Links I love

Happy Friday, readers! We are wilting under this heat wave, but it’s looking up: the weekend’s here with the promise of cooler temps and extra reading time.

My favorite finds from around the web:

• Writing while female: Kimmery discusses gender. “One of the natural laws of the universe states that if you are a mother trying to meet a writing deadline, you will be interrupted 5000 times in the middle of the same scene by someone barfing. Does this happen to male writers too?” (This is written by Kimmery Martin whose book, The Queen of Hearts, is in the Summer Reading Guide.)

• Why your fiddle leaf fig looks so awful. Mine doesn’t look awful (knock on wood), but this article convinced me to move my original, pricey fiddle outside for the summer. (My $17 Kroger bargain fiddle has been outside since I brought him home, and he’s doing great.)

• Butterfly in the sky: 10 great Reading Rainbow episodes for teachers, librarians, and readers everywhere. “As a teacher and now a school librarian, Reading Rainbow has always been there for me in a pinch. Rowdy bus dismissal time? Throw it on the projector. Book Fair set up needs to happen? Share the link in the computer lab!”

• Something about the anxiety. “My brain lies to my body, it tells us we can’t breathe, that we’re going to die. It shouldn’t. I should be fine.” An excellent personal piece from Fredrik Backman.

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society movie. Comes to Netflix August 10. I can’t wait!

Favorite Instagram:

I’ve been visiting libraries more when I travel and Nashville’s is definitely worth a stop. (Follow me on instagram @annebogel.)

A new podcast

This week I was thrilled to make a guest appearance on Jen Hatmaker’s For the Love podcast. We had so much fun talking ALL THE BOOKS. I mean, of course we did. Check out the episode here: You, a book, and a beach: must-have summer reads from Modern Mrs Darcy’s Anne Bogel.

Jen was recently on my podcast, What Should I Read Next. Check out that episode here: #135: When your reading life is nothing like people expect.

On the blog:

One year ago: Sometimes you have to decide you have what it takes. “I can’t run a four-minute mile, or lead a Fortune 500 company, or paint like Cassatt just because I decide to. But that thing right in front of me, that I’m already prepping for? That’s in my realm of possibility, if I decide to go for it.”

Two years ago: 25 books to read when you feel like the world is falling apart. “In those works artists wrestled with the most horrible news of the day—of the decade—and seeing their work nearly a century later made me feel like while today’s news is so new, and so horrible, civilization has been dealing with the worst for a long, long time.”

Three years ago: I took my eight-year-old to the tattoo parlor and here’s how it went. “Most parents don’t know that a tattoo parlor is even an option, and that it’s widely considered to be safer these days.”

Four years ago: My favorite cold drinks for hot summer days. “These are my favorite drinks to beat the heat.  Or, at least, to make it more tolerable.”

Five years ago: You get what you measure. “After experimenting with way too many strategies for keeping my focus on the important things, I’ve landed on a strategy that’s actually working right now.”

Six years ago: The checklist you need to have. “When I’m in a funk, sometimes my first impulse is to curl up with a pint of Graeter’s. But I know from experience that doesn’t actually make me feel better.”

Have a great weekend!