The April Recap - What I Read, Saw, Thought About
Martyrs, cults, cycling rom-coms and cheerleaders on literal fire....
Happy early May, friends and strangers! April is over and it was filled with reading on my end (I calculated I spent over 30 hours on trains and planes last month which means half of the books below were read in motion) and a few solid views. But, first things first - we all know why we’re (primarily) here:
THE READING!
I read 10 books in April (I do have a job and am not a total hermit, I promise) and am going to group them a little based on affinity, because otherwise it feels just like an overwhelming amount of things to process as pure stream-of-thought.
The books I really loved:
The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan - I loved Dolan’s “Exciting Times” but “The Happy Couple” takes her talents to the next level. A classic marriage plot is turned upside down in a very modern story of Celine and Luke and their impending nuptials. This summary does nothing to explain how funny, observant, masterfully structured, multiple-perspective job this novel does, and the final product is a very Irish (read: darkly humorous), intensely human (read: flawed), queer (read: messily fun) story Jane Austen would be proud of. A must for your summer list.
No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol - A memoir about being a grown, smart, single, childless woman, that also happens to be a great daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and writer. I loved it (once the “Moonstruck” references for choosing where to live landed, I was FULLY IN) and am very excited for part 2 of this - which involves Paris and having a good, and sexy time in the aftermath of the pandemic isolation.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar - Last month I wrote about “Dead in Long Beach, California” which is a debut novel by a poet (Venita Blackburn) as one of my favorite reads, and this month another debut novel by a poet tops the list too. Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is a literary mystery about identity, belonging, heritage, sexuality, war, family, friendship, art and a 1001 things big and small in between and it flexes both language and format in ways that felt refreshing and challenging, but also compulsively readable. A small miracle of a book.
The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner - this is my very first Weiner and I was just looking for a book to read in a weekend without any stress. And while it delivered that flawlessly, it was also a surprisingly prescient story of forgiveness, body autonomy, feminism, family, romantic and platonic relationships and cycling. It also had a “Crossing Delancey” reference (A movie I rewatched this month and that is a perfect pairing with “Moonstruck” and “Broken English”) and that made me happy. P.S. this is about to be out in paperback in June so perfect timing for vacation packing.
Three I could take or leave:
Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona - a classic 90s horror set-up (a babysitter alone in a quiet neighborhood, unwelcome guests etc) - this was a fun homage exercise and had, ultimately, a very sinister villain I enjoyed, but I think wanted a little more of a bite to it. I’d be curious what Verona does next though.
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra - OK, this had some truly stellar blurbs by people who are my favorites in the thriller genre (Lisa Jewel, Karin Slaughter, Ashley Audrain) but I felt it was very boring and not scary at all (it was supposed to be VERY scary) and I hated it for it. Just read “Last House on Needless Street” instead.
The Girls by Emma Cline - I’ve had this book for years but it kept being moved out of the TBR pile. But, because I LOVED “The Guest” (I will not stop talking about it, ever) I moved it back into the rotation. It is sort of a fictionalized Manson Family coming-of-age venn diagram and while it was good, it was not great and felt a little trope-y.
And some very effective thrillers:
Ace Atkins - The Innocents - I will be the first one to admit I mostly read female-driven-and-written thrillers (so predictable and elder millennial of me) and this was cool because it was the polar opposite of it - a hard-boiled, Southern mystery that is both pitch black (the crime involves a former head cheerleader walking down a road literally set on fire) and very colorful (we spend a good 100 pages just hanging out in this town and getting to know the players). It all feels quite authentic too (probably because Ace Atkins, who has the eyebrow-to-jawline ratio of someone who was Jason Street of his town’s Friday Night Lights and describes himself as “friend to many bartenders and several dogs” writes about things he clearly understands). Pairs well with “All The Sinners Bleed”.
Strange Sally Diamond - Liz Nugent - “The instagram” sort of conspired for me to read this (first Lisa Jewell said it was her favorite, then
posted about it for like 3 days in a row, and then the AI overlords in charge of my feed decided that I was not allowed to stop seeing it) and that is usually a bad sign because the delivery-on-promise pressure is very high, but this was VERY DARK, VERY TRIGGERING, and sort of a Last House on Needless Street crossed with The Room crossed with Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine (which I maintain is one of the darkest books about trauma and neurodiversity out there, even if Reese Witherspoon wants you to think it is a comedy) - a great thriller for people who read a lot of thrillers and therefore find it hard to get that adrenaline rush from something truly twisted and shocking.Just Another Missing Person - Gillian McAllister - Apparently McAllister is something of a thriller format innovator (I hear good things about “Wrong Place Wrong Time” too) and this is the kind of book where twists are plotted out so meticulously it is almost a mini masterclass to follow.
