Carmen and Grace

Melissa Coss Aquino

While this is a possible selection, I think its inclusion may also be wishful thinking on part.

Synopsis: An emotionally riveting coming-of-age drama about two cousins lured into the underground drug trade at a young age and the inextricable ties that bind them, as one woman seeks power and the other seeks a way out—the debut of a vibrant and stunningly original new voice in fiction.

Debut

The Society of Shame

Jane Roper

This April 4th release is being advertised as a combination of two previous BOTM selections. I think it would make a good, typical BOTM pick.

Synopsis: In this timely and witty combination of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, a viral photo of a politician’s wife’s “feminine hygiene malfunction” catapults her to unwanted fame in a story that’s both a satire of social media stardom and internet activism, and a tender mother-daughter tale.

If We’re Being Honest

Cat Shook

This debut novel is said to be for fans of We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange and All Adults Here by Emma Straub – two previous BOTM selections. My hesitation with included it as a possible BOTM pick is that it is being published by Celadon Books, which BOTM has not featured since October 2021. I have assumed that Celadon has stopped working with BOTM, but perhaps I will be surprised.

Synopsis: The snappy, smart, heartwarming story of the Williams family, and the sweltering summer that rewrote their history. Clever and completely original, If We’re Being Honest reminds you that while no one can break your heart like your family can, there’s really no one better to put you back together.

Debut

Adelaide

Genevieve Wheeler

The app spoiler this month looks like it is straight from the cover of this book, which I have heard wonderful things about. It also seems like BOTM’s editorial staff includes at least one lover of sad girl lit fic. Despite its themes of romance, I think it will likely be labeled contemporary fiction.

Synopsis: With unflinching honesty and heart, this relatable debut from a fresh new voice explores grief and mental health while capturing the timeless nature of what it’s like to be young and in love―with your friends, with your city, and with a person who cannot, will not, love you back.

Debut

Small Joys

Elvin James Mensah

The themes of this book make it sound like a perfect BOTM pick, even though it is centered around a man.

Synopsis: An unexpected friendship saves a young man’s life in this moving, utterly charming debut about chosen family, the winding road to happiness, and the grace of second chances.

Debut

Advika and the Hollywood Wives

Kirthana Ramisetti

I read Ramisetti’s debut novel and it did not really fit the bill as a BOTM pick. However, Advika and the Hollywood Wives sounds much more likely to be a pick, especially since it includes Hollywood.

Synopsis: Advika Srinivasan never thought she’d be someone’s fourth wife, let alone the new wife of Julian Zelding, one of Hollywood’s most renowned film producers—a gripping tale of marriage, ambition, and power from the author of GMA Book Club pick Dava Shastri’s Last Day. 

The Double Life of Benson Yu

Kevin Chong

I debated whether to include The Double Life of Benson Yu. What gives me pause is the fact that this novel is a piece of metafiction, which can be divisive. But I think if the story is strong it may be a pick.

Synopsis: This fresh and unique work of metafiction follows Benson Yu, a writer, who loses control of his own narrative when he attempts to write the story of his fraught upbringing in 1980s Chinatown.

The Half Moon

Mary Beth Keane

Ask Again, Yes was a very popular past BOTM selection. I would be surprised if The Half Moon is not a selection. It does come out on May 2nd, so I think it is a toss up if it will be an April or May pick.

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a masterful novel that takes place over the course of one week when Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place. With a deft eye and generous spirit, Keane explores the disappointments and unexpected consolations of midlife, the many forms forgiveness can take, the complicated intimacy of small-town living, and what it means to be a family.

Repeat Author | Early Release

The House Is on Fire

Rachel Beanland

Synopsis: The author of Florence Adler Swims Forever returns with a masterful work of historical fiction about an incendiary tragedy that shocked a young nation and tore apart a community in a single night—told from the perspectives of four people whose actions during the inferno changed the course of history.

