Links I love

My favorite finds from around the web:

• You’re not meant to do what you love. You’re meant to do what you’re good at. “We’re doing people an incredible disservice by telling them they should seek, and pursue, what they love. People usually can’t differentiate what they really love and what they love the idea of.”

• Technology killed bookstore chains. Can technology save indie bookstores? “The publishers deal with bookstores dramatically differently today than they did a decade ago.”

• The books that I am never taking off my daughter’s bookshelf. “When it came to certain books, I put my foot down and refused. Regardless of reading level or age range, THESE books were not titles that our family would ever outgrow.”

• When is a writer a racist? From Everyone Brave Is Forgiven author Chris Cleave: “I think that the job of imagining how it feels to be other than oneself is a useful vocation. By trying to understand and narrate the lives of others, artists hope to bring about the small leaps of empathy that allow societies to bridge divides of heritage.”

Need to know: 

Current Book of the Month picks are available. And no, I haven’t read every title this month like I did last month! At least not yet.

Here’s what I do know about this month’s selections:

The Woman in Cabin 10: I devoured this in two days. If you’re looking for a good thriller in the vein of And Then There Were None, this is for you.

Circling the Sun: I read this last year, and if you’re a fan of biographical fiction such as McLain’s The Paris Wife, Benjamin’s The Aviator’s Wife, or Therese Ann Fowler’s Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, this is the book for you.

I packed up the other three to take to the beach. I’ll fill you in come Quick Lit time on the 15th.

If you’re new to Book of the Month, make sure you use a discount code when you join! Click here to get started. The code READ5 will get you your first book for just $5—a truly amazing deal!

But if you’re planning on reading more than one new novel this year—and I’ll bet you are if you’re reading this blog—the better option is to use the code 30TOTE to get your first three books for just a little more than $10 each. It saves you cash in the long run. Plus you get a free tote bag.

(Not sponsored; I’m a fan and an affiliate who pays her own way for her membership.)

Happy reading! I’d love to hear what you pick.

On the blog:

One year ago: Authors worth binge reading. “Every once in a while I’ll stumble upon a new-to-me author and feel immediately compelled to read everything they’ve ever written—preferably before the week is over.”

Two years ago: I take the long way home. “As I’ve gotten older (and wiser, I hope) I’ve realized there are more ways to measure efficiency than just speed and distance.” I still think about this post all the time.

Three years ago: The liberating, terrifying realities of deliberate practice (and the 6 best deliberate practice books). “My inner idealist is captivated by how people get really good at what they do; my pragmatic self knows all this theory has huge implications for my ordinary life.”

Five years ago: The best book you’ve never heard of on … making marriage work. “Most marital counseling focuses on conflict resolution. But according to marriage expert John Gottman, one of the most surprising truths about marriage is that most marital conflicts aren’t solvable in the first place.”

Have a great weekend!