Lifestyle
11 new books in April offer a chance to step inside someone else’s world
April may well be “the cruelest month,” as T.S. Eliot famously opined — and even a five-minute doomscroll makes it tough to deny that cruelty is riding at anything but record levels lately. But remember you do have an alternative to doomscrolling, one that’s been around much longer: cracking open a book — or doomflipping, I suppose you could call it.
Don’t get me wrong: The books expected this month don’t exactly radiate escapist good vibes, riddled as they are with anxiety, corruption, unfulfilled desire — even the occasional direct challenge to our notions of reality itself. But they do offer the opportunity to step into someone else’s shoes and get to know their own particular view of our shared world — and sometimes that’s consolation enough. Which is nice, because it may have to be this month.
Transcription, by Ben Lerner (4/7)
The jacket copy of Lerner’s novella is basically a journalist’s stress dream: Commissioned to write what may be the final profile of his mentor, an aging literary icon, Lerner’s narrator fries his only recording device just minutes before the interview by dropping his phone in the sink. What follows is a meditation on memory, art and fatherhood, expressed in a handful of conversations that we’ve got plenty of cause to find unreliable, given the circumstances. As in his previous novels, including The Topeka School, Lerner centers some version of himself in this strangely captivating blend of fiction, memoir and critical essay, shot through with humor and anxiety.
American Fantasy, by Emma Straub (4/7)
Speaking of premises that read like one of my nightmares: Straub’s novel portrays the American Fantasy cruise ship and its themed voyage dedicated to an aging boyband and their loyal superfans — at this point, mostly middle-aged women addled with nostalgia and the looming terrors of menopause. The book bounces between the perspectives of a reluctant attendee, a band member and the boat’s hypercompetent event director, who really doesn’t deserve this. It’s infused with a blend of bemused humor and abiding sympathy familiar to readers of Straub’s previous novels, All Adults Here and This Time Tomorrow.
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, by Patrick Radden Keefe (4/7)
In Keefe’s previous book Say Nothing, the veteran reporter took hold of a single loose thread — a mother’s decades-old disappearance — and pulled with such tenacity that the history of an entire tumultuous era raveled into view. Here, Keefe applies a similar approach — only this time, instead of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, the context of his latest book is modern London’s obliging relationship with the international financial elite. But as before, there’s an intimately human tragedy at the heart of Keefe’s investigation: a young man’s fatal plunge into the Thames and all the uncomfortable questions British authorities appear reluctant to pursue.
The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie, by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (4/7)
“You too can have your mind altered — no drugs necessary.” This, from the book’s introduction, offers something of a promise — which Prescod-Weinstein keeps with gusto, in this jaunty affront to just about everything our senses tell us about the world. The Dartmouth physicist’s follow-up to her lauded debut, The Disordered Cosmos, draws from just about every intellectual nook and cranny — from Bantu linguistics and Star Trek, to hip-hop and gender theory — to weave an idiosyncratic illustration of the universe as physicists understand it today. It’s an accessible take on a flabbergasting subject which, to put it mildly, offers a rather different view of reality than the one I remember learning in school.
My Dear You: Stories, by Rachel Khong (4/7)
This is Khong’s third book of fiction and her first short story collection. In it, she shows off the kind of range suggested by her previous novel, the tripartite Real Americans published two years ago. Here, in the new collection, heavy subjects such as race and grief coexist with conjured spirits and a psychic cat, extraterrestrials and a God who has reconsidered the whole “human” thing — and given everyone a deadline by which they’ll need to decide what other species they’d like to be instead. Understandably, given the givens so far.
Go Gentle, by Maria Semple (4/14)
Now this, my friends, is what we call a romp. Semple is best known for funny, deceptively poignant portraits of mothers in midlife crisis — see: Where’d You Go, Bernadette, a smash best-seller with its own Hollywood adaptation. The star of her newest novel is Adora Hazzard, a divorced philosopher with a sullen teenage daughter, a job teaching morals to rich kids and a growing “coven” of friends living nearby. Hold on tight, though — this one’s plot has twists and turns in abundance, as Hazzard certainly earns her last name in a series of, dare I say, shenanigans, animated always by a subtle, irrepressible joie de vivre.
