a lifestyle blog for book lovers

Links I love (plus your post-election reading)

My favorite finds from around the web:

Cool bookish ideas for your bullet journal. Very cool. And a wee bit overwhelming.

7 steps to internet sanity. “Just like money, time, and influence, the Internet is inherently neutral. What makes it bad or good is what you choose to do with it.”

Book-vending machine dispenses suspense. “Every book a surprise. No two alike. Collect all 112 million titles.”

Nine favorite fall outfits.

Now read this:

hillbilly elegy

Wondering what to read to make sense of the political climate we’ve suddenly found ourselves in? I still don’t get it, but I get it a little better thanks to J.D. Vance’s memoir Hillbilly Elegy. I live in Kentucky, I have family in rust belt Ohio—two important regions he writes about, explaining the divide that exists in our country now. If you’re constructing a post-election reading list, add this one to it.

On the blog:

One year ago: A few November favorite things. I had forgotten about half of these and was glad to be reminded.

Two years ago: What makes a great book club novel? “Sometimes bad books—or at least seriously flawed ones—make for much better book club discussions. They may be far from greatness, but golly, is there a lot to talk about.”

Three years ago: There is exactly enough time. Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.”

Four years ago: A shopping strategy for women who hate to shop. This is a serious throwback to my first Stitch Fix fix, since that I’ve gotten dozens of them at this point.

Five years ago: 5 things I love about shopping online, and 3 things I wish I’d learned sooner.

Have a great weekend!

15 comments

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  1. When I saw the title of your post (before reading the actual post), my first thought was “Hillbilly Elegy needs to be on this list,” so I’m really glad to see that it is! It really helped me understand a group of likely Trump voters and some of the anti-government sentiment sweeping our country a bit better.

    I was completely unfamiliar with this population of people before reading this book and definitely feel like my eyes were opened.

  2. FIP says:

    I’ve been seeing this book everywhere and your blog finally got me to order it! Love your fall outfits as well.

    Most of all I love how balanced this entry was. That what we need badly…balance.

    • Thanks for sharing that interview. It was a great read. Whatever else comes out of this election, people on both sides of the aisle are now talking about poverty. They probably won’t reach the same conclusions of what to do about it, but at least it’s part of the conversation.

  3. Cindy McMahon says:

    We had the WORST bookclub meeting EVER this week. The book was “Circling the Sun.” The problem wasn’t that it was a bad book. We generally liked it – just not much to have an opinion about. (Or maybe it was just post-election sleep deprivation. ha)

  4. Mary Kate says:

    I wrote a Facebook post on Wednesday about Hillbilly Elegy. Must read for people like me, who have spent all their lives in blue states and knew nothing about any of this. It has helped me understand a little bit why this horrible thing has happened. I don’t necessarily feel better about it, but I do understand a little more.

  5. Veronica says:

    I saw the interview with Vance after the election and it was excellent. I’m #5 on the library list for the book, so really looking forward to reading it. As some family members still live in coal country, I saw the despondency and understand why they felt they weren’t represented. Being labeled ” coal people” and rednecks only added to that feeling, I’m sure.

  6. This is why I read your blog, Anne–so I can find out about books like Vance’s and fun fall outfits in one place :). Now I think I need to go revisit your list of books to read when you feel like the world’s falling apart, or something like that…

  7. Pamela says:

    If, like me, you’re 100something on the library hold list for Vance’s book, he did a great TED talk too. I guess it’s good that so many people want to read his book, even if I am impatient to get my hands on it…

  8. Susan says:

    Here’s another book for post-election reading: Clash! How to Survive in a Multi Cultural World by Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Conner. The authors examine the idea that independence vs. interdependence is foundational to how we live our lives and is often the major underlying tension when analyzing cultural divides. I started reading it pre-election, and post-election it takes on another layer of importance. Would highly recommend.

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