Happy Friday, readers! I have to confess, the weekend vibes are already in full effect at my house. We’ve been nursing a little holiday sickness, but we’re not so bad we can’t read our books and enjoy the latest season of The Great British Baking Show. (I’d forgotten how much I love it!)
In traditional Christmas week style (for me), yesterday I finished two books, started three, and abandoned one.* I hope you have a lovely weekend full of lovely reads. I’ve picked a few to get you started.
My favorite finds from around the web:
- ‘We Wanted Our Patrons Back’ — Public Libraries Scrap Late Fines To Alleviate Inequity. I hope this trend continues.
- Don’t you think daisy sweaters are the friendliest sweaters?
- I added a special note to my favorite audiobooks of 2019 after reading all your comments that say, Where is The Dutch House??
- How Noel Fielding Went From a Hedonist to a Host of ‘The Great British Baking Show.’ “He knows nothing about baking, although Hollywood did once show him how to bake a loaf of bread. (“It was like that scene in ‘Ghost’ with Demi Moore,” Fielding said.)”
- Stop Believing in Free Shipping. “Retailers—especially Amazon—have warped our idea of what it means to shop online.”
- This chocolate appeared in my stocking. So good!
- ‘Snow Child’ Conveys Alaska’s Wild Magic In Musical Form. In the course of researching the episode about The Snow Child from this past season of One Great Book, I learned it was turned into a musical last year. Pretty cool!
- How did this escape my notice? A new Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales book came out on December 3. My fourth grader adores this series. (Last year his teacher thanked us because our son got his whole class hooked on these books!)
- “The Rules” Book, Revisited 25 Years Later. Criiiinge. But the commentary will make you laugh!
- Instagram is broken. It also broke us. “While generally put forth with positive intentions, these overdue measures ignore the fact that no matter how much Instagram would like to be viewed as a place users feel good about visiting, its entire existence is predicated on reminding people that other people are having more fun than they are.”
The Good News About Bad Books
I’m leading a special session in the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club on Monday called The Good News About Bad Books. This conversational session will help you review the reading year gone by and make resolutions for the reading year to come. It’s free for members (and easy for members to watch the replay later if you can’t attend live at 1:30 p.m. EST).
Click here for more info on joining the Book Club. The New Year is a GREAT time to jump in, especially because our Winter Book Preview is right around the corner on January 13! Click here for more info or to sign up.
Favorite Instagram:
The only book in the whole house I want to read right now (Gold by Chris Cleave) should be RIGHT HERE. Am I the only one who loses her own books? Follow me on Instagram @annebogel.
(Don’t worry—I subsequently found it, I read it, I loved it.)
On the blog:
One year ago: 16 short books to knock out your reading challenge.
Two years ago: What worked for me in 2017. Look at this just for the picture of Daisy as a puppy!
Three years ago: Learning how to think (really). “It’s clear from Newport’s work that the man does little that’s not on purpose, and in contrast, I was struck by how rarely I set how for a walk, or maybe a drive, with the express purpose of thinking about a specific problem.”
Four years ago: My favorite Jane Austen film adaptations. Enough said.
Five years ago: My favorite books of 2014. It’s so fun to take a look back!
On What Should I Read Next:
We had a new episode next week, Christmas Eve and all! It’s a great one for the almost-New Year.
Have a great weekend!
* This sounds more ridiculous than it is. I finished the epilogue of the audiobook I’ve been listening to for weeks, so I began a new audiobook (although I may be switching to print for this one). I finished the mystery I’ve been reading in print, so I started a new nonfiction print book. And then I read a fast hundred pages of a lighthearted novel I’m probably not going to continue with, unless you want to talk me into it. That means it’s time to pick out a novel to read next!
11 comments
Thanks for the article link on shipping. Thought- provoking to say the least! Merry Christmas, Anne! I’ve been filling out my 2020 Reading Challenge. One of my gifts this year was “The Book-Lover’s Journal.” I’m excited to use it this year with more notes on what I’ve read. For 2019, I simply tracked date, title, and author. I actually read 51 books this year! I’ll probably not reach that quantity in 2020, but I’m okay with that. Simply rediscovering the joy of reading is enough for me.
I will be laughing all day over “The Rules”. Although I do have to agree with “Hide in the closet any grungy bathrobes or things you don’t want him to see.” 😄
You just introduced me to A Cup of Jo. I am absolutely loving it, no adoring it! And devouring it. Thank you.
Funny tidbit – a friend of a friend is moving to Louisville for work; they are having a hard time finding accommodations and generally friends in the area. They asked if I knew anyone there and I thought of you.
LOL – I mean you are truly one of the kindest people I know (sort of) and for sure if there are more like you in your town then my friend’s friend will be okay.
Oh Anne again I must say your influence has been such a joy and blessing thru this very difficult year. Just finished this morning, Sarah Bessey’s book Miracles and other Blessings which I found after your show with her. Tears flowed freely thru the last half of that book, and I gave it 4.75 stars! That was book number 154 for me, which I had originally said a goal of 100, but I decided to push into the Anne Bogel range…thank you so much for your mission!!!!
Wow that is a lot of books! Congrats!
I read the linked article on ending library fines and I have such mixed feelings! I do sympathize with those who can’t pay fines and would gladly pay into a fund to help those who are truly in need. On the other hand, the threat of a looming fine is a powerful incentive for me to finish and return books on time (I’ve always been a rules-follower!) I wonder if the absence of fines will lead to more overdue or missing books? I guess time will tell.
My library quit charging fines. If you have overdue books they block you from checking out books. Not being able to check out online books anytime I want motivates me to get my books turned in.
I think that this is a very thoughtful approach!
I am a public librarian who works at a library that has the fine free policy in place. There are libraries in Ohio who have been doing this for years already. It is a good thing. First of all, fines are usually a small part of the budget. Your fines do not fund the library. Second of all, each library has its own rules such as if an item is not returned within a certain amount of time, card is blocked or you are charged for the item which usually means you can’t check out again until the item is returned. People want to use their cards. They will return items. Also, if someone wants to keep a book a few days longer to finish it, they can and not worry about the fine that will accrue. Public libraries want items used. We don’t want them sitting on the shelf so whatever we can do (within reason) to make that happen, we will do. Thirdly, I cannot tell you how many times I have been yelled at or told off because someone owes a small fine on a book (previous library). The fact that staff do not have to worry about this is a stress reliever. Personally, I think all libraries should go fine free. Use your library.
I just finished the print version of the The Warmth of Other Suns…I thought it was a great read and recommend it to my friends ….I let them know that it is a very long book but well worth the effort. It has been on my nightstand for quite a while. Now I am deciding on which “big book” will replace it. Maybe
Ducks,Newburyport by Lucy Ellamnn.
Thank you for turning us on to Hazardous Tales! I was looking for something that would hook my 7 year old advanced reader who thought full middle grade chapter books looked too long and daunting. He got hooked earlier this year and still reads each of them over and over again. The latest one made it under our Christmas tree. He has already asked when another is coming out!