Her Lost Words: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley

Stephanie Marie Thorton

As I said last month, I would love to see this book about two legendary female authors and historical figures as a BOTM selection. While Thornton is an established novelist who has not been a BOTM author, I think Her Lost Words definitely has a shot at being a selection.

Synopsis: From A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to Frankenstein, a tale of two literary legends—a mother and daughter—discovering each other and finding themselves along the way. A riveting and inspiring novel about a firebrand feminist, her visionary daughter, and the many ways their words transformed our world.

Life and Other Love Songs

Anissa Gray

Synopsis: A father’s sudden disappearance exposes the private fears, dreams, longings, and joys of a Black American family in the late decades of the twentieth century, in this page-turning and intimate new novel from the author of The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls.

Homecoming

Kate Morton

This is Kate Morton’s first novel since The Clockmaker’s Daughter, which was a BOTM selection.

Synopsis: The highly anticipated new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Clockmaker’s Daughter, a sweeping novel that begins with a shocking crime, the effects of which echo across continents and generations. Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, how we protect the lies we tell, and what it means to come home. Above all, it is an intricate and spellbinding novel from one of the finest writers working today. 

Ghost Girl, Banana

Wiz Wharton

I think this could be an unexpected BOTM selection. It has popular BOTM themes and is historical fiction not centered on WWII. I can only hope that it is similar to Pachinko.

Synopsis: Set between the last years of the “Chinese Windrush” in 1966 and Hong Kong’s Handover to China in 1997, a mysterious inheritance sees a young woman from London uncovering buried secrets in her late mother’s homeland in this captivating, wry debut about family, identity, and the price of belonging.

The Great Reclamation

Rachel Heng

This March 28th release is already being lauded as one of the best books of the year. It has been blurbed by several past BOTM authors.

Synopsis: Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy’s unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country. An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people’s feet.

Hang the Moon

Jeannette Walls

Because Jeannette Walls has become so acclaimed, I am hesitant to bet on Hang the Moon being an April selection. However, her memoir, The Glass Castle, was a previous selection albeit not when it was first published. It was a BOTM pick around the time the movie adaptation premiered.

Synopsis: Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out. Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.

Repeat Author

Romantic Comedy

Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld has had two previous books selected by BOTM. An earlier app picture/hint appeared to indicate that Romantic Comedy may be a pick. I was going to include it in my predictions regardless. The cover and synopsis screams BOTM to me.

Synopsis: A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamy pop star flips the script on all her assumptions—a hilarious, observant, and deeply tender novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Eligible, Rodham, and Prep.

Repeat Author

Yours Truly

Abby Jimenez

I think whether or not this is a pick is a total toss-up. Last year, BOTM featured Part of Your World, despite never having selected an Abby Jimenez book before. That book was seemingly a big success, so it is a possibility that Yours Truly may be an April pick.

Synopsis: Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter. And it’s a really good letter.

Repeat Author

The Half of It

Juliette Fay

This book is described as perfect for fans of Josie Silver and Jojo Moyes – two authors that have been featured multiple times by BOTM. I also think this book will appeal to millennial and Gen Z subscribers.

Synopsis: One perfect night. Forty years of buried hurt. One chance to make it right. Can the past ever be fixed? With humor, heart, and grace, Juliette Fay delivers a poignant, propulsive novel about settling the past, rekindling lost friendships, and discovering love when you least expect it.

The One

Julia Argy

I have not seen this intriguing-sounding debut talked about much. While there have been quite a few romance books that focus on a dating show, none have yet been BOTM selections. Perhaps this one will be.

Synopsis: Emily didn’t join the cast of The One for fame or for a relationship. She simply didn’t have anything better to do. Newly fired from her dead-end job, it doesn’t take much convincing when she’s recruited as a last-minute contestant for the popular reality dating show. Emily has been performing her entire life—for her family and friends, former boyfriends, and coworkers. How different could it be playing herself in front of cameras? A brilliant send-up of our cultural mythology around romance, The One examines the reality of love and desire set against a world of ultimate artifice and manipulation.

