April 2023 Horoscopes and Book Recommendations

Stuck in the grind, Aries? Your career goals are almost within reach, but you’ll need one last push to get there this month. You’re tired of feeling plateaued and want results. They’re coming, as long as you stick to the plan. But your hyperfocus on work may cause conflict with family and friends. Don’t blow off the people you love in April. That’s key for your relationships and to help avoid burnout. I recommend The People Who Report More Stress by Alejandro Varela. These 13 connected short stories, mostly centered around a gay couple in New York City, explore race, class, sexuality, and inequality through a deeply personal lens. These sharp, witty characters find themselves trapped in difficult situations by a society desperately in need of change, but with no personal power to change things themselves.

You know what matters, Taurus. The planets are pushing you to cut some of the negative influences in your life and realign your priorities. A person or situation from your past may also reappear to remind you of who you are. All this reflection can change your path for the year ahead, especially in love. A new relationship may blossom this month, or an old one may transform. You should read Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal. Mariel and Ned Prager may both come from Minnesota restaurant family legacies, but their experiences are wildly different. Ned is growing a chain of home-style diners across the Midwest, while Mariel inherited her grandmother’s quirky Lakeside Supper Club. Ned’s restaurant chain seems like their key to success, but there’s something about the Lakeside Supper Club that might just save them both.

Try a new approach, Gemini. Problems you’ve been facing for the past few months can be solved in April with a little creativity. Luckily, you love trying out other perspectives and are never short on original ideas. But while mixing things up will be great for your social life, colleagues and mentors may be thrown by your quick moves. Ask for patience, and they’ll be won over by the results. Check out Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg. Liz loves her job writing alongside all of her friends and roommates at the queer website The Nether Fields. But when it looks like The Nether Fields will be forced to shut down, she wonders if it’s time to pursue her secret dream of writing a novel. Instead, a couple of new investors step in to save the magazine, one of whom is dangerously hot — and seems to deeply hate Liz and her articles.

Are you imagining conflict where it doesn’t exist, Cancer? Your emotional intelligence is strong, but sometimes your hypersensitivity to loved ones’ moods can make you read them incorrectly. Avoid over-interpreting what others say to you this month and stick to the words coming out of their mouths. If you can do that, there are big opportunities ahead in your career, finances, and in romance. I recommend The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur. When bookseller Tansy’s family pressures her to find love, she invents a fake girlfriend inspired by the cover model on a bestselling romance novel. But the real Gemma, cover model and heiress, contractually needs to get married to inherit her family’s publishing company. When she finds out a hot bookseller has already laid the groundwork for their false relationship, they both have a reason to turn that fake dating into an engagement.

Use your noggin, Leo. The planets will bring you some challenges in April, but they’re nothing you can’t handle by using your knowledge and experience. Avoid jumping into action without thinking things through. The meteor shower later in the month is likely to bring back a problem you thought you’d left behind, but remember what you learned from it the first time and you’ll be just fine. This month, read Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb. Bern is a music historian and considered the lead expert on America’s most famous composer, Frederick Delaney. When a descendant of Delaney brings Bern sheet music that might be part of a famously lost opera, he thinks it will change history. But there’s a lot more history to uncover when Bern realizes Delaney might have stolen the creative work of a young Black woman in the 1920s.

Stay close to home, Virgo. Any travel plans this month will likely end in frustration and disappointment, particularly during Mercury retrograde. Meanwhile, family time is highly rewarding in April and restorative for the spirit. At work, you may also want to play it safe. Big moves should only be made with careful consideration. Save the revolutionary ideas for another month. You should read A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung. Chung built a different life for herself as an adult than the community in which she was raised by her white adoptive parents, a working class Evangelical neighborhood in the Pacific Northwest where Nicole was the only Korean person she knew. But when Chung’s parents grew sick one after the other, she had to provide the best support she could from across the country while also grappling with all the things that separated them and still held them together.

Buckle up, Libra, because you’re in for a rollercoaster ride. April brings personal highs and lows, with not a lot of calm in between. It will be tough to find your usual sense of balance. But let the thrill of the good surprises help you through the disappointments. Travel may be in order to help you achieve your goals or clear your head. It could even inspire a career change later this year. Your book of the month is The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton. Two wealthy heiresses board a 1934 cruise liner for a roundtrip journey from New York City to Havana and back. Except they’ve both got big secrets: one is a fraud, and the other is thought to be dead. And aboard this luxury vacation, they’ll both have to avoid great danger while seeking their own forms of vengeance.

Choose your battles, Scorpio. Troubles with your health and financial losses will limit you in April. You’ll have to be choosy with how you spend your time, money, and mental space. In good news, you’ve got great ability to learn this month. Taking up a hobby or enrolling in a course could also prove useful in your career. You might find it opens doors to a new job opportunity. Check out The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter. In the small, deeply religious town of Seagate, sex is far from taboo, but food is a sin. Beatrice must hide her gustatory obsession and dreams of being a chef. Meanwhile, Reiko faces massive debt when her tech scholarship is rescinded. A mysterious centuries old cookbook offers Beatrice and Reiko a shot at freedom, if they’re brave enough to take it.

Play it safe, Sagittarius. I know those are probably the last words you want to hear, but the planets are not favorable for risk taking in April. A lot is out of your control right now, and no amount of force can put things back in your hands. It is, however, a great time for creative and artistic pursuits. Channel your restless energy into making something new, and you’ll be surprised at the results. Read Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina. Anna’s Native community is changing with the introduction of a new casino. One concerning change is that a number of Indigenous women and girls have gone missing. Anna thinks an ancient mythological being might be taking them. But when her own little sister disappears, Anna will do anything to uncover what’s going on and bring her sister back.

You’re laying the groundwork, Capricorn. April finds you with a level head and a determination to get things on track. Decisions you make this month will plant the seeds for many good things to come this year. Although the work you’re doing may not feel flashy or exciting now, the planets are aligned for it to pay off. Your love life may also benefit from getting serious about what you want this month. I recommend the thought-provoking poetry collection No Sweet Without Brine by Cynthia Manick. Balancing joy and playfulness with revelatory remembrances, these poems celebrate Blackness, community, coming of age, and human connection. They’re full of life and celebrate the meaning in everyday moments in a way that will make you stop and take notice of your own space in the world.

Feeling misunderstood, Aquarius? You often embrace going against the norm, but in April, you’ll grow frustrated when the people around you aren’t on the same page. Miscommunications can cause problems at work and in your social life, particularly later in the month during Mercury retrograde. It will help if you can agree on priorities and end goals. Travel may also be in order for a fresh perspective. Check out Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling. In this dystopian sci-fi novel, climate change has taken a drastic toll, but there’s hope at a new building project in far northern Canada, Camp Zero. Rose travels to Camp Zero to gather intelligence on the mysterious architect. Grant, a college professor, finds his way to Camp Zero to escape his family’s past. They both discover that there’s something dark hiding behind the architect’s work.

Invest in relationships, Pisces. The challenges you face in April, especially in your career, can be solved with a little help from your friends. When in doubt, ask a trusted mentor or talk your troubles over at a social event. Your family is also your rock, so ask for support if you need it. Pisces students have support from the planets this month, so try learning something new, whether or not you’re enrolled in school. Read Life and Other Love Songs by Anissa Gray. On Ozro Armstead’s 37th birthday, his wife and teenage daughter threw a party, but Ozro disappeared before they could yell “surprise.” Over decades, they search for answers to what happened to Ozro — and wonder if they ever really knew him at all.