What we loved: April 2025
Reading some of our most anticipated books of the year and embracing our niche musical hyperfixations
Well, hello! April has been a whirlwind for me (Michelle) because we bought a house. Exciting, overwhelming, scary. Anyway, I’ve been knee-deep in boxes and cleaning all the things. However, I also somehow read some of the best books I’ve read all year. Swings and roundabouts.
In the book world, it also feels like there’s been a glut of new releases and things out in paperback that I’d desperate to read. Okay, so it always feels like that to some extent when you work in a bookstore but there are a few points of the year where it feels particularly intense. The pre-Northern Hemisphere summer paperback surge is one of those times!
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
Traumaland by Josh Silver*
Binged the new season of Black Mirror? Then you need to read Traumaland – a dark, thrilling, and emotionally devastating tumble down the rabbit hole. I was very excited for this as we’re big fans of Josh’s work – I’ll add his past interview in below.
It’s a year on from 17-year-old Eli’s near-fatal car crash. He’s attending therapy and taking all the right steps but still feels emotionally numb, with no memory of months after the crash. When Eli stumbles upon an underground club called Traumaland, he joins the crowds of people desperate to “feel alive” again through virtual reality simulations of nightmare scenarios. This sets Eli on a dangerous path to discovering the source of his own trauma.
Just like his previous novels Josh Silver’s characters are pitch perfect – Eli is flawed and spiky, yet funny and endearing. His voice is captivating, guiding us into a wickedly twisty psychological thriller that questions how we view, treat and avoid trauma. Traumaland is captivating and disturbing, laced with the dark humour I’ve come to see as Silver’s signature. It is both a brilliantly thrilling story to devour and a warning about the dangers of commercialising mental health.
– Michelle
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
After reading Sunrise on the Reaping last month, I think I fell into a little reading slump. I was distracted, I just wanted to reread original trilogy! So come Easter long weekend, I decided I wasn’t going to be able to move on until I did so I brought all three books with me for a four day weekend. Best decision ever. I got through The Hunger Games over Friday and Saturday, then I only had a tiny bit of Catching Fire left when I got home on Monday. I also rewatched all the movies in the week after, so by the time I was up to Mockingjay Part 1 on Wednesday and Mockingjay Part 2 on Thursday I was almost reading the third novel concurrently, finishing it on Friday. This deep dive into the world of Panem has proved to me how brilliant the movie adaptations are, even the changes that need to be made for the screen don’t harm the story and in most cases enhance it. Also I appreciate more than ever how incredible this series is! And if you still think you’re Team Gale, I encourage you to revisit because he was honestly never an option. Peeta forever.
– Caitlin
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid*
Wow. There will be hype for this and believe me, it is so, so worth it. Few books grab my heart so tightly and absorb me so wholeheartedly. Atmosphere is a masterpiece.
The novel opens in December 1984 as disaster strikes the space shuttle Navigator in orbit. As chaos unfolds, we’re taken back to the summer of 1980 when a new group of astronaut cadets begins training with NASA. These timelines unfolded perfectly – each switch precisely executed for maximum emotional impact, keeping me absolutely hooked.
I am very much not a woman in STEM so I was a tiny bit confused by all the space shuttle stuff at first, but I was so quickly absorbed by the world of astronaut training. While our focus is on astrophysics professor Joan, it was impossible not to fall in love with all these characters. They felt so alive, the world they inhabited so immersive.
Oh, and Frances! Joan’s relationship with her young niece is just as important as the romance and explores a completely different kind of love. It’s hard to single out a favourite element of Atmosphere, but the way this storyline developed has to be pretty close.
Atmosphere is cinematic and ambitious, an epic story of love in all its forms that truly soars.
– Michelle
Love Story by Lindsey Kelk*
This is a super fun and cute rom-com that has some of your favourite tropes and quirky characters. But also it’s an incredible exploration of the current state of the book industry featuring BookTok, literary snobs, a bestselling author with a secret, plus every character working in publishing. Sophie Taylor has written the internationally bestselling book of the year, a spicy romance readers have gone nuts for, under the pseudonym Este Cox. But the only people who know she is Este are her literary agent brother and publisher uncle. Sophie’s parents are the most highly regarded literary publisher and critic in the industry, her Dad even published her ex-boyfriends depressing, super high-brow, multiple award-winning (but very few copy selling) novel. They detest romance and would likely disown her if they found out. At her Dad’s 60th birthday weekend, surrounded by all their publishing colleagues and authors, she’s determined to keep her secret. Enter Joe Walsh, the creative director at her publishing house, who she enlists to help (rom-com hijinks include a funny meet-cute, being sent off to do errands by Sophie’s mum as enemies, only one bed). This book is brilliant. Like the story explores, I was reading about something much deeper than people who see the pink cover might assume.
– Caitlin
Watching
Interior Design Masters (BBC)
Yet another cosy competition show, this time for interior designers (as the name suggests) who compete for a change to win a career-changing contract. I’ve always loved interior shows like House Rules or The Block, but this show has the added element of not just personal style but a professional brief. Imagine transforming hostel rooms, boutique stores, retirement home apartments, school common rooms – it’s a fun comfort watch that always makes me want to bust out a tin of paint and transform something.