On the Calculation of Volume, Book IV, by Solveig Balle, translated from the Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell (4/14)
Yep, it’s still November 18. This unassuming date has detained Balle’s narrator for three novels already, and is likely to continue doing so for another three after this one. I hesitate to relate any more details about where the plot of the planned septology stands at this point, for fear of spoiling it for folks who still intend to catch up. Suffice to say, change is afoot at this point for our timelocked narrator, who may not be nearly as alone in her plight as she had initially thought.
Last Night in Brooklyn, by Xochitl Gonzalez (4/21)
Gonzalez stays close to home with her third novel. A dyed-in-the-wool Brooklynite, born and bred, the author of Olga Dies Dreaming has already earned a nod as a Pulitzer finalist for her column concerning gentrification in the borough she calls home. So the departure in her latest book is less in space than time, as her latest novel deposits readers in Brooklyn in 2007, on the cusp of global financial freefall, for a story of class, race, dangerous aspirations and the looming death of a heady era, which bears unmistakable echoes of The Great Gatsby.
American Men, by Jordan Ritter Conn (4/21)
The American men referred to in the grandly sweeping title of Conn’s sophomore book of narrative journalism, in fact, number just four. Each of these men bears the mantle of masculinity differently, grappling differently with all the pressures that the label entails, but each one has also bared his experiences and innermost thoughts to Conn with equally thorough candor. From these four interspersed stories Conn does not produce any sociological claims, still less a polemic, so much as a portrait of four lives so disarmingly frank, it can be difficult to look away — and maybe we shouldn’t.
Small Town Girls: A Memoir, by Jayne Anne Phillips (4/21)
Phillips won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her last book, Night Watch, a wrenching portrayal of trauma and recovery set in a West Virginia mental asylum following the Civil War. Now, Phillips (“one of our greatest living writers,” according to Michael Chabon, one of that year’s Pulitzer jurors) is returning to the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, not in historical fiction but in personal retrospect. It’s where Phillips grew up, where she has come to set most of fiction, and her new memoir is not so much about her life alone as it is her lifelong relationship with this place she “can never truly leave.”
The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to Today, by Steve Brusatte (4/28)
Brusatte could not be any clearer about this, folks: Birds. Are. Dinosaurs. The American paleontologist underlines the idea, which is apparently a century and a half old, early and often in The Story of Birds. This expansive history of our fine-feathered neighbors, as scientists understand them today, traces an evolutionary thread that leads directly from landbound behemoths like the triceratops to the airborne raptors that patrol our own skies. As he has done in his previous books — which covered dinosaurs and mammals, respectively — Brusatte offers a lively, loving introduction to his topic that’s as comprehensive as it is accessible.
Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian And Grogu.
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Lucasfilm Ltd.
The Mandalorian has made the jetpack-assisted leap to the big screen with the new movie Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. The laconic bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) and his cute sidekick Grogu are hired by the good guys to do a job for some bad guys. You know what you’re gonna get – creatures, droids, easter eggs, and lots of fights. But, after three seasons on Disney+, will folks go out to the theaters to watch something they’ve gotten to know on their couches?
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When Steven Lewis volunteered to co-chair a renovation committee in 2022 for his Pacific Palisades synagogue, he had no idea that the project would become his emotional anchor when his home burned three years later.
“It was something positive that I could focus on,” Lewis said. “I don’t know how I would have gotten through the past year and a half without this project.”
For the record:
10:26 a.m. May 20, 2026A previous version of this story stated the homes of two Kehillat Israel rabbis had burned in the fire. Three rabbis lost their homes.
On Friday, the synagogue reopened after being closed since Jan. 7, 2025, following the devastating fire. Kehillat Israel didn’t burn but suffered significant smoke damage. What had begun years ago as a revitalization project added a layer of remediation. It’s now one of the first religious spaces to reopen in the Pacific Palisades since the fire swept through the neighborhood where more than 70% of its members lived.
Lewis and his family are among the 230 Kehillat Israel (KI) families who lost their homes in the Palisades fire, including the congregation’s three rabbis, with an additional 250 families who were displaced. Most, including Lewis, are in various stages of grappling with insurance, permits and construction, whether they have to rebuild from the ground up or salvage their homes by remediating damage caused by toxic smoke.
