What to Read in April and Other Book News

A big book hits the small screen

Last month, we noted Robert Downey Jr.’s environmentally conscious cookbook, Cool Food: Erasing Your Carbon Footprint One Bite at a Time, coauthored with climate writer Thomas Kostigen. Now there’s more Downey news for book (and/or Downey) lovers: This month, he’ll appear in HBO’s seven-part adaptation of The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a 2016 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel about a North Vietnam plant in the South Vietnam army who finds his loyalties torn. Downey, who is executive producer, will play multiple roles, and Hoa Xuande stars in the limited series, which debuts on Max on April 14.

Bookcover: Harper; Portrait: Tom Ward

The stunning story of a romance scammer and his web of lies

I cover fraud as well as books, so I was drawn immediately to The Chain: Love, Betrayal, and the Sisterhood That Heals Us by Chimene Suleyman (April 30), a 40-year-old poet and writer based in London. Her mesmerizing, often heartbreaking book describes how several years ago while living in New York City, she developed a romantic relationship with a man who turned out to be unimaginably cruel and deceptive — so bad, he not only abandoned her while she was at a clinic undergoing an abortion (he was the father), he followed up with a text: “No one should love you.”

Suleyman eventually discovers that there’s a long line of women he deceived and devastated. Pretending to love them, he’d secretly snap naked photos of their sleeping bodies and share them with his friends (she learns this only when she confronts his friends about his despicable behavior). Through various ruses, he took the women’s money, as much as $100,000 in total by Suleyman’s estimation. He’d disappear for days (saying he needed to visit his mother in Atlanta because she was dying of cancer; she wasn’t), before abruptly exiting from their lives permanently.

The chain in the title refers to the connections between his victims, who came together to support each other and warn others to steer clear of this truly monstrous-sounding man, whose behavior, Suleyman suggests, was made possible by the complicity of other men. “We relived our pain together,” she writes, “and we healed together.” 

Collage: AARP; (Source: Getty Images)

Fighting book censorship

The American Library Association (ALA) just released its data on 2023’s book banning efforts, and it’s not pretty: There were efforts to censor 4,240 books in schools and libraries, compared with 2,571 in 2022. This month happens to include National Library Week (April 7-13), when the ALA plans to release its annual list of the most challenged books across the U.S. A “challenge,” the ALA explains, is “an attempt to remove or restrict access to materials or services based upon the objections of a person or group.” Frequently challenged books include To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

In response, libraries, bookstores and individuals have set up book sanctuaries, says Jennie Pu, director at the Hoboken Public Library in New Jersey and cochair of the New Jersey Library Association Public Policy Committee. After a unanimous vote from the Hoboken Public Library Board of Trustees, Pu’s library is the first in the state to become a book sanctuary — “a space or a place,” she says, “where we protect endangered books and make them available and talk about them.” The Chicago Public Library launched the concept in 2022, encouraging others to “join the read-sistance” and do the same at booksanctuary.org.

In a kind of homage to folks like Pu, James Patterson and Matt Eversmann have written The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians (April 8), a book featuring true stories of these bibliophiles, in their own words. Patterson, who — with his many coauthors — churns out what seems to be a book a week, is a huge supporter of libraries and independent bookstores, as well as literacy in general. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) this year, the blockbuster author called book banning “a terrible disgrace.”

Jimmy Fallon: Mad about books

Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon announced on March 25 that he is bringing back his book club, which began in 2018 but took a bit of a hiatus since 2022. He’s asking readers to help choose the club’s next book March Madness-style: He proposed 16 books, “the Sweet 16,” which will “face off in a bracket-style tournament.” Voters can make their picks on NBC’s website.

“If you know me, you know I’m always looking for a good book to read. And that’s why I’m very excited to announce this,” Fallon said. “Normally, the way this works is we pick a handful of books and we vote to see who the winner is. And that’s the book we read together. But this time, we’re changing it up.”

The bracket has narrowed to the Elite Eight. Those will funnel to the Final Four, the Terrific Two and, finally, on April 10, “the Fallon Book Club Spring Read.”

The options are appealing (including the wonderful 2024 novel James by Percival Everett) — and passionate voters will have lots of sway: Readers can vote up to 10 times.