Debut

This Bird Has Flown

Susanna Hoffs

This debut novel has an eye-appealing cover, a famous author, and a sexy, fun story. Add in the fact that the main character is a washed up pop star and this book is said to have Jane Eyre vibes, I think it just may be a selection.

Synopsis: A delightfully funny and steamy novel about music, fate, redemption, and love from beloved songwriter and Bangles co-founder Susanna Hoffs that is “part British romcom, part Jane Eyre, and one hundred percent enjoyable” (Tom Perrotta).

Debut

Happy Place

Emily Henry

At this point, I highly doubt we will see another Emily Henry book as a selection. But I am holding on to the chance however slim for all of you that would love to have an early copy.

Synopsis: A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Repeat Author

The Only Survivors

Megan Miranda

Megan Miranda is a well known and prolific author who has not previously been featured by Book of the Month. However, that has not stopped BOTM from featuring books recently. It is rumored that this will definitely be an April selection.

Synopsis: A thrilling mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.

Before We Were Innocent

Ella Berman

Three best friends, a foreign country, and a murder – sounds like a BOTM book to me. It sounds like a much better book similar to We Were Never Here. Plus, Ella Berman is a past BOTM author.

Synopsis: A summer in Greece for three best friends ends in the unthinkable when only two return home in this new novel from Ella Berman. Ten years later, another crime, eerily similar to that fateful night in Greece brings the two best friends back together.

Repeat Author

Small Mercies

Dennis Lehane

Despite Dennis Lehane being a big name author, he has had a book, Since We Fell, be a BOTM selection in recent years. I think Small Mercies sounds fantastic, and I would love to see it as a selection.

Synopsis: The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River—an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.

Repeat Author

The Last Word

Taylor Adams

Taylor Adams is a previous BOTM author. I know his last book was not a selection; however, The Last Word is receiving much better reviews than Hairpin Bridge. It is being published towards the end of the month. I will be a little sad if it is not a selection.

Synopsis: After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror.

Repeat Author

Dirty Laundry

Disha Bose

Dirty Laundry‘s synopsis screams BOTM to me. In addition, it is a debut. However, it may not make it as a pick if BOTM finds some choices they think will appeal more to subscribers.

Synopsis: A twisty, domestic suspense debut about a clique of mothers that shatters when one of their own is murdered, bringing chaos to their curated lives. Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. What ensues is the delicious unspooling of a group of women desperate to preserve themselves.

Debut

The Eden Test

Adam Sternbergh

BOTM does love its domestic suspense. In addition, The Eden Test is being compared to a previous and very popular selection. While this book does not appeal to me, I think it does have a BOTM audience.

Synopsis: From Edgar Award-finalist Adam Sternbergh, an electrifying domestic suspense novel for fans of The Perfect Marriage and Rock Paper Scissors, about a couple who are forced to the ultimate extremes to save their marriage—and themselves.

Sisters of the Lost Nation

Nick Medina

I love the sound of this book. I think its cover, description, and publisher make it an easy prediction. However, my hesitation with this novel is that it is not written by an own voices author.

Synopsis: A young Native girl’s hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe’s reservation leads her to delve into the myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself, in this atmospheric and stunningly poignant debut.

Debut

Natural Beauty

Ling Ling Huang

Synopsis: Sly, surprising, and razor-sharp, Natural Beauty follows a young musician into an elite, beauty-obsessed world where perfection comes at a staggering cost. A piercing, darkly funny debut, Natural Beauty explores questions of consumerism, self-worth, race, and identity—and leaves readers with a shocking and unsettling truth.

Debut

House of Cotton

Monica Brashears

I have been hoping that House of Cotton would be a BOTM selection. I fear it may have some social commentary that BOTM deems too political. But we shall see!

