I’m coming to you from snowy Chicagoland where I’m preparing for a cozy weekend with dear friends who are in town for a visit. We’re staying a few towns over from where I live and I’m hoping the expected additional snow won’t interfere with our plans to eat, shop, and explore. Either way, it will be good to be in the same room, especially since I missed our last get together due to unforeseen circumstances. If I’ve learned anything from this past year, it’s that I can roll with life’s punches but it’s so much easier when my friends are by my side. This weekend will be a celebration of that fact.
Whatever weather or life circumstances you’re facing this weekend, I hope these links will offer just the right amount of distraction and enjoyment. Happy reading!
My favorite finds from around the web:
I offer gift links for articles whenever possible (you may still need to create an account with the publication); if there’s no gift link and you’re not a subscriber, check to see if your library carries the publication or use a service like Pocket.
Lessons for the End of the World. (The New Yorker) The inimitable Hanif Abdurraqib memorializes poet Nikki Giovanni and the LA fires.
Luminous! A masterpiece! Why publishing can’t stop debating blurbs. (Vox) I have been fascinated by the reaction to this news.
If you remember what a big crossword puzzle nerd I am (MMD), you’ll know how thrilled I was to receive The New York Times Mega Book of Sunday Crosswords for Christmas (Amazon).
What Really Happens to Your Used Clothing. (Teen Vogue) “‘Tell your friends to stop sending these stained and ripped clothes,’ Grace says to me on an afternoon in January 2024. By ‘your friends’ she means Americans.”
Team member Ginger and I are currently buddy reading my all-time favorite novel A Prayer for Owen Meany (MMD). She hasn’t read it before and it’s been so fun to watch her experience Owen. Plus, we’re having the best discussions about the themes.
I highly recommend signing up for the 28 Days of Black History newsletter. This year’s theme is African Americans and Labor and I’ve learned a ton.
Since the 1970s, Martin Yan Has Taught Americans How to Love Dumplings. (Food & Wine) I loved watching Yan Can Cook when I was growing up.
Welcome to Dinner Music. (Culture Study Substack) I used to make an annual mix CD for friends and prided myself on my curation skills. Friends tell me they still listen to those mixes! I stopped in my early/mid-30s for a variety of reasons. When I listen to something these days, it’s almost always a podcast, though I have been trying to choose the radio when I’m in the car for the sheer discoverability factor. Anyway, this reminded me of how much time I used to spend finding and listening to new music. I want to get back into that habit and prioritize listening to the hundreds of CDs I own, which means I need to find a decent CD player (preferably not a stereo). Anyone have recs?
AI-Generated Slop Is Already In Your Public Library. (404 Media) Yikes, yikes, yikes.
My Quest to Find the Owner of a Mysterious WWII Japanese Sword. (Outside) Riveting story that connects across generations and countries.
One of the best recent additions to my winter soup rotation is this Creamy Dairy-Free Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup (Jenn Eats Good). I typically use regular rice and sometimes swap spinach in for the kale. It is incredibly flavorful!
Stephanie Yue Duhem: Only Bad Poems Go Viral. (Do Not Research Substack) “Poems are, in many ways, the perfect vehicle for social media engagement. Their brevity makes them easy to consume in a single glance. Their self-contained nature means they can be completely divorced from context. Their formal qualities provide instant fodder for judgment.”
Is anyone listening to The Telepathy Tapes podcast? I’m only a couple of episodes in—I find I want to sit with the content and let it percolate for a while before moving on to the next one—but it is blowing my mind.
Don’t miss these posts:
20 chaste and closed door romances for your TBR. Romance has a wide range of heat levels ranging from chaste to high heat. We’re turning our attention to the oft-requested category of chaste and closed door romances!
50 engrossing and adorable rom com books and movies for your Valentine’s weekend. Perfect pairings!
Get hooked on a new mystery series with these 10 addicting audiobooks. These well-written procedurals are worth the read.
Have a great weekend!
Leigh Kramer is the Editor, Event Project Manager, and Social Media Manager here at MMD. Her go-to genres are romance and fantasy. You can follow Leigh on Goodreads.
36 comments
Jenn Eats Goood is one of my favorite substack follows! Her cheap grocery meals series is so good and her recipes are great.
I don’t think I’ve tried any of her recipes before this and I can’t even remember how I came across this one. Any favorites that you recommend in particular?
Oooh, seconded! Her Wild Rice Soup was a hit with us.
I’ve been slow reading A Prayer For Owen Meany for a couple of years. I adore it and don’t want it to end, hence the slow read lol.
The article about used clothing was fascinating. It reminds me of a book I read a few years ago which I will link here. It definitely reminds me to be more mindful about purchases I can never understand why people “donate” clothes that they themselves wouldn’t wear! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GSZJ3Y/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title
Oh, yes, I loved Overdressed! I’m with you on not understanding how people donate dirty, holey clothes.
Thanks for the podcast suggestion and also the link to the Black History newsletter! Hoping you have a great, cozy weekend with your friends!
Thank you!
I loved reading “A Prayer for Own Meany.”
It has been such a treat to revisit it!
I was backpacking in Europe in my 20s and I ran out of books (horror of horrors). I found a bookshop in Budapest that had a limited number of books in English and I bought Owen. I will never forget falling in love with that book during that trip!
What an incredible find!!
A Prayer for Owen Meany is on my top 5 favorite books list. I always encourage my friends and family to read it.
Your story about CDs sparked many fond memories for me about my own collection trips with my brother. What fun we had searching for unique used CD stores! Missing my favorite pieces of music that the two of us curated together, this inspires me to finally get my CD player out and play everything again. Luckily, I have a working CD player. I never parted with my collection and so glad for that. Thanks for this posting! Brought me joy on an icy, cold day.
I’m so glad it brought back good memories!
Enjoy your weekend with friends! I’m so glad to find someone else whose all-time favorite novel is “A Prayer for Owen Meany” – this is a great reminder to reread it.
Thank you! Hope you enjoy your reread.
I loooooooove A Prayer for Owen Meany. I read it 30+ years ago when my then-boss (bookstore manager) recommended it. At one point I told her I was having a hard time with it and she said–and I have said the same thing to others many times since–“the first 300 pages are tough but then I swear you won’t be able to put it down!” Of course she was right and Owen Meany remains one of those characters who “lives” in my brain and memory as real as any acquaintance or friend. I have frequently thought when reading or seeing a news piece–I wonder what Owen would think of that!
He is truly a one of a kind character!
This substack post from Colin Meloy (The Decemberists) struck a cord with me re: The TelepathyTapes podcast. A helpful reminder to think critically about things we ingest.
https://open.substack.com/pub/colinmeloy/p/autistic-people-are-not-telepathic?r=5al0h&utm_medium=ios
Interesting. I plan on doing a deep dive once I’ve finished listening to the podcast but I read this article. It doesn’t appear he actually listened to the podcast.
The so-called psychic phenomenon happening in The Telepathy Tapes is actually a well-known pseudoscientific phenomenon called facilitated communication (FC for short). This blog post by Dr. Steven Novella, a Yale neurologist, has some additional information:
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-telepathy-tapes-more-fc-pseudoscience/
I would encourage anybody who wants to listen to this podcast to first read up on FC a bit so that you can think more critically about what is being shared in the podcast.
It is frustrating that the podcasters are calling for more detailed study, while clearly ignoring decades of previous work that would have helped them to test what was going on in a way that is actually scientifically rigorous.
Regarding recycling clothes, I have been so grateful to discover the Take Back Bag program. They actually recycle the clothes you send, they do not send them abroad or put them in the landfill! This is the ethical place to send your clothes that are stained and damaged and not fit to donate. I’ve sent in three bags so far and its easy to do. https://fordays.com/products/take-back-bag
Oh wow! What a great resource. Thank you for the recommendation!
During the pandemic we listened to one album a day for months it was so fun to hear music we’d loved but forgotten. have fun with your friends. .Definitely signing up for the newslette. thanks
That’s such a great idea!
Check out this cute CD player that looks like a record player!
https://amzn.to/4i12jyq
Super cute!
The telepathy tapes sounds so interesting! I want to read the AI-generated slop but it’s paywalled 🙁
We include tips for reading paywalled articles just under the “My favorite finds around the web” heading.
Glad to know there is another fan of a prayer for Owen meany out there. Love that book.
There are many of us out there!
A Prayer For Owen Meany is a classic!!!!
Thank you for sharing the link to the article about AI books entering our libraries —is there a way to read the entire article
without buying a subscription?
We include tips just under the “My favorite finds around the web” heading.
I’m hoping some of this wonderful community can help me find some audiobooks to listen to in the car with my 6 year old daughter. At home, we’re currently reading through the Chronicles of Narnia. We did The Wizard of Oz recently on audio in the car and she loved it. I’d especially love classics, but not sure what would be most appropriate for her age. Looking for something we’ll BOTH enjoy!
My 6 year old loved Charlotte’s Web!
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