– Michelle
Man On The Inside (Netflix)
Created by Michael Schur and staring Ted Danson? Sign me up. This series is positivity delightful, quirky, and full of heart. Ted Danson plays a retired professor who’s wife passed away about a year ago, encouraged by his daughter to get a hobby, he ends up working for a private detective. He goes undercover as a resident in a retirement community to track down a stolen necklace. The case unfolds, there’s plenty of hijinks with the residents and staff, but overall it’s a really sweet series about people who know they’re nearing the end of their life. How to they feel about it, how do their family feel about it, how do the staff deal with it each day, how does that knowledge affect your decisions? That honestly might make it sound a bit heavier than it is, but this is the same team who brought us The Good Place after all.
- Caitlin
Married at First Sight Australia (Channel 4)
Okay, so this show is trash. But I must admit there’s something irresistible about it when so many of my friends and colleagues are watching it. In a busy month, being able to switch off mentally and enjoy a ridiculously dramatic reality show has been pretty nice. Being able to discuss the drama and enjoy the memes is a bonus.
– Michelle
Mid Century Modern (Disney+)
Created by the same duo behind Will & Grace, this new sitcom follows three bestfriends. They’re all gay men of a certain age, and after the fourth in the friend group passes away unexpectedly, they decide to retire together in Palm Springs. It’s hilarious, witty, camp, and heartfelt. Nathan Lane and Matt Bomer are simply outstanding in this series. I’m less familiar with the third star, Nathan Lee Graham, but he’s also excellent. Such an enjoyable watch! I really love that a recent string of new sitcoms blend some of the classic styles with a more contemporary feel.
- Caitlin
Listening
How “Chicken Soup” Sold Its Soul by Decoder Ring Podcast
Seeing the title of this in my podcast feed unlocked a long-forgotten memory of the dorky Chicken Soup books that seemed to just turn up in libraries in the mid-2000s. This episode is a fascinating deep dive into how the books and brand were created, through to their eventual demise. I had absolutely no idea that Chicken Soup has much more in common with The Secret than you’d ever have expected…
– Michelle
How We Made Your Mother
Another day, another re-watch podcast. Hosted by How I Met Your Mother co-creator Craig Thomas and Josh Radnor who played Ted, the ensemble lead who’s telling the story of his 20s to his children. HIMYM has always been a different kind of sitcom, playing with timelines and structure in the way they tell the story, dropping hints they don’t get to for years, or going back to that unfinished storyline from seasons earlier. That’s why I’m interested to hear Thomas and Radnor revisit it, I want to know how much was planned and how much fans have created. We have to have connected dots they didn’t even see.
- Caitlin
Big Talk: The Murdoch Empire & Real Life Succession Part 1 by Big Small Talk
We’ve recommended Big Small Talk’s monthly analysis episodes before and we’re huge fans of Sarah and Hannah’s work, but I wanted to shout this out in particular because of the parallels to Succession. As someone who used to work for a Murdoch-owned newspaper (after he bought out the regional companies) it was so interesting to hear how he became the media mogul he is today. But this isn’t just for media fans because really, Murdoch is one of the most politically powerful men in the world so the legacy of that empire is one which will have ripples among Australian, US and UK society for years to come.
– Michelle
eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead by Ariana Grande
I’ve been listening to the new songs a lot since this deluxe was released at the end of March, and the album in it’s entirety. I think I probably like these deluxe tracks more than the original tracks. ‘twilight zone’, ‘warm’, ‘dandelion’, and ‘past life’ are exactly what I love about Ariana’s music. I don’t really know how to describe what it is, but something ethereal and encompassing? I feel the lyrics, beat, melody, all of it like sweep over me. And since listening to eternal sunshine more than I did when it was originally released, I’ve come to appreciate the whole album more. While my favourite is still the hit ‘we can’t be friends (wait for your love)’, I also really love ‘eternal sunshine’, ‘i wish i hated you’ and ‘imperfect for you’ now.
– Caitlin
Something else
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie
This is a book so why is it in this section? Well, I read some brilliant books this month and I thought that this was a little more of a niche subject. I also wanted to add it in my ‘something else’ section because reading this really reignited my thirst for Beatles media and led me to discover a whole new world of podcasts that didn’t exist during my fervent teenage obsession (oh, hello, hyperfixation my old friend). One Sweet Dream in particular is brilliant – two women talking about The Beatles feels utterly refreshing and their deep (deep, deep) dive on the break-up is so thoroughly brilliant.
I know Swifties will get it: half the joy of loving The Beatles comes from analysing their songs and pouring through all the books, theories and interviews. Ian Leslie’s book felt like both a fresh perspective and a confirmation of my feelings on the iconic Lennon/McCartney partnership. It was a true joy to read and gave me a whole new perspective on songs that feel like they’re almost embedded in my soul.
- Michelle
Celebrating One Year of The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift Style
Taylor Swift Style celebrated TTPD’s anniversary in the best way: a long fan analysis of the era and year that was complete with data, graphs, fan quotes etc. Sarah’s collated her community’s thoughts on all our favourite songs, hearing them for the first time, our feelings about the era, looking back a year on... it’s just a wonderful and thorough celebration on this album.
- Caitlin