In it, Isaac alludes to a secretive organization that is after his final bombshell equation, and he charges Hazel with safely delivering it to a trusted colleague. But first, she must find where the equation is hidden.

Learn how to read as many books as possible.

Jacqueline Woodson’s acclaimed novel ANOTHER BROOKLYN heartbreakingly illuminates the promise and peril of growing up. Running into a long-ago friend sets into motion memories from the 1970s for August, transporting her to a time and a place where friendship was everything—until it wasn’t.

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, three children enter the woods and do not return. When the police arrive, they find only one, Rob Ryan. Twenty years later, Rob is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and finds himself investigating a twelve-year-old girl’s murder in the same woods.

Read the full review of IN THE WOODS.

Fans of mysteries and crime novels from Laura Lippman and Megan Abbott will love this debut. Bernard White is a curmudgeonly widower who has lived in Seven Springs, Florida, for decades and has kept to himself since his wife passed. When his neighbor is murdered, he emerges from his solitude to reconnect with his fellow octogenarians. These connections become a literal lifeline as a second, and then a third, elderly woman is murdered, and “the originals,” as they call themselves, realize that they are being targeted.

Here are more book club favorites you must read this spring.

Naomi Jackson’s lyrical debut novel about community, betrayal, and love centers on two sisters who are exiled from Brooklyn to Bird Hill in Barbados after their mother can no longer care for them. In the summer of 1989, the young Phaedra and her older sister, Dionne, go to live with their grandmother Hyacinth. The story builds to a crisis when the father they barely know comes to Bird Hill to reclaim his daughters, and the girls must choose between the Brooklyn they once knew and loved or the Barbados of their family.

Set in the world of American vaudeville, this novel follows Nell, a widow, and her three teenage daughters as they set out on the vaudeville circuit to support themselves. Among an array of diverse performers, the four women find a new sense of freedom, but they also must face the seedy and dangerous side of early-twentieth-century American theater.

Check out more books for fans of Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN.

FITNESS JUNKIE follows Janey Sweet, a recently ousted CEO of a wedding dress company, who throws herself into the world of expensive fitness classes, juice cleanses, and exclusive getaway retreats. While Janey’s situation is an extreme absurdity, there’s not much of a gap between her world and ours, where people pay thousands of dollars a year to sit on a stationary bike or eat clay instead of carbs.

Here are more books you may have missed in 2017.

Whether this is your first exploration of inner space, or you’ve devoted your life to the inward journey, this book will transform your relationship with yourself and the world around you. You’ll discover what you can do to put an end to the habitual thoughts and emotions that limit your consciousness. EVERY NOTE PLAYED author Lisa Genova says “This gem of a book was transformational for me.”

See more of Lisa Genova’s favorite books.

Liane Moriarty’s novel about female triplets is the perfect read for fans of This Is Us. Lyn, Cat, and Gemma Kettle, like Kate, Kevin, and Randall, share an unbreakable bond despite their differences and the directions their lives take. The novels follow the ups, downs, and fantastic frustrations of being a trio through their 33rd year with lots of laughter and tears.

Discover more books for fans of This Is Us.

Ernest Young, a 12-year-old half-Chinese orphan, finds himself up for auction “to a good home” at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle, where the winning ticket belongs to the madam of a high-class brothel. Deftly navigating past and present, Ernest tries to hide his complicated past from his adult daughters.

Discover more historical novels to add to Your Shelf.