5 Books to Look for This April

Hooray, it's April. And it's sort of Spring! Let's celebrate with a few new titles, all released this month.

Boring Girls by Sara Taylor (April 1). A novel about the life of a girl in a heavy metal band, from an author who is herself a member of a similar-styled band. From the publisher: "Rachel feels like she doesn’t fit in—until she finds heavy metal. The music gives her an outlet for her creativity and a sense that there’s a community waiting outside the walls of her high school. Then she meets Fern—a kindred spirit—and the two begin writing songs and form their own band. But the metal scene turns out to be no different than the misogynist world they want to change. Violent encounters escalate, and the friends decide there’s only one way forward . . . A bloodstained journey into the dark heart of the music industry, Boring Girls traces Rachel’s deadly coming-of-age, Fern at her side—as the madness deepens, their band’s success heightens, and their taste for revenge grows ravenous."

Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris. (April 7) Remember when grammar was funny and cool thanks to Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots and Leaves? Get ready to revisit that time with this book from New Yorker editor Mary Norris. (Hopefully she'll be kind about the inevitable grammar errors in my description.) From the publisher: "Between You & Me features Norris's laugh-out-loud descriptions of some of the most common and vexing problems in spelling, punctuation, and usage—comma faults, danglers, "who" vs. "whom," "that" vs. "which," compound words, gender-neutral language—and her clear explanations of how to handle them ... Readers—and writers—will find in Norris neither a scold nor a softie but a wise and witty new friend in love with language and alive to the glories of its use in America, even in the age of autocorrect and spell-check. As Norris writes, "The dictionary is a wonderful thing, but you can't let it push you around."

Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew (April 15). Whether you think of  Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager or as Red on Orange is the New Black, I'm betting you'll be interested in reading about the talented actress' life story."Raised by unconventional Irish Catholics who knew "how to drink, how to dance, how to talk, and how to stir up the devil," Kate Mulgrew grew up with poetry and drama in her bones. But in her mother, a would-be artist burdened by the endless arrival of new babies, young Kate saw the consequences of a dream deferred. Determined to pursue her own no matter the cost, at 18 she left her small Midwestern town for New York, where, studying with the legendary Stella Adler, she learned the lesson that would define her as an actress: "Use it," Adler told her. Whatever disappointment, pain, or anger life throws in your path, channel it into the work."

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (April 15). Described as "a Cain and Abel-esque story an unforgettable childhood" this debut is getting praise from authors around the globe including Man Booker Prize winning author Eleanor Catton. "Told from the point of view of nine year old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers ... when their strict father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his extended absence to skip school and go fishing. At the ominous, forbidden nearby river, they meet a dangerous local madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings."

Tides of Honour by Genevieve Graham. (April 21) I'm pretty sure our readers are going to be excited about this historical novel set in Halifax and from a local author. Genevieve Graham has previously published several popular romance novels, now she moves into historical fiction with a story that wil be sure to please her existing fans and win her new ones. The story of a Nova Scotia soldier and a French artist who meet during the turmoil of World War I. From the publisher "Heartrending and enthralling, Tides of Honour is a novel of love and second chances set against Halifax’s most devastating moment of the First World War."