Roughly 480 Kehillat Israel families lost their homes or were displaced after the Palisades fire. The temple’s reopening was a nourishing moment for a grief-stricken community.
(Robin Aronson Photography)
As part of its opening reception, the synagogue hosted Shabbat services. The 400-person capacity sanctuary was stuffed. Neighbors embraced and caught up in the courtyard and social hall, kids zoomed around with friends, and, when it was time for services to begin, attendees clamored in a clump of joyful chaos as they attempted to enter the newly remodeled sanctuary. Services were full of singing and speeches as congregants filled the rows, lined the walls, and spilled into the aisles. With a full band accompanying the Reconstructionist congregation’s services, the tone was one of joy, reunion and celebration.
“It was a monumental moment, which we were so grateful for,” said Meredith Kaplan, a multigenerational temple member who lost her home in the fire. “But it also just felt so normal and good. Back in the synagogue, almost, in a weird way, like no time had passed.”
A new ark, which houses the temple’s Torahs, was dedicated to the ebullient Cantor Chayim Frenkel and his wife Marcy Frenkel.
Cantor Chayim Frenkel and daughter Mandi Frenkel sing together in front of the new Torah ark.
(Robin Aronson Photography)
“The Torahs are always the first things we rescue from the sanctuary when there are fires,” said Frenkel, who has been with the synagogue for 40 years. “Knowing that our story is safe and surrounded by this beautiful design, and to have it dedicated in honor of me and my wife, Marcy, is extremely powerful.”
The clergy specifically placed the handles of the tall ark at the bottom, so that even preschoolers would be able to open it. As the congregation stood before the ark within the bowl-shaped sanctuary for the first time since the fires, Rabbi Amy Bernstein performed the blessing used to dedicate the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem 3,000 years prior.
“May it be a place where all who enter find inspiration, affirmation and connection,” Bernstein said.
While many faith institutions had to close because of the Palisades and Eaton fires, Kehillat Israel was uniquely positioned to be among the first to reopen. At least 14 sanctuaries burned to the ground last January.
In 2022, the temple staff began a limited revitalization project. Handles were falling off and fabrics were showing their wear since a major remodel 31 years prior. Technology needs had also long been eclipsed; Kehillat Israel has been live-streaming its services since the pandemic. So the committee hired architects and builders, made plans, got permits, and — crucially — raised funds all prior to the Palisades fire. The plan was to retain the beloved sanctuary’s original design, while making technical and some aesthetic upgrades. Originally slated for completion in fall 2024, project delays allowed KI to start work on the building quickly after the fire — albeit with the new work of smoke damage remediation — and the decision to stay faithful to the sanctuary’s look became even more salient. For many, it was one of the last few remaining familiar spaces.
Hugs and selfies abounded at Shabbat services.
(Robin Aronson Photography)
Other synagogues, churches and mosques are on the path to rebuilding, but they are facing the same hurdles as many of their congregants and members, and then some. L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Palisades, says she has been working closely with faith institutions, but that insurance disputes and fundraising have been a challenge.
“Their ability to rebuild is very much tied to their active membership,” said Park, who attended the reopening. “But their own members have lost their homes and are mired in their own uncertainty and financial challenges.”
Despite differences in rebuilding efforts, the faith community celebrated the win of a congregation, even if it was not theirs. Rabbi Daniel Sher, also of Kehillat Israel, said he received texts from rabbis across the city encouraging him to bask in the moment. Rabbi Bernstein is close friends with Rev. Grace Park of the Palisades Presbyterian Church, which burned in the fire, and they are excited about what this reopening means for forging ties between their congregations in ways only the fire made possible.
“It sounds cliche, but the walls between our communities literally burned to the ground,” Bernstein said. “We are both aware that we’d like to start doing more things together — not just for Grace’s congregation and my congregation — but bringing people of the Palisades, or those who want to come to the Palisades, together.”
The congregation gathers for a Shabbat meal, packing a temple hall.
(Robin Aronson Photography)
The synagogue’s reopening signals that the wheels of Palisades recovery are in motion. Carole and David White, who lost their Palisades townhome, had been eagerly anticipating the reopening services.
“It means the world,” said Carole White. “It’s truly one day at a time, and some days are better than others.”
