My April To Be Read Pile – 2026

In 2026, I had originally planned to read at least 52 books, for one per week, and due to some amazing procrasti-reading in the first quarter, I have only 6 books left. I will meet my goal in April, and then I have to decide what my stretch goal is for the year.

I had really intended to slow down my reading in March, and I did to some degree, because I had an editing deadline. Still, it’s not too surprising that I didn’t hit my March 15 editing deadline. I revised that to the end of the month, but I think I will still miss it by a few days due to the need to attend a family funeral, so that’s okay. I should finish the editing project by about April 4. I kind of love that, because I retired last year from my day job on April 4, so it is a great day for me.

For April, I have a lot of books to my TBR pile and I will have more time to read them. As I did in February and March, I am going to divide it several tiers for prioritization. I’ll be on the road to the Chanticleer Authors Conference for part of the month, and for me, travel generally means I will read more, rather than less, so I might be able to add other titles later on.

So what’s on the Tier One priority list this time? Once again, I have five books that I’d like to finish. Two are in the mystery thriller realm and the other three are in the magical realism and/or fantasy realm.

This is my book club pick for the month, so it is my biggest must read. However, it won’t be an in depth perusal for me because I read it last year. This novel was actually my number one pick for best book of 2025. I will skim it so I am familiar again, and Marcellus’s chapters will get a deeper read because I just love him. Remarkably Bright Creatures is about a giant pacific octopus, Marcellus, who helps an aquarium worker solve the mystery of her missing son. It is getting the Netflix treatment in a month or two. Read it for sure, though!

In this mystery, the First Lady of the United States has been charged with killing her philandering husband. This one meets several prompts for me in my reading challenges, and I get my mystery-thriller escapist popcorn read.

This is the sixth Robert Langdon novel and the first Brown novel in a number of years. I reread The Da Vinci Code last month in preparation for this book. I love a roller coaster thriller that incorporates ancient secrets, art, and architecture. It also fills some reading challenge prompts. Hand me the popcorn, please.

This one is on my 26 books in 2026 list, and I have been meaning to reread it forever. It was one of my very favorite books as a pre-teen, and I have fond memories of discussing it with my mom, who also loved it. As it is a middle grade book, I’d say it is a quick read, but the prose is so lush, I will probably savor every word.

This is one of my brother’s favorite books from childhood, and I also enjoyed it a lot. One reading challenge prompt for me is to read a favorite childhood book from a family member. I thought this one would be fun to revisit, and my brother was able to dig out the original copy so I won’t have to track it down. It is a middle grade book, so it should go quickly.

If I get through all of these books, I move on to Tier Two. If I don’t, the Tier One books move to May. I don’t realistically see that happening.

Here’s my April cookbook pick. I am reading one (or more) cookbooks each month as a personal challenge in 2026. The main idea is to find healthy recipes and actually make them. I am doing better on reading the cookbooks than making the recipes so far. January went smoothly with a wonderful chili. I still have to make my February Bolognese sauce recipe, but my March Irish Stew turned out great. April’s pick is a chicken wing cookbook, mostly because I will be travelling a lot. When I am home, I need something short, easy, and fast. I will challenge myself to find the healthiest pick out of this one to stay in the spirit of my overall goal.

  • Deadly Yours (A Samantha McMican Mystery) by Cyndi L Stuart

I picked this one up because of a reading prompt looking for a friend recommendation. My writer friend Avis M. Adams has a fantastic blog called Your Next Favorite Author, which gave me lots of recommendations to choose from. This looks right up my alley for my mystery thrillers. I’ll need another order of popcorn!

Speaking of Avis M. Adams, she is also a wonderful poet. Quilcene is her first published work. I’ve read it already, but I have made it a personal goal to read some poetry each month in 2026 to improve my prose. I can’t go wrong with a reread of one of my favorite books of poetry, especially since the Pacific Northwest scenery features strongly, and with a trip to the area planned, I am feeling nostalgic.

Now, I am not much into traditional contemporary romance as a genre. When I read romance back in the day I focused on Regency historicals. This year, I have challenged myself to read some Romantasy, but I am also doing reading challenges that are throwing up prompts for contemporary romance. I could skip them, or I could give them a try. The prompt in question was for something rom-com-ish. I actually have written some rom-com short fiction, so I thought, why not? Let’s see how the best writers are doing it right now. Ali Hazelwood is cleaning up at the cash register she is so popular, and she was a speaker at the Kauai Writer’s Conference, so I am giving this one a look.

Tier Three this time isn’t so much a group of books I will start reading after I finish everything above, so much as a couple of books I will either start reading in April and possibly finish later, or that I will pick and choose the topics that are most relevant to my situation and maybe not read the entire book. This tier includes a couple of writer craft nonfiction books.

This is a book for indie authors that explores a fan focused alternative approach to one’s career. I am intrigued.

This one is supposed to help me get better at writing setting. I prefer working on character and dialogue, so I am looking forward to reading this for some hot tips. It came well recommended.

Here’s the graphic with the April TBR covers.

I will also mention that in April, I might be finishing up some books started in March, unless I can get them wrapped up in the next few days. I DNF’d one book that I started (not on the original March TBR, but it was on my 26 in 2026 list – I’ll talk about it in my March reading wrap-up) and I am moving one longer book on the March TBR that I didn’t have time for to the summer. For the others, I am hopeful I will finish them shortly, but I am also doing some editing and travel, so I might not be quite done. I don’t think they will impact the April list significantly. These include:

  • The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst – already discussed in last month’s TBR post
  • Forest Bathing by Qing Li – this was an add on to replace the DNF above that also met a March reading challenge prompt I was eager to check off. It is a nonfiction that explores the research around the Japanese concept of forest bathing, looking at the impact of trees on human health and happiness. It’s a pretty quick and fascinating read.

That’s all I have planned to read in April. We’ll see what gets added, if anything.

If you have a favorite read to recommend for May, or a favorite book challenge for 2026, be sure to comment!

Thanks for reading!

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