The Bits and Bops Monthly: Over-Hyped Books, Really Good Movies, and Summer Anthems

April 2025

Happy end-of-April everyone! The allergies are killer, but the vibes are (hopefully) high. The weather is getting more warm than not, the end of the semester is so close you can taste it, and it’s Taurus season!

I applaud myself for getting this month’s edition in your inbox on time (kinda). And we’ll ignore the fact that I’m procrastinating on another important deadline to make it happen. 

On My Bookshelf

This month’s reading experience fell on very opposite sides of the spectrum with the Libby Gods bestowing my shelf with two highly viral books that I had been waitlisted on for the past several months. The first was Intermezzo, the fourth novel of Sally Rooney and the first of hers that I’ve actually read. The book centers on two brothers who navigate what life and love looks like after the death of their father. Rooney’s writing style conveys the emotional weight and nuance of grief, particularly between the brother’s themselves and their internal monologues as they try to pick up the pieces of familial and romantic relationships left behind. The book is not, however, what it was hyped to be (in my opinion) so my albeit unfairly high expectations were not satisfied.  

I had a completely different time reading Grown Women by Sarai Johnson, another book released last year to much fanfare. This text follows 4 generations of Black women who navigate motherhood, daughterhood, and generational trauma. Sticking to the theme of generations, I’d say the book is the daughter of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, the granddaughter of Sula by Toni Morrison, and the great-granddaughter of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. If you’ve read of loved any of those, this will be a favorite as well. Grown Women is a really complex and moving portrait of Black womanhood with just the right amount of historical context and structure. And that a classic makes. 

On My Screen 

This month has included a lot of personal and work travel for me, and as such the media I’ve consumed has been less what’s interesting or new and more what can be downloaded to my iPad and watched on a flight. A friend suggested Netflix’s Love on the Spectrum, a very wholesome and sweet show perfect if you feel like smiling at your screen for 45 minutes. Another suggested Apple TV’s  Severance, which has been on my list for a while. I will return with thoughts next month.

Obviously, the hit film of the month (dare I say the year) is Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, a vampire horror film set in the Mississippi Delta during the 1930s. Everyone I know has seen the film, some more than once, so I don’t feel I need to recommend it. Just want to yap about it. Sinners is a really really good movie, but not for the political or racial diversity context I’ve seen floating around. Stories centering Black people are lacking within the film industry point blank period, so it goes without saying that there is a need for representation of Black stories, directors, and writers in the horror genre. While Coogler is obviously aware of this, I don’t think the film was made with that in mind. This diversity framing has followed Coogler throughout his career and, however important it is for discourse on equality, it has the potential to limit the project to being good because it’s political and not good simply because it’s good.

Coogler and other Black creatives come from what I’d describe as a legacy of due diligence, telling stories that are known amongst Black people but not in the mainstream American imagination. Take for example, the inclusion of the Chinese grocery-store owners. This could be read as Coogler sprinkling in some racial diversity in the casting (if he was white I wouldn't hesitate to read it as such), or him reflecting the accuracy of who all was there in the setting of the story he wanted to tell. In an interview for Vulture consultant Dolly Li described the small subplot as “camaraderie”, but I’d say Coogler was just doing his homework. And this intentionality is one that allows diverse voices and experiences to be represented in ways that aren’t exploitative or the entire point.

On Rotation 

The star of this month’s rotation was “Kissing in Public” by Destin Conrad. We love an album drop just in time for the summer! It gives rooftop day party vibes in Brooklyn and I will be manifesting that moment in the next couple months. We also love a music video with a dance break – the girls just aren’t doing that anymore. 

Honorable mentions include Sault’s latest 10 and Flo’s Access All Areas, the latter of which was on repeat in preparation for seeing them on tour (it was 10/10). I anticipate more music drops in the next few weeks as artists and labels clamor for the coveted anthem of the summer slot. Someone get Kaytranada in the studio please!

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The end of April concludes my flirtation with dry living. After 5 months, I’ve learned and reflected on a lot which I’ll share at some point soon.

Anyhoo, that’s all I have for April. Would love to chat in the comments about anything mentioned or not mentioned in this month’s newsletter. Talk soon.