Synopsis: A stunning, contemporary Black southern gothic novel about what it means to be a poor woman in the God- fearing south. One night, while working at her dead-end gas station job, a mysterious, slick stranger named Cotton walks in and offers to turn Magnolia’s luck around with a lucrative “modeling” job at his family’s funeral home. She accepts. When Cotton’s requests become increasingly weird, Magnolia discovers there’s a lot more at stake than just her rent.

Debut

Camp Zero

Michelle Min Sterling

Camp Zero is being described as a novel in the vein of Station Eleven and The Power, both of which are previous BOTM picks. I think it is a likely April selection.

Synopsis: In a near-future far north of Canada sits Camp Zero, an American building project hiding many secrets. Desperate to help her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother, Rose agrees to travel to Camp Zero and spy on its architect in exchange for housing. Gradually, Rose and others realize that a disturbing mystery lurks beneath the surface of the camp. At the same time, rumors abound of an elite group of women soldiers living and working at a nearby Cold War-era climate research station.

Debut

Ascension

Nicholas Binge

This book is giving me Blake Crouch vibes. I know that BOTM has not historically had a lot of science fiction selections; however, this book, like Crouch’s, are really a combination of sci fi and thriller.

Synopsis: A mind-bending speculative thriller in which the sudden appearance of a mountain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean leads a group of scientists to a series of jaw-dropping revelations that challenge the notion of what it means to be human.

Debut

Clytemnestra

Costanza Casati

Originally supposed to be published in March, but due to an unfortunate fire, the publication date was pushed back to May 2nd. However, I think it is possible that another mythology-based book, Atalanta by Jennifer Saint (a previous BOTM author), will be a selection for May. As a result, I think if Clytemnestra is a pick, it will be one for April.

Synopsis: For fans of Madeline Miller, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.

Debut | Early Release

The Gifts

Liz Hyder

Synopsis: The Gifts is an astonishing novel, a spellbinding tale told through five different perspectives and set against the luminous backdrop of nineteenth century London, it explores science, nature and religion, enlightenment, the role of women in society and the dark danger of ambition. 

The Haunting of Alejandra

V. Castro

It is possible that an earlier app hint alluded to this book. However, I am doubtful. This does not sound like a BOTM pick and does not have great reviews.

Synopsis: A woman is haunted by the Mexican folk demon La Llorona in this “utterly terrifying and wholly immersive . . . story about generational trauma, colonization, systemic oppression, and the horror at the heart of motherhood”.

Debut

Divine Rivals

Rebecca Ross

Rebecca Ross’s two previous adult novels have been BOTM picks. From what I can tell, they were extremely popular. So I think there is a chance BOTM will decide to feature her newest YA novel.

Synopsis: When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever. Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross’s Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

Debut

I Could Live Here Forever

Hanna Halperin

Synopsis: By the award-winning author of Something Wild, a gripping portrait of a tumultuous, consuming relationship between a young woman and a recovering addict. I Could Live Here Forever exposes the chasm between perception and truth to tell an intoxicating story of one woman’s relationship with an addict, the accompanying swirl of compassion and codependence, and her enduring search for love and wholeness.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder

David Grann

Since BOTM has not included a nonfiction book in a long, long time and the subject matter doesn’t exactly seem appealing to BOTM’s target audience, I am hesitant to include this book. However, it is by the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, so there is a slight possibility.

Synopsis: A page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

Repeat Author

A Living Remedy

Nicole Chung

Again, I think it is unlikely BOTM will choose a nonfiction selection. But if they do, I think this is the most likely book of the bunch. It is a highly anticipated memoir that has similar themes to non-celebrity memoirs BOTM has featured in the past.

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of All You Can Ever Know comes a searing memoir of family, class, and grief—a daughter’s search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she forged as an adult, and the lives she’s lost.

You Could Make This Place Beautiful

Maggie Smith

This memoir is also highly anticipated and published by a frequent BOTM publisher. However, I am not confident it will be a selection due to the fact is is written by a poet. I think this could make it a bit less accessible to the average reader, but it is hard to say without having read it.

Synopsis: In her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard and clear as jewels. The book begins with one woman’s personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes.