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It’s a new month, which means it’s time for a fresh batch of new releases! As always, there are far more books I want to read than I will be able to get to. If you’re looking for help prioritizing, here are seven new books out in April that check off 2026 Read Harder Challenge tasks.
We’re starting with a couple of gothic novels, then a queer romantasy book, two graphic memoirs, and some mysteries in translation.
Task #6: Read a gothic novel published in the last ten years
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (April 14)
In the present day, Lee has fled New York to hide away in his father’s home in Japan. He knows there’s something wrong with him and that he has committed a crime, but he can’t remember the details. In 1877, Sen, a female samurai, hides from imperial soldiers and attempts to protect her family. As the two find themselves communicating with each other through time, they realize they are living in the same home, a house that is built on dark secrets. —Emily Martin
May the Dead Keep You by Jill Baguchinsky (April 21)
Loosely inspired by Wuthering Heights, this atmospheric gothic YA novel follows Catie East, a loner who finds solace in the redwood forest surrounding her family’s home, The Heights. Then she meets Hunter Solis, who moves into the cabin next door with his scientist father. Hunter fascinates and enthralls Catie. But the closer she gets to him, the more strange things start happening around The Heights. It turns out that the home that Catie has always known and loved is hiding a dark and painful past. —Emily Martin
All Access members, read on for five more new books out in April that check off 2026 Read Harder Challenge tasks.
Task #9: Read a romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC main character
The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N. England (April 7)
This promises to be a “sweet and spicy cozy romantasy” with a sapphic romance, set in a queernorm world. Clara is perfectly happy living a quiet life as the gifted gardener in the town of Moss. The Goddess has other plans for her, though: Clara has been chosen to go to the cursed town of Dwindle and grow them a garden. Accompanying her is the annoyingly chipper Hesper, acting as her bodyguard. Clara has been keeping secret that her gift only works in Moss, but Hesper insists she is capable of more. As they journey to Dwindle together, the two get closer, and Hesper might just convince Clara that she’s the one who will save them from a creeping, ancient evil. —Danika Ellis
Task #13: Read a nonfiction comic
Until We Meet Again by Lily Kim Qian (April 21)
In this gorgeously illustrated graphic memoir, Lily relates her peripatetic childhood with her loving but sometimes uncommunicative single father. Occasional intrusions from her mentally ill mother add to her sense of dislocation and instability, until maturity and her own brushes with mental illness help her to accept the past and embrace the future. —Eileen Gonzalez
Mixed Feelings by Sara Amini and Shadia Amin (Apr 7)
In this middle grade graphic memoir, as a mixed-race girl, Sara has never quite felt at home anywhere. When she starts middle school, everything just seems to get worse, until drama club comes to her rescue. Playing pretend is an invaluable outlet, but how long will it take for reality to intrude on Sara’s happy fantasy life? —Eileen Gonzalez
Task #21: Read a genre (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) book in translation
Mrs. Shim Is a Killer by Kang Jiyoung, translated by Paige Morris (April 21)
For fans of dark humor, contract killer stories, and Korean crime novels!
As a widow responsible for caring for her family, Mrs. Shim needs to find a job immediately after losing work at a butcher shop. But when she goes to interview for what she thinks is a cleaning job, she discovers they’re only interested in the skills she learned at the butcher shop. Turns out they want her to be a contract killer. —Jamie Canaves
Guilt (Detective Godai #1) by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray (April 7)
The Detective Galileo author is back with a new series! As the title suggests, this crime novel delves into the long effects of guilt, which stem from a lawyer’s murder. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department detective Godai gets a quick confession from Tatsuro Kuraki, who also confesses to a decades-old murder where the accused died before the trial. It should be a quickly closed case, but something doesn’t sit well with Godai… —Jamie Canaves
For more, check out these March new releases that check off 2026 Read Harder Challenge tasks!