65 Books by BIPOC Authors Coming Out in April

I know I say this every month but WOW! This month’s list is stacked with books galore and to say I’m excited for April is truly an understatement. From mysteries, poetry, and historical non-fiction to cute romances there are so many books by BIPOC authors coming out in April that you should add to your list.

Here are seven books coming out this month that are at the top of my list:

Village Weavers by Myriam J.A. Chancy – April 2

From award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy comes an extraordinary and enduring story of two families—forever joined by country, and by long-held secrets—and two girls with a bond that refuses to be broken. Told with power and frankness, Village Weavers confronts the silences around class, race, and nationality, charts the moments when lives are irrevocably forced apart, and envisions two girls—connected their entire lives—who try to break inherited cycles of mistrust and find ways back into each other’s hearts.

Off-White by Astrid Roemer – April 19

It’s 1966 in Suriname, on the Caribbean coast of South America, and the long shadow of colonialism still hangs over the country. Grandma Bee is the proud, cigar-smoking matriarch of the Vanta family, which is an intricate mix of Creole, Maroon, French, Indian, Indigenous, British, and Jewish backgrounds. But Grandma Bee is dying, a cough has settled deep in her lungs.

A moving portrait of a woman finding peace in the legacy that is her daughters and granddaughters, Off-White, keenly translated by Lucy Scott and David McKay, is also a searing and complex portrait of male violence, the legacy of colonialism, and a dismantling of what it means to be “white”. Written after a nearly 20-year break from publishing, Off-White is another masterpiece from the only Surinamese author to win the prestigious Dutch Literature Award.

And Then There Was Us by Kern Carter – April 9

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this book is ‘deep.’ This is a thought-provoking novel with an engaging protagonist, that takes the reader on a journey of healing. When her mother’s death forces her to reevaluate their tumultuous relationship, Coi our main character, begins a journey of healing and self-discovery. This book explores grief in such a profound way that it’s hard to believe this is a YA book. This is a moving examination of healing with very well-developed characters.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

The Good Ones Are Taken by Taj McCoy – April 23

When Maggie’s best friend admits he’s in love with her, she’ll have to decide whether it’s worth giving up something good for something that could be amazing in this laugh-out-loud friends-to-lovers rom-com. Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for sending me an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez – April 2

I love Julia Alvarez’s writing style, she has such a unique and beautiful way of crafting a story. Her sentences flow; I always re-read a sentence or two because it was so well-crafted. In this book Alvarez focuses on the storyteller, and more importantly, the stories that are begging to be told. We follow Alma, an acclaimed author nearing the end of her life. She inherits an unwanted plot of land in the Dominican Republic. She has a vision of dedicating the land to be a place to bury her untold stories. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her, but the stories refuse to die.

I have yet to read much magical realism, but this one intrigued me. Thanks, Algonquin Books and LibroFM for sending me an advanced copy of the book and the Audiobook.

Out of Office by A.H. Cunningham – April 23

I know I say it all the time but I love ‘Black Love’ and I could read about it all day, every day, and never get sick of it. With that being said, I enjoyed this book that follows a workaholic woman, who is consumed by work, and a laid-back man. When Genevieve decides to take a two-week vacation in the tropics to relax and enjoy life, her driver Adrian is there to show her around and sparks begin to fly. I enjoyed everything about this spicy romance. This is my first book by the author but won’t be my last. Thank you, Harlequin – Romance | Afterglow Books by Harlequin for sending me an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

When I Think of You by Myah Ariel – April 16

Kaliya Wilson came to Hollywood to make movies, starting as a receptionist at a production company determined to work her way up. Unfortunately, her job has turned out to be a dead-end, until years later she’s shocked out of complacency when her old film school flame Danny shows up to direct the company’s next big production. In this sweeping second-chance romance from debut author Myah Ariel, the unexpected spark of two former flames may force them to choose between their dreams and each other.

Here are additional diverse books coming out this month that you should add to your list:

Someone Birthed Them Broken, Ama Asantewa Diaka
Something Kindred by Ciera Burch
The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton
Wild Life: Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Reparations and Reparatory Justice Past, Present, and Future by Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, Mary Frances Berry, and V. P. Franklin
The Smoke That Thunders by Erhu Kome
A Kind of Madness by Uche Okonkwo
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings
King of Dead Things By Nevin Holness

One of Us Knows: A Thriller Book by Alyssa Cole
While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi
Woke Up No Light by Leila Mottley
The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton
Our Daughter, Who Art in America by Mukana Press
An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Civilization to Independence by Zainab Badawi
By the Time You Read This: The Space between Cheslie’s Smile and Mental Illness―Her Story in Her Own Words – by April Simpkins, Cheslie Kryst
Finders Keepers by Sandra Kitt
Joyfully Just Black Wisdom and Buddhist Insights for Liberated Living by Kamilah Majied
Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams
Where There’s Smoke by Kiki Swinson
An Imperfect Storm by Chikwe Ihekweazu and Vivian Ihekweazu
You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World by Ada Limon
The Black Girl Survives in This One by Various YA Authors
Corky Lee’s Asian America Fifty Years of Photographic Justice by Corky Lee
Fate Be Changed by Farrah Rochon
Merciless Saviors by H.E. Edgemon
Blood Debts #2 Blood Justice by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather
Forge & Fracture Saga #2 Saint-Seducing Gold by Brittany N. Williams
Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill: Alexander Hamilton’s Old Harlem Neighborhood Through the Centuries

Victory by David F. Walker
The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn’t and How We All Can Move Forward Now by Bakari Sellers
We Refuse to Be Silent: Women’s Voices on Justice for Black Men Edited by Angela P. Dodson
A Few Rules for Predicting the Future: An Essay by Octavia E. Butler
Sanctuary by Valentina Cano Repetto
Habitations by Sheila Sundar
I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays By Nell Irvin Painter
Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende
Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
W. E. B. Du Bois Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation by W.E.B. Du Bois
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer: Three Tales of John Lee Hooker by Gabe Soria, Illustrated by Kyle Baker
American Daughters by Piper Huguley
Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End by Alua Arthur
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy by Dr. Sharon Malone
Undiplomatic: How My Attitude Created the Best Kind of Trouble by Deesha Dyer
Murder on Demand by Al Roker
The Span of a Small Forever: Poems by April Gibson
Water Baby by Chioma Okereke
One Last Word by Suzanne Park
Relative Strangers by A.H. Kim
Move by Move: Life Lessons on and off the Chessboard by Maurice Ashley
With My Back to the World: Poems by Victoria Chang
888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers by Abraham Chang
We Were Girls Once by Aiwanose Odafen