It Girl by Allison Pataki

April 2026

Allison Pataki has a way of making the past seem like it was a whole lot of fun in her latest novel, IT GIRL. Who’s the girl? She’s Evelyn Talbot, who’s based on Evelyn Nesbit, the real-life Gibson Girl who landed in New York City from Pittsburgh during the days leading up to and through the Gilded Age. The scene it sets --- with Mrs. Astor holding court in the city, traveling abroad on ocean lines --- is all the rage, and the New York theater is a place where you see shows not just once but rather multiple times.

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April 2026

April's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of "The Testaments" on Hulu and Disney+; "Margo's Got Money Troubles" on Apple TV, and "The House of the Spirits" on Prime Video; the season finale of Apple TV's "The Last Thing He Told Me"; the season premiere of "Sullivan's Crossing" on The CW; the conclusion of Apple TV's "Imperfect Women"; the films Hamlet and The Stranger; the continuation of "Outlander" on STARZ and "Will Trent" on ABC; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Cold Storage, Midwinter Break, Die My Love and Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass.

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Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, author of The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru

Zina and her grandmother, Baba Valya, own a tearoom on rue Daru in Paris, where they have lived quietly since Zina’s mother’s untimely death. By day, the women serve tea. But when dusk falls, they divine fortunes and perform séances for their loyal clientele. Then the charming Princess Olga and her brother arrive, searching for knowledge about the disappearance of their father, the exiled Grand Duke, cousin of the last Tsar of Russia. Zina performs the séance and is able to summon the Grand Duke. But to her horror, he starts to haunt the shop and seems to know something sinister about her mother’s death. As Zina delves into her family’s hidden past, dark secrets are unearthed, threatening the home and tearoom Zina and her grandmother have worked so hard to build, not to mention their very lives.

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Annabelle Gurwitch, author of The End of My Life Is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker

After Annabelle Gurwitch received an out-of-the blue diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer, an existential dread set in. Precision medicine offered a temporary reprieve --- but instead of turning into a cancer warrior, Annabelle declared herself a cancer slacker. Her motto: no runs, no ribbons, no religion. Told with her signature wit, warmth and gimlet eye, Gurwitch draws inspiration from Greek mythology and TV comedies, Kermit the Frog and Samuel Beckett. She accidentally acquires an angel, embraces being in it “just for the sex,” and finds herself on a European van tour selling merch for a heavy metal band.

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