Happy weekend, readers! My kids have been on school holiday for two weeks so we’re struggling to remember what day it is—especially because we had Thursday pizza night instead of our usual Friday—but we’re hoping to make the best of their remaining time off. Oh, and it’s pouring rain—but thankfully that makes for good reading weather.
I hope your weekend holds good things in store for you. Here are some good reads and fun things to get you started.
My favorite finds from around the web:
- Yesterday I finished my first print book (as opposed to audiobook) of 2020. It may seem like an unusual choice, but it’s right at home with the rest of the books on my unlikely favorite subject.
- To answer an FAQ from my what worked for me in 2019 post: my two favorite Sephora cream lip stains are Vintage Rosewood (41) and Always Red (01).
- How the Post Turned the Mueller Report Into a Graphic Nonfiction Book. This is fascinating!
- My fourth grader devoured this new Mac B graphic novel in just over an hour yesterday.
- How the Loss of the Landline Is Changing Family Life. “Beyond developing conversational skills, the family phone asked its users to be patient and participate in one another’s lives.”
- It’s not too late to jump in on the 31 Day Read-Aloud Challenge! I’m constantly recommending Sarah’s work at Read Aloud Revival: she’s so good at getting kids excited about reading!
- ‘Little Women’ Review: This Movie Is Big. Have you seen it yet? I haven’t but I want to!
- How Reese Witherspoon Took Charge of Her Career and Changed Hollywood. This is a fascinating profile.
- Enter to win a copy of Don’t Overthink It on Goodreads!
- Delivery dilemma: Americans are ordering more, but the U.S. can only handle so much. The implications are even bigger than I would have guessed.
Don’t miss these posts:
- Survival strategies for winter, my least favorite season. These tips have helped me cope with the dreary winter months for years.
- If you’ve been wanting to do a better job reading the books you already own, dip into the What Should I Read Next archives and listen to my conversation with Whitney Conard, founder of The Unread Shelf, in episode 158: the life-changing magic of clearing your unread shelf. Whitney just launched a website and it looks fabulous.
- 7 simple ways to read more this year. If you’ve been wanting to squeeze more reading time into your days, these strategies should help.
- 16 books to cozy up with this winter. It’s the perfect time of year to get lost in a good book.
Have a great weekend!
Anne
20 comments
Anne, thank you so much for sharing about the new website! I’m so thankful for the amazing bookish community we are all a part of.
Saw little Woman and it was fabulous! Get out to see it ADAP.
Love the posts! Look so forward to seeing one in my email inbox! Always inspiring! Thank you!
Yu have to see Little Women. Have seen it twice. Just amazingly well done. Great acting, scenery and wonderful adaptation of my favorite book ever.
Little women was a delight. I hate to confess that I hated the Little Women novel and previous movies. So, I was happily surprised!
I saw Little Women and had mixed thoughts. There was some good acting however I have a thing about sticking to books and dialogue, if a character doesn’t say something int he book then they shouldn’t say it on the screen. In my mind they modernised the story too much and weren’t faithful enough to the plot. Also there was a lot of going back and forth int he timeline and it was rather annoying and unnecessary. I am just a purist when it comes to my books. x
I often feel the same way BUT…and I realize this may sound like heresy…I loved the movie more than the book.
It is a wonderful book but there were several characters I never liked and it was hard to feel any connection to them because they just seemed so…ugh. My daughter and I walked away from the movie and I can honestly say that the way the movie portrayed them, to me, fleshed them out to be both more complex and more realistic. I feel like I understood why certain things from the book perhaps made more sense than I felt they had just from the book (I’m looking at you, Amy and Laurie). Marmee was lovely as always but not so perfect and saccharine as to be annoying.
We loved the movie. One of the few times that I’ve felt that I was genuinely glad someone made a movie about a book. It’s like the movie finished telling the rest of the story. But I totally understand your points as well!
Anne, thanks for sharing the Sephora cream lip stain shades and for all you to do to foster this wonderful Community of Readers. I am so glad to have found this space and your podcast. Cheers to 2020!
I always enjoy the variety of things to read found in these posts!
One thing I just found to help (at least temporarily) with winter survival is a lovely potted primrose purchased at the grocery store for $2.50. It’s wonderful to see those deep pink petals and dark green leaves, knowing eventually the outer landscape will be colorful and thriving again.
I also enjoy the winter reading lists and would love to keep seeing more seasonal reading lists–they are some of my favorite posts here.
Well, if you are NOT a purist about the movie Little Women sticking to the lines in the book, then it’s an EXCELLENT adaptation!! I loved it!! It’s fresh, sumptuous, riotous, witty, realistic, and intelligent! The sisters are wonderful, but Meryl Streep as Aunt March is another Maggie Smith, with all the good lines—I thought I’d be tired of yet another version, but this one was seriously GOOD. The timeline changes, back and forth, could be confusing for those not familiar with the story, but if you are, you can pretty much take them in stride. Go see it, Anne!
I couldn’t agree more about the new Mac B book! I ordered two to arrive on pub date for two of my grandsons. One had asked for it for an early Dec. birthday, and when the other heard about it he asked for it for Christmas. Such fun books for boys!
Thank You for an interesting blog through out the year. Wishing you and yours a happy,blessed and healthy 2020.
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
I went back to check my downloads email and I didn’t see a wallpaper download either. Hoping to get an answer; I definitely need a visual reminder to stop Facebook scrolling!
We know these things happen so we’re resending both in tonight’s newsletter; it’s something we do periodically because we know these things get lost in the depths of the inbox. 🙂
Thank you so much for steering me to Whitney Conrad’s website, The Unread Shelf. I am so excited to have these challenges to read my bookshelves!
I’m happy to hear it!
Little Women is a wonderful, fresh take on the novel. We all LOVED it!!
On getting through winter: the comments were closed on the original post. So I am going to be obnoxious and add a comment here :).
Getting Through Winter:
My daughter & I instituted “Happy Hygge Fridays’ last year, they last throughout the month of January and sometimes extend into February if the weather is awful & depressing. She & her husband live near campus in a college town, so yesterday, we took their dog on a long walk (hot beverages/pup cup stop for all of us included on the walk), made soup together, she opened small gifts from me (color changing mug, a book she wanted, eco friendly Kuerig filter with loose tea leaves). Planning next Friday to be a journaling/writing/reading theme Hygge day: a gift box with journaling accessories, a crackling candle for her writing desk; another long walk on campus with visits to the literary spots; hanging out, sorting through family pictures & cooking a family recipe together. We have more plans, but the focus is on spending cozy, meaningful & fun time together & to make the dark months something to look forward to.
What a wonderful idea! And the things you’re doing sound just right for this time of year.
I don’t know how many nonfiction graphic novels exist, but I would love to start looking into it! I read a few fiction graphic novels in 2019 and absolutely loved the format.
Our family saw Little Women this weekend and didn’t like it. We thought the casting was bad and didn’t like how the sequence of the story skipped around. The sets and costumes were really good, though.