4 Incredible Books You Need to Read ASAP (Hidden Gems You’ll Love)

April has gotten off to an incredible start when it comes to my reading. Some months feel slow, where you struggle to find a book that truly grabs you. But every once in a while, you hit a streak where everything you pick up just works. That’s exactly what happened this month.

Because of that, I wanted to share four incredible books that you need to read ASAP.

If you’ve followed my reading habits for a while, you probably already know this, but I don’t exactly have a structured system for choosing my next book. I wish I could say I carefully plan everything out, but the truth is much more chaotic.

I’m constantly adding books to my reading list. It never stops growing. And when it’s time to pick my next read, I usually just scroll through and choose one at random. No deep analysis. No overthinking.

Most of the time, I don’t even read the blurb.

Instead, I go off instinct. If a book has a lot of great reviews, shows up on multiple “must read” lists, or even just has a title or cover that catches my attention, that’s usually enough for me. I like going in blind. It makes the experience feel more organic, and when a book surprises you, it hits even harder.

Now, you might think this approach would lead to a lot of misses. And sure, every now and then it does. But more often than not, it leads me to some truly unforgettable books.

The four novels I read this past month fall into that category.

They’re not necessarily the most mainstream books you’ll see everywhere, but they are deeply loved by readers who have discovered them. These are the kinds of books you’ll spot sitting quietly on bookstore shelves, easy to overlook unless you already know what you’re looking for.

Hopefully, after this, you will.

Incredible Books That You Need to Read ASAP

• The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
• Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
• The Café with No Name by Robert Seethaler
• The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #2) by Hisashi Kashiwai

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

As someone who gravitates toward sci-fi, I’m always on the lookout for unique stories in the genre. That’s how I came across The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, a Japanese novel originally published in 1994 and translated into English in 2019.

And honestly, it feels like we were missing out for years.

The story takes place on an unnamed island where objects, and the memories associated with them, disappear. Not metaphorically. Literally. One day, something as simple as a ribbon or a bird will vanish, and soon after, people forget it ever existed.

But not everyone forgets.

That’s where the Memory Police come in. They enforce these disappearances, making sure that anything related to the vanished objects is destroyed. Even worse, they hunt down individuals who can still remember, and anyone who dares to protect them.

At its core, this novel feels like a blend of 1984 and Kafka’s work. There’s that same quiet dread, that same sense of something being deeply wrong beneath the surface. But Ogawa’s writing gives it a softer, almost dreamlike quality that makes it even more unsettling.

This isn’t a fast paced sci-fi thriller. It’s slow, reflective, and haunting.

And that’s exactly what makes it so powerful.

If this book had been available in English decades earlier, I genuinely believe it would already be considered a classic in the genre. It’s one of those stories that lingers in your mind long after you finish it and makes you look at memory, identity, and loss in a completely different way.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar is one of those rare books that manages to be funny, devastating, and deeply philosophical all at the same time.

The novel follows Cyrus Shams, a recovering alcoholic and former addict who is trying to rebuild his life. But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t escape his past.

His mother died when he was just a baby. Later, during his college years, his father passed away as well. That kind of loss doesn’t just go away, it shapes everything.

Cyrus becomes obsessed with the idea of martyrdom. He wants to understand it, define it, maybe even become one himself. That obsession leads him to study martyrs as part of a writing project.

But everything shifts when he learns about a woman living in the Brooklyn Museum who is dying of cancer.

So, naturally, he decides to go meet her.

What follows is a story that constantly challenges expectations. Cyrus is forced to confront not only his past but also his understanding of purpose, identity, and what it actually means to live a meaningful life.

Akbar’s writing is sharp, poetic, and incredibly human. There’s a rhythm to it that pulls you in, and before you realize it, you’re completely invested.

This is not just a story about addiction or grief. It’s about love, connection, and the complicated ways we try to make sense of our lives.

It’s the kind of book that doesn’t just tell a story, it makes you feel it.

The Café with No Name by Robert Seethaler

Going into The Café with No Name, I didn’t really know what to expect. I haven’t read many German language novels, and this one felt like a bit of a wildcard pick.

But it ended up being one of the most quietly beautiful books I’ve read in a long time.

The novel is set in 1966 Vienna and follows Robert Simon, a man who decides to open a café in a local market. The catch? He has no real experience running one and doesn’t even bother giving it a name.

Despite that, the café slowly begins to take on a life of its own.

People start coming in. Regulars form. Conversations happen. Stories unfold.

Robert hires a barmaid named Mila to help manage the growing workload, and together, they navigate the ups and downs of building something from scratch.

But what makes this novel special isn’t just the premise, it’s the way Seethaler tells the story.

He doesn’t focus on one grand narrative. Instead, he weaves together the lives of different characters who pass through the café. Each person has their own struggles, their own dreams, their own quiet moments.

And somehow, they all feel like the main character.

It’s a reminder that every life is complex, even if it seems ordinary from the outside.

This is the kind of book you read slowly, preferably with a warm drink nearby. It’s calm, reflective, and deeply human. Not every story needs high stakes or dramatic twists to be impactful and this novel proves that.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai

If you’re a fan of feel-good stories, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is one you absolutely need to check out.

This is the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series, and by this point, I can confidently say I’ve fallen in love with it.

The concept alone is enough to draw you in.

A father daughter duo runs a small restaurant in Kyoto but they’re not just serving food. They’re solving mysteries. Specifically, they help people recreate meaningful dishes from their past meals tied to memories, emotions, and moments that can’t be easily forgotten.

Each case is different, but they all revolve around one central idea: food as a connection to memory and identity.

And that’s what makes this book so special.

It’s warm, comforting, and incredibly satisfying to read. There’s something about the way Kashiwai writes about food that makes you feel like you’re right there, experiencing it alongside the characters.

At the same time, the emotional core of each story hits just as hard.

This is one of those books that makes you want to travel. It makes you want to experience new cultures, try new dishes, and maybe even revisit memories of your own tied to food.

It’s simple in the best way possible and sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.

Conclusion

That wraps up my list of four incredible books that you need to read ASAP.

What I love most about this group is how different they all are. You have two Japanese novels that couldn’t be more distinct in tone and style. You have a deeply introspective literary novel in Martyr!. And then you have a quiet, character driven story set in a Viennese café.

None of these books feel “typical,” and that’s exactly why they stand out.

They’re the kind of novels you might walk past in a bookstore without a second glance but once you pick them up, they stay with you.

I enjoyed each of these for completely different reasons, and that’s what made this reading stretch so memorable.

If you’re looking to break out of your usual reading routine or discover something new, start with one of these.

You might be surprised by what you find. Until next time, happy reading!

nonetheless. I loved each of them for different reasons and recommend them to every book lover out there. Happy reading!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook