🌷 Sunday Sharies: April 2025

Jess's favorite movie of the year (so far), two salads on repeat, and the travel essential you didn’t know you needed

It’s gonna be May. There’s a lot of stuff we’d like to share that won’t fit in our usual Thursday TV newsletter. Some of that stuff is here. Read on for a special monthly peek into what your trusty Double Take duo has been watching, reading, listening to, and more.

— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen

First time reading? Subscribe to receive Double Take weekly.

---

What we’re reading…

Jenni: I’ve been reading a lot of articles this month—teetering between feeling good about staying informed and feeling totally overwhelmed by the world. Some interesting reads from the last few weeks, both political and not: New York Times pieces on the White House’s increasingly bizarre ideas for persuading women to have more children; all the articles highlighted in “How to Find Inspiration in New Places” by By Isabel Fattal; and “The Battle for the Bros” from The New Yorker, about how podcasts have influenced young men to go MAGA—and whether the left has any hope of winning them back.

On the fiction side, my aunt recently introduced me to Ali Smith’s novels. I started How to Be Both and then immediately put all four of her Seasonal Quartet books on hold at the library. How to Be Both is told from two perspectives: one, a pedantic 16-year-old girl in contemporary Cambridge, the other, an Italian renaissance artist responsible for painting a series of frescoes in the 'Hall of the Months'. I’m only a third of the way through, but I feel a 4 star rating at minimum on the horizon.

---

Jess: I’ve actually been reading a real book lately—like, a hardcover, not my Kindle (shocking, I know). But for Sunrise on the Reaping, I had to have the physical copy. I’m about two-thirds through, and I’m really enjoying being back in the Hunger Games world. More thoughts once I finish, but so far, it’s living up to the hype.

I also read two upcoming releases (ARCs):

• Exiles by Mason Coile (out September 16) — 2.5/5⭐️

  A locked-room mystery set on Mars should be my speed—I was picturing The Martian meets The Head—but it felt a bit like a bait-and-switch and wrapped up too fast for me.

• Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith (out June 24) — 4/5⭐️

  A former scream queen joins a documentary about her cult-classic slasher, only for the cast to start dying like they did on screen. It’s a fun, meta thriller with plenty of 90s horror vibes—and while it takes a bit too long to get to the good stuff, it definitely delivers once it does.

And I’ve crossed a few others off my TBR:

• Penance by Eliza Clark — 2.5/5⭐️

  A faux-true-crime deep dive into the murder of a teenage girl by her classmates, exploring media obsession and internet culture. Great concept, but it reads like a 500-page Wikipedia spiral—impressive detail, but it lost me in the weeds.

• Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh — 3.5/5⭐️

  A Strangers on a Train setup with two women agreeing to "swap murders." It’s entertaining, but the ending had me questioning every character’s brain cell count.

• James by Percival Everett — 3/5⭐️

  A bold reimagining of Huckleberry Finn told through Jim’s perspective as a hidden intellectual navigating a racist world. I respect the ambition, but it felt more like a literary exercise than an emotionally grounded story. (Caveat: I have not actually read Huckleberry Finn).

---

What else we’re watching…

Jess: It’s been a lighter movie month for me, but I beg everyone to prioritize seeing The Ballad of Wallis Island. It follows a lonely lottery winner who invites his favorite (and long-estranged) band to his remote island for a private reunion concert. It’s scenic, funny, and the kind of movie that feels like a cozy hug. Easily my favorite film of the year so far—if it’s playing near you, don’t miss it.