The best new books out today 📚

Hello, book lovers! Each week, dozens of new releases hit the shelves. Here are our favorites.

❤️📚

–The BuzzFeed Books team

Forwarded this newsletter?

Hi! BuzzFeed Books celebrates all things books for every kind of reader, and the newsletter is the best way to keep up with curated posts, exclusive reviews, virtual events, and author features. We'll pop into your inbox every Tuesday and Sunday, with the occasional offer from a sponsor. Maybe we're biased, but we think you'll really enjoy it. Hit the button below to join us!

Subscribe

Credit: W.W. Norton, Algonquint

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade (W.W. Norton)

"Kirstin Valdez Quade's debut novel hooked me on page one, where she introduces 33-year-old Amadeo Padilla, a character unlike any I've read before. The book takes place during Holy Week in New Mexico, and Amadeo — an unemployed, mostly absent father who drinks a little too much and lives with his mother — has been given the role of Jesus in the town's Good Friday procession. He sees the role as catharsis, a chance for absolution, and he gives himself over to the performance to a disturbing extent. What complicates all of this is the unexpected arrival of his pregnant 15-year-old daughter, Angel, who is utterly charming and refuses to give Amadeo's martyrdom the respect he feels it deserves.

The story follows this flawed but endearing family over the course of the the baby's first year, during which multiple generations — Amadeo; Angel; Amadeo's mother, who's hiding a secret; Angel's mother, on bad terms with both Angel and Amadeo; and Amadeo's great-uncle, a stoic father figure still reeling from the death of his own son — are forced to coexist despite how uncomfortable this may be. It's a wholehearted, radiant, and darkly funny exploration of family, faith, and forgiveness." —Arianna Rebolini

Get it from Bookshop for $24.79, Target for $20.49, or Amazon for $20.39

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge (Algonquin)

"Kaitlyn Greenidge's highly anticipated second novel is a revelatory and enchanting piece of historical fiction, set in Reconstruction-era New York and centered on Libertie Sampson. Libertie is being raised by her single mother, a practicing physician who's made no secret of her expectation that Libertie will follow in her footsteps. But Libertie isn't drawn to science and wants the chance to direct her own life. She decides to move to Haiti with a man who wants to marry her, only to find out her husband is just another person to control her. Freedom is a core theme of the book, and Libertie is consistently learning how complicated it is: As she meets formerly enslaved people who've escaped the south, she contemplates what it means to have been born free. At the same time, she knows that freedom is constrained, especially when navigating colorism and classism within her community." —Arianna Rebolini

Get it from Bookshop for $24.79, Target for $20.49, or Amazon for $20.49

Credit: Flatiron, 37 Ink

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia (Flatiron)

"Gabriela Garcia, a prolific poet and fiction writer, delivers her highly anticipated debut novel, follows three generations of Cuban and Cuban American women. Jeanette is determined to understand her family history, but her mother — who's still processing the emotional effects of leaving Cuba — won't give up much. When Jeanette travels to Cuba to visit her grandmother, uncomfortable secrets and betrayals come to light. In breathtaking prose and evocative imagery, Garcia allows the reader to travel through history alongside these complicated, resilient women as they navigate a legacy of trauma. This is also the BuzzFeed Book Club pick for April — check out an excerpt, and read along!" —Arianna Rebolini

Get it from Bookshop for $24.83, Target for $23.99, or Amazon for $21.49

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton (Flatiron)

"Opal refuses to settle for a typical nine-to-five life; in the age of '70s rock and roll, she's determined to be a star, even if her bold Afro-punk style makes her stand out. So when an aspiring British singer/songwriter by the name of Neville suggests they form a duo, she takes the chance. But when their label signs a rival band that has no problem waving a Confederate flag around, Opal's open protest sparks deadly consequences. Decades later in 2016, Opal is considering a reunion tour with Nev, but a journalist's digging into the duo's past might just expose some dark skeletons." —Kirby Beaton

Get it from Bookshop for $24.84, Target for $20.49, or Amazon for $20.39

Credit: Random House

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib (Random House)

"Cultural critic and occasional BuzzFeed News contributor Hanif Abdurraqib's latest essay collection turns his attention to Black cultural icons — entertainers, artists, creative visionaries — and makes apparent their significant, though often overlooked, influence on American culture as a whole. These essays are odes to well-known figures like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Josephine Baker (whom the book is dedicated to) as well as those who haven't been given the mainstream attention they deserve. Abdurraqib's great strength is his ability to present broad, canny observations through the lens of his personal experience, and his intimate exploration of what these specific moments meant to him as a Black Muslim coming of age in the US is what lingers long after you've finished the book." —Arianna Rebolini

Get it from Bookshop for $24.84, Target for $23.49, or Amazon for $22.99

Credit: Imprint

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo (Imprint)

"This is the highly anticipated finale to Bardugo's King of Scars duology — and one you won't want to miss. Nikolai has journeyed to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives, hoping to relieve the terrible legacy inside him. Now, as Fjerda's army prepares to invade, Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina must uncover a way to forge a future in the darkness — or watch a nation fall." —Farrah Penn

Get it from Bookshop for $21.15, Target for $16.08, or Amazon for $16.08

Now in paperback:

Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl: This memoir-in-essays is as much about Renkl's upbringing and family as it is about the natural world surrounding her. Through her personal narrative and poignant observations, she explores themes of love, loss, meaning, and mindfulness.

Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight: "After an accidental poisoning in her lab, biological scientist Nell Barber is booted from her PhD program, where she was studying toxins and antidotes. Reeling from this blow, and looking for ways to continue her research on her own, Nell finds herself yearning for her beloved, enchanting mentor, botanist Dr. Joan Kallas. She begins journaling in notebooks dedicated to Joan, where she tracks not only her work but also her deepening insights into beauty, desire, knowledge, and love — all of which is complicated by her ex, her best friend, and Joan's husband.

Godshot by Chelsea Bieker: Fourteen-year-old Lacey May lives in Peaches, California — formerly an idyllic paradise, now a drought-stricken town whose residents live under the spell of a cult leader who claims to be God, with a grandmother too enthralled by Pastor Vern to see how dangerous he is. When Lacey realizes Pastor Vern's plan to bring rain back to the valley involves impregnating local teens, she runs away in search of her mother — confronting cruelty, but also discovering unexpected friendships and personal resilience along the way. It's a harrowing but elegantly wrought exploration of trauma and autonomy