Hi, Michelle here! Throughout April I’ve had the opening lyrics of Gretta Ray’s Heartbreak Baby on repeat in my mind: spring is in the air, cherry blossom everywhere. And as I write this, almost all the blossom is gone and everything feels very fresh and green.
I wrote the intro to last month’s wrap-up before we headed to Berlin so it felt only fair to share a shot from Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus. I loved visiting this store and seeing the German editions of books we’ve had on the podcast. I bought myself the German edition of The Thursday Murder Club – is it weird to pick up editions in languages you can’t read (yet) as souvenirs?
We loved Berlin, we will definitely go back! And I’m sure you’ll hear a little more about the books I bought from Dussmann once I read them.
What did you enjoy reading, watching and listening to in April? Leave us a comment and tell us what you can’t stop thinking about!
*denotes review copy
Reading
Prima Facie by Suzi Miller*
We did a book club discussion on this book in the episode featuring Emma Darragh, but it deserves a little spotlight here. Not just because it’s affected real change in the legal system, but because it is a compelling and nuanced portrait of class, privilege and power, consent and sexual assault.
Miller’s writing is so taut and compelling, the characters she creates so raw and real, and the story so visceral, that I was glued to every page. In just a few words and a volley of sentences, Miller shows us everything we need to know about Tessa – both as a working barrister and, later, as a woman. Both for the reading experience and its content, Prima Facie is truly remarkable.
– Michelle
Grown Ups by Marian Keyes
Who’s surprised I loved a novel by an internationally bestselling and beloved author of contemporary fiction? No one? Might be surprised that I’d actually never read Marian Keyes before, it’s been a big gap in my reading. So it was time to fill it with a big book - literally. I read a hardback of Grown Ups Michelle gifted me as she was culling books to move overseas, and it’s over 600 pages. Jessie, Nell, and Cara are the three women married to the Casey brothers - Johnny, Liam, and Ed. This is a big complicated family story, told in snippets from multiple perspectives at family occasions. All leading up to a big birthday dinner where all hell breaks loose. The characters are fascinating, the drama is compelling, it’s all these small moments and feels so big at the same time. Which Marian Keyes should I read next?
– Caitlin
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
I found this book and decided to read it purely because I wanted to read books set in the place we were visiting. And what a brilliant decision that was because I doubt I’d have read it otherwise – partly because I tend to avoid classics (even those of the modern, 20th Century variety) and, to be quite frank, I’m a little apprehensive about translated literature.
Alone in Berlin was written in 1946 and published posthumously in 1947. It’s the story of several ordinary people, living in an apartment building in 1940. At the heart of this novel is the quiet resistance of Otto and Anna, who start to write postcards denouncing Hitler after their son is killed in action. But Fallada also explores the stories of the Gestapo officer tasked with arresting the postcard writers and a handful of other ordinary people who are rebelling or complying in their own quiet ways.
It has become one of my favourite books: it’s heartbreaking, thoughtful, nuanced and, sadly, remains all too relevant in 2024. It’s taken me a relatively long time to read, but it’s so, so worth it.
– Michelle
P.S. We’re heading to Prague and Belgium in September, so please fling any recommendations my way!
When The Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker*
In our introduction to our interview with Brydie Lee-Kennedy, I mentioned a secret book I’d been busy reading. I follow the rules, and we had not announced at work yet that Harper Voyager is publishing When The Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker. But now we have! This has been such an exciting book to work on, a real whirlwind so far, and it will be out in early May. The story follows Raeve, a rebel and assassin who doesn’t really understand her past. She embarks on a revenge quest and while in prison she meets Kaan. He’s a dragon rider and reluctant king who’s crushed by losing his love. Their connection is undeniable and together they unravel everything they know about their world. It has magic, action, romance (and spice), a beautiful world, and dragons!
– Caitlin
Watching
Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War (Netflix)
Oh hello, another Berlin-inspired recommendation! We started watching this a few days before our holiday because it was new on Netflix. We ended up seeing a lot of Cold War-related things in Berlin, so when we came home and kept watching we were even more invested. The main reason I’m recommending this series is that it gives historical context to the war in Ukraine. It’s really engaging storytelling, and a must-watch if you don’t really understand the Cold War (or have no idea wtf Oppenheimer was about).
– Michelle
Girls5eva (Season 3, Netflix)
This show has the best theme song, I can’t help singing along every single time: ‘Gonna be famous 5eva, cause 4eva’s too short. Gonna be famous 3gether, cause that’s 1 more than 2gether! So what are you waiting 5? Girls5evaaaaaaaaa’ Following the members of a late 90s/early 2000s girl group as they mount their comeback, it’s absolutely hilarious. They realise how problematic their old hits are, make music for themselves and their fans now, and adjust back into being popstars with more complications (families, partners, kids, other careers etc.) The songs are so funny and so catchy. I can’t recommend it enough!
- Caitlin
Interior Design Masters (BBC)
This is one of my comfort shows – low stakes, people showcasing brilliant creativity, fun before/after shots. The premise is simple: aspiring interior designers are given briefs to fill across a range of commercial spaces and the winner gets a career-changing design contract. As with many British competition shows, it’s all very friendly and not super competitive. Honestly, I just love watching people pursue their passions and interior design is fascinating.
– Michelle
Puppy Love (Amazon Prime)
Grant Gustin & Lucy Hale were enough to sell me on this movie. I’m generally not into dog movies. After both adopting dogs recently, Grant & Lucy (I don’t remember the characters names) go on a terrible first date. But their dogs really got along! So when Grant learns that his dog is pregnant, he and Lucy are thrown back together for this pregnancy journey. Cue rom-com shenanigans. This movie is genuinely funny, the characters are adorable, it explores Grant’s character’s anxiety in a really lovely way and they found a good story reason for him to sing. It’s delightful!
