What To Read for the Read Harder Challenge in April 2025
It’s impossible to keep up with all the intriguing new books that come out every month. We do monthly new releases round-ups for each of our genre newsletters, but even when we recommend 17 new romance books out in April, that’s only scratching the surface.
So, today I am highlighting some of the new releases out in April that check off 2025 Read Harder Challenge tasks. There’s a noodle shop cozy mystery, a Puerto Rican merman romantasy, a genre-blending technothriller, an exploration of the Vietnamese refugee crisis, and much more.
Let me know if this is helpful and I can start doing it monthly! I love looking through new releases, even if it’s devastating for my TBR.
Task #5: Read a book about immigration or refugees.
The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse: A Memory of Vietnam by Vinh Nguyen (April 15)
In 1975, the Vietnamese refugee crisis began in earnest, and millions of people fled Vietnam. Decades later, Vinh Nguyen begins researching his father’s history, searching for answers about the details of his family history. The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse takes readers on a tour of abandoned homes and refugee camps, examining questions about what might have been. —Kendra Winchester
Task #6: Read a standalone fantasy book.
When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley (April 29)
This is a queer historical cozy fantasy about a Puerto Rican immigrant and a merman. In 1910s New York City, Benny is hired to build a new tank for a Coney Island amusement park. It’s the home of Rio, an actual merman stolen from the East River. As Benny spends time with Rio and getting to know his gentle soul and kind heart, he realizes he has met his soulmate. But his love with Rio will mean setting him free, which may cost Benny his job, his family, and the merman he loves. —Liberty Hardy
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Task #7: Read a book about a piece of media you love (a TV show, a movie, a band, etc). [If you’re a Top Chef fan!]
Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish (April 22)
Ever since her breakout moment on Top Chef, Kristen Kish has graced television screens around the world. Now, she’s an Emmy-nominated host of the same television series. In her new memoir, Kish shares her story of her childhood as a Korean American adoptee growing up in the Midwest. Readers follow her journey working in the restaurant business, making a name for herself, and working towards becoming a well-known TV personality and queer icon. —Kendra Winchester
Task #8: Read literary fiction by a BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled author.
Zeal by Morgan Jerkins (April 22)
Morgan Jerkins, the bestselling author of Caul Baby, pens a modern-day love story that rights the wrongs of a star-crossed past. When Ardelia and Oliver find each other, they discover each of them has a family history full of holes and secrets. Is it possible that their love story stretches back through the generations to a newly freed man looking for the woman he loves whose family fled in the Great Migration? —Rachel Brittain
Task #10: Read a romance book that doesn’t have an illustrated cover.
Marriage Bargain with the Comte by Parker J. Cole (April 24)
Here’s a cover you can just stare at for hours at a time! This is a friends to lovers, marriage of convenience romance set in the Court of Louis XVI and on the island of Saint Domingue (which I discovered reading reviews, as the description doesn’t mention it). Dieudonné, Comte de Montreau, ends up in a sticky situation when he rescues a friend from a ruination plot only to be caught in a compromising situation with her himself! So they get married. —Jessica Pryde
Task #16: Read a genre-blending book.
Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler (April 1)
From the author of The Mountain in the Sea, winner of the 2023 Locus Award for Best First Novel, comes this technothriller! It’s set in the near future, where the authoritarian President has held on to his position by downloading himself to new bodies and Europe is governed by AI Prime Ministers. But technology is breaking down all around the globe, threatening everyone, and the scientist who could break the President’s hold on the country has to go on the run, where she discovers a worldwide group of revolutionaries who might be the world’s last hope. —Liberty Hardy
Task #18: Read a “cozy” book by a BIPOC author.
The Chow Maniac (Noodle Shop Mystery #11) by Vivien Chien (April 1)
For fans of secret organizations and foodie cozy mysteries!
Three men—all part of the same Asian secret society, Eight Immortals—have died. Suspicious much? This is why Lydia, a private detective, asks her friend Lana, an amateur sleuth, for help. With delicious food, Chinese mythology, friends, assistants, and a police detective boyfriend, they’re sure to solve this mystery!
If you want to start at the beginning of this delicious series, pick up Death by Dumpling! —Jamie Canaves
Which April releases are on your TBR? Let’s chat in the comments!
Check out all the previous 2025 Read Harder posts here.
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