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

Which ones are you adding to your list this month? Let me know in the comments.