Now, for the VIEWING!
OK, Crossing Delancey aside, which is a forever recommendation involving #cutehats, LES pickle cottage industry, pitch-perfect banter-y matchmaking and misguided late-80s feminism:
- here are some other worthy viewing notes:
TV I actually spent time on:
Baby Reindeer (Netflix) - A struggling comedian becomes the object of a very dark obsession. The internet is bleeding all sorts of ink on this: it is based on a true story of creator Richard Gadd, the two female roles (Jessica Gunning in a heartbreaking, terrifying, hilarious lead and Nava Mau in a gorgeous, strong, fiercely intelligent supporting role) are complete and utter break outs, it is sort of the male equivalent of “Fleabag” for the year etc etc etc. I recommend it, especially since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, even though it is incredibly hard to watch at times.
Under the Bridge (Hulu) - Riley Keogh and Lily Gladstone star in a show inspired by a true 1997 story (and subsequent book) that falls neatly into my personal favorite category of the “Hell Is A Teenage Girl” genre (see also: Girls on Fire, The Most Dangerous Thing, Jennifer’s Body, The Craft, Heathers, History of Wolves, etc etc) and my only qualm is they are doing it as a week-by-week episode release and I really want to just power through it (I understand this is a me problem, btw). Also, the 90s fashion has come so full circle that you have to genuinely remind yourself that this is happening during a time when people didn’t have cell phones at the ready, because the outfits looks so on point right now.
Vanishing Triangle (Acorn and Sundance Now) - This is inspired by the same 1990s string of still-unsolved Dublin disappearances as Catherine Ryan Howard’s EXCELLENT “The Trap” and it is a very good, very dark thriller for fans of “Unforgotten” and “Hidden”. Allen Leech (aka Branson from Downton Abbey) and India Mullen (Peggy in Normal People) have faces you just want to stare at, and there is a great, deeply human subplot involving Ireland legalizing homosexuality and its after-effects.
The Long Shadow (Sundance Now) - based on the Yorkshire Ripper case that shook England for over half a decade and resulted in 13 murders this boasts a powerful cast (Toby Jones, David Morrissey etc) and breaks all the rules toggling between detectives, victim POVs, and the ripple effect something of this magnitude has on the community that is happens in. I seriously teared up a few times, and also put the Red Riding Trilogy on my rewatch list ASAP.
Things I saw in movie theatres:
Challengers - Very good, very stylish (peak espadrille propaganda in effect), appropriately chaotic, everyone involved is a star (this NY Times cover photo appropriately highlights the triple xxxtreme bone structures of the three leads), but! I feel there has not been been enough reviews/think pieces (though I had high hopes for
getting there) that compare the mental make-up of Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan to Michael Jordan in The Last Dance (who, for the record, I didn’t think was a sociopath, but just wanted to do his job (aka winning at sports) the best he could and expected the same of everyone else, which seemed fair to me).Immaculate - We are in a Sidney Sweeney moment, and Sidney Sweeney is determined to become a genre queen, and we have to applaud the determination and work ethic (highly recommend this read by
) if not the final cinematic results. I didn’t think “Anyone but You” was cute or funny or not-boring (even though I was rooting for it) and this “Rosemary’s Baby” meets “Black Narcissus” (both of which are masterpieces, natch, and as such unfortunately chosen acts to try and follow up) slip of a movie is very forgettable, but kudos for trying, I guess? (if you are in the market for some GOOD horror recommendations, please head here)Ghostbusters Frozen Empire - I liked the first reboot well enough to see it twice, but this was terrible. A total missed opportunity and I am not ashamed to admit, I fell asleep midway through it - IN PUBLIC.
Important Scandinavian thriller update:
Ok, this is extreeeeeemely niche (possibly exclusively for
and maybe 3 other people who are as ridiculously into very specific Scandinavian thrillers as me) but I am so excited about this I had to share even before I actually get to seeing this stuff (and will likely do a separate newsletter just on them once I do).After YEARS of not being available in the US for streaming (and trust me, I am the kind of person that has looked every couple of months to make sure), the next 2 Department Q movies - The Purity of Vengeance and The Marco Effect (based on the very best selling Jussi Adler-Olsen series about a Danish cold case team dealing with some truly spectacular crimes - the first three adaptations are more readily available for streaming AND EXCELLENT) are available to stream via a new streaming app called Viaplay (worth the free trial on Prime, at the very least). As an added bonus, the app also featured The Hypnotist which is the movie adaptation of the first of the Lars Keplar’s Joona Linna thrillers (and one of the rare series where I buy the new book in pre-order every year)
Do with this information what you will.
I have also yet again been informed that I am near email lenght limit here, so maybe expect a bonus misc. newsletter soon?
Thank you, as always for making to all the way down here.