“And today is a good one,” said David White. “It’s the closest we’ve been to coming home.”
Rose Byrne poses at a 2025 press conference in Berlin for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe
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Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe
Rose Byrne is one of the few actors to receive both an Oscar and a Tony nomination in the same year — the former for the film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and the latter for Fallen Angels on Broadway.
If I Had Legs was an intense indie film about a mother falling apart as she struggles to keep up with ever-increasing caregiving demands for her ill daughter. Byrne, who previously starred in blockbuster comedies like Neighbors and Bridesmaids, was praised for showing her range. Now, she’s returning to comedy in the revival of Noël Coward’s 1925 play about two wealthy women who find out a man they were each previously involved with is coming to town.
Kelli O’Hara, Mark Consuelos and Rose Byrne star in the Broadway revival of Fallen Angels.
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“I had long wanted to do a true comedic piece onstage, like it’s one of my dreams,” Byrne says of Fallen Angels. “We are trying to reach the back row, so physically, … I felt like I was screaming when I first got up [there], because we’re not wearing mics either.”
Byrne’s Fallen Angels character gets progressively drunk — and increasingly loud — throughout the play. She credits Coward’s “brilliant” writing and stage directions with guiding her performance.
“The language he used, the sort of linguistic gymnastics and the extraordinary vocabulary of Noël Coward is a delight,” she says. “I never tire of sitting backstage and I’m constantly rediscovering the words that he peppers throughout.”
Interview highlights
On her role in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Mary Bronstein wrote this incendiary screenplay and I just did not want to mess it up. It was such a creative opportunity. … We hit it off and had a real experience, one of those experiences in life that, creatively, has kind of changed me.
[The film] defies generalization or description, because it’s sort of like a fever dream, in a way. It has gallows humor in there. There’s horror tropes in the film, too. I think Mary Bronstein [who also directed the film] really broke the mold with the tone of the film, in many ways. She … tapped into the monster within and the fear of being a parent and the horror of being a parent, and some of the joy too, but obviously she’s in a really extraordinarily difficult situation, this woman. I still can’t believe the film got as far as it did, just because it was a small independent film.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You was a small independent movie, says Byrne, “I still can’t believe the film got as far as it did.”
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A24
On the constant beeping of medical equipment in the background of If I Had Legs
These noises get magnified and actually Mary Bronstein made those louder, just a bit, like the clock on the wall, the beeping of the machine, all those things were louder because they are in [the main character’s] point of view. And it is as a parent, those things become overstimulating. It’s relentless and, [Bronstein] wanted to capture that claustrophobia.
On why viewers don’t get to see the daughter or know what her illness is
The conceit of not seeing the daughter, and Mary has spoken to this many times, but [it’s] sort of a two-prong thing in that I don’t think Linda, my character, can see her daughter at this point. She’s so drowning and beginning this real descent into her mental health crisis. … Also for the audience to have that choice taken away to not see the daughter, you’re forced to reckon with the mother. Because as soon as you put a child on screen, your empathy, as it should, goes to the child. They’re so vulnerable, and immediately your concern will go to them, and so she takes that choice away from the viewer. So you are forced to be in the perspective of the mother.
On parenting after spending the day on set
Kids are so in-the-moment and grounding and — in the best way — they’re not particularly interested if you’ve had a hard day. But it’s so wonderful because you immediately snap into your role as mom, the greatest role, the most challenging, the most fun. And so for me, it’s church and state … leave it at work. I mean, obviously there were days when I was more exhausted or tired or [it’s] harder to let things go. But children are the great equalizer, as a parent.
On the thrill of filming the 2011 film Bridesmaids
We had such a fun time. It was a great group of actresses. I couldn’t believe I was there. … It’s already extraordinary to have that many scenes with just women. I’ve had that once since then when I did Mrs. America , [a] show for FX about the second wave of feminism. … But this was really, really special. And we had no idea that it would go on to become such a beloved movie and all of that. But the shooting of it was wonderful. It was an education in the brilliance of these comedic actresses and the performances. … It changed my life in so many ways. It really did. … The improv stuff, it’s just like a skillset that is still I marvel … they make it look effortless.
Therese Madden and Thea Chaloner produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.
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