- Caitlin
Listening
‘Nudism in East Germany’ by We Are History podcast
I need to start this recommendation with two caveats. The first is that I have recommended this podcast a lot. The second is that Angela and John have this month announced that they’re not continuing with the show which is a shame, but there’s plenty of brilliant episodes in their archive to check out.
So, why am I recommending this episode, one of the first We Are History ever released? Basically, because it’s a great overview of all the weird and wonderful things we learned about life in East Germany during our visit to Berlin! Enjoy.
– Michelle
‘Clara Bow’ by Scandal on Shameless
A very interesting two part series that discusses the life and legacy of silent film star, Clara Bow. Particularly recommend if, like me, you’d never heard her name before Taylor Swift dropped The Tortured Poets Department track list.
- Caitlin
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
Surprise, it’s another book recommendation! I’m trying to listen to more audiobooks now they’re included in a Spotify subscription, but sometimes I just don’t vibe with a narrator. Luckily that wasn’t the case for Strange Sally Diamond which I listened to because it was our April Thriller of the Month at work. The audio was really enjoyable and I appreciated the extra effects of making things sound like phone calls or old tape recordings when needed.
Sally’s life begins to unravel when she puts her late father’s body out with the bins – it’s not through malice, but because she’s taken his joke too literally. But the subsequent police investigation uncovers a link to a decades-old kidnapping case. Sally must reconsider everything she believes about her life. This is a psychological thriller and it’s the kind of weird, twisty why-dunnit that lingers in your mind.
– Michelle
The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift
Even for the most seasoned Swifties, 31 songs was a lot to absorb on April 19th. I’ve been really fascinated by the response to this album. If you talk to anyone about it you can hear opinions evolving - we’re warming to different songs, hearing new things on the third listen, changing our minds. This CNN article explores all this but says it simply, ‘24 hours isn’t enough’. Personally, my top 4 upon first listen have remained my top 4 (But Daddy I Love Him, Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, So High School). Then there are the songs I thought I would like on more listens and I was right (My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys, Fresh Out The Slammer, I Hate It Here). Then there are my own surprises, the songs I’m surprised how much I like only a week and a half later (Guilty As Sin?, I Can Fix Him, How Did It End, The Bolter).
I think in years to come we’ll all look back on The Tortured Poets Department the way we now view Red. Originally Red was too eclectic, she’s trying too many genres, so many bloody break-up songs! Now it’s seen as a perfect mosaic of your first heartbreak: happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time/in the best way. Maybe TTPD is long, rambling, and some of the songs sound similar or explore the same ideas. Or maybe it takes you through each step and emotion of a very complex heartbreak, a winding tale of a spiralling tortured poet trying to write her way out.
- Caitlin
Something else
All Killa No Filla 10th Anniversary Live Show
I made a whirlwind trip to London to see Kiri and Rachel’s brilliant 10th anniversary live show of All Killa No Filla podcast. The best part was seeing it with some of my virtual book club pals. This podcast is among my favourites not because of the topics but because of Kiri and Rachel’s humour and friendship, and the way it put me in touch with so many legendary people who’ve become part of my daily life.
- Michelle
This clip of Nicole Kidman and Jimmy Fallon
I had seen a shortened version of this video before, where Nicole Kidman tells Jimmy Fallon about how she liked him and he clearly had no romantic interest in her when they met years ago. Fallon remembering the encounter very differently makes this clip HILARIOUS. To celebrate 10 years of his show, they’ve been sharing a bunch of top moments and the full version, as they continue on and try and do the interview while Fallon’s brain is still scrambled. It’s gold.
- Caitlin
10-15 years ago I picked everything Marian Keyes put out. I need to pick her books up again!
Hooray for Berlin! "Alone in Berlin" sounds so good — thanks for that! I'm always on the lookout for great books with a strong sense of place for our show, and I wasn't familiar with that one.
Re: Books in foreign languages. We're American but we live in Prague... on our first trip here in 2010, I found a copy of Jane Eyre — my all-time favorite book — in a dusty used book store. It's in Czech and it was published the year I was born. So much fun to find that! In Czech, it's Jana Eyrova by Charlotte Brontëova. (They add the 'ova' ending to women's names here. When my cookbook was published in Czech, my name on the cover Melissa Joulwanova. That was a strange/cool experience.)
Related: I have a big list of all my favorite things to do in Prague, and I'd be glad to share that with you — but don't want to send it unsolicited. Let me know if it would be helpful, and I'll send it to you. You're probably going to want to visit the Strahov Monastery Library and/or the Klementinum Library — and the infinite spire of books at the Prague Municipal Library.
We did an episode of our show about Prague and Prague books (and some bookish sights) — you can find all of that stuff here: https://strongsenseofplace.com/destinations/prague/
Books set in Belgium!
The Ventriloquists by ER Ramzipoor - I LOVED this book. It tells the story of the Belgian resistance during WWII — it's a blend of a heist story, war story, spy story, and workplace drama. (Sorry to spam you with all these links, but... I talked about it on our Newsroom episode; you can listen here or peek at the transcript https://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2021-09-06-newsroom/ )
And of course... Villette by Charlotte Brontë
This is Charlotte's 'other' famous novel, and it combines Gothic elements with the story of a young girl teaching at a school in Belgium — inspired by Charlotte's real-life experience of falling in love with her teacher in Belgium.
OK. I'm going to stop now. But there was so much that got me excited in your post!