April 2026 Grab Bag

Emma Casley

— 3 min read
Poster for the show Deadloch: detectives Dulcie Collins and Eddie Redcliffe stand next to each other with a dead body on a beach in the forground

It keeps threatening to become spring in New York for a day or two at a time, only to yank us back into winter when we start getting complacent and leaving our sweaters at home. Even so, I got tired of waiting and finally started reading God of the Woods by Liz Moore, which I had been saving for warm weather since it takes place during summer camp. I’m having a great time with it so far, but welcome any other summer-y or just more warm skewing book recommendations to read next.

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  1. I went to see Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come alone, on its last showing at my local theater and had a blast with the small handful of other attendees. It pretty shamelessly went: what if we do everything fun about the first installment again and more? And it was great! A crowd-pleaser! (If the crowd likes a lot of blood and gore and guttural screaming)
Still image from the film Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come: sisters Grace (Samara Weaving) and Faith (Kathryn Newton) sit tied up next to each other. They are both covered in blood and Grace is screaming
  1. In other movie theater news, Jaya Saxena covers the Nitehawk Worker Union rally. I’ll take this opportunity to say I love movie theaters and the theatergoing experience and I want the people who work there to be treated well and paid a living wage 
  2. The first season of Deadloch is maybe one of my favorite seasons of television ever: a crime drama that’s also very funny about a string of murders in a small Tasmanian town. I love the characters and the setting and the cultural conversations clearly on its mind. I just watched Season 2 and while it clearly has less to say this time around, I still relished the excuse to spend more time with these constantly yelling and swearing Australian women 
  3. It always feels like a special holiday when a new Jenny Nicholson video comes out, and I  had a great time with this one, where she dives deep into a strange Twilight-esque film
  1. In addition to being very thoughtful and a beautiful writer, JP Brammer is also incredibly funny and I could not stop laughing at the retelling of his experience at a Mexican-Irish fusion restaurant. Gotta incorporate the term “O’Cquaintances” into my lexicon going forward
  2. Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a solid straight to streaming/good plane movie romp and also it references Gilmore Girls a lot, …like a lot, so I had a good time with it!
  3. Really wanted to like Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy as much as I loved the beautiful cover and the conceit of a queer, chainsmoking nun who solves crimes, but really felt let down by the overall story in the end. But hey! Who doesn’t love to read something with a good cover to impress your fellow subway riders?
  4. On the other hand, Midnight Shift by Seon-Ran Cheon has a pretty good cover and I enjoyed it much more! 
  5. Such an interesting retrospective on Macklemore and his presence in popular culture by Todd in the Shadows on his series Trainwreckords
  1. As is becoming tradition, my monthly update on the creatures visiting my living room window. While our mourning dove couple Mite and Fluff are still frequent guests, I looked out one morning to see this lil guy:
An upside down squirrel climbing on the fly screen of an apartment window

Lots of things I liked this month! Amidst the steady drumbeat of World Troubles, I do still feel grateful for the magic and beauty of discovering good art on a fairly consistent basis. 

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Each month I highlight an organization that’s important to me. I encourage people to check out the cool work they do, and also to find causes within their community to support as well.

Today I’m highlighting the Immigrant Defense Project.

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