What’s happening this weekend? I know I’ve said it before, but this weekend we really are pulling out the Christmas tree (the earliest we ever have), and we’re planning to watch The Social Dilemma. (Anything I should know?)
My favorite finds from around the web:
- ‘Modern Austen’ Anthology Series Reimagining Of Jane Austen’s Novels In Works At The CW From Producer Stephanie Allain. This could be interesting.
- How To Stop Overthinking Everything, According To Author Anne Bogel. Check out my interview with Forbes!
- Last year this high-value beauty box was a favorite holiday gift for my tween and teen daughters.
- How to Make Socially Distanced Holidays Actually Feel Special. “The mandate of balancing safety and celebration must tilt toward safety, in order to preserve the possibility of future celebration.” Such helpful guidance.
- This Anne of Green Gables print is a 2020 mood.
- Cookbooks Help Me Escape These Days. “The best cookbooks are so much more than recipe collections — they’re oral histories, documentaries, time capsules, love letters, geopolitical texts, nature guides.”
- Last weekend I stumbled upon my next book over on Goodreads. My Reading Life: A Book Journal will be out September 7, 2021. A small something to look forward to in the new year. More details to come!
- Dolly Parton partly funded Moderna Covid vaccine research. Another reason to love Dolly!
Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist!
Wow! I’m incredibly honored Don’t Overthink It made it to the final round of the Goodreads Choice Awards. Thank you, readers. This is your last chance to vote for your favorites! The winners will be announced December 8.
Don’t miss these posts:
- 8 investment pieces actually worth my investment. These pieces weren’t exactly cheap, but they’re made to last and have been worth it in the long run.
- It’s 17 degrees. Let’s go to the park. “If my personal experience has taught me anything about winter, it’s that I need to get myself out of the house and into the fresh air, preferably during daylight, as often as possible.”
- 20 books to cozy up with this winter. Cold, grey days are the perfect excuse to stay inside and read.
Have a great weekend!
18 comments
Yay, congrats on being a Goodreads finalist! Also, can’t wait for the book journal next year!
Oh The Social Dilemma! So good, and made me want to turn my phone off for a good long while!
Thank you so much for finding the Anne poster. I just bought it. It truly is perfect for 2020- and for today. My daughter’s “Plan B” wedding was supposed to be tonight… They are married (10-person family home ceremony in June) and all is well… but today, I am a bit “rumpled in spirit.”
Oh Janna, sending much love to you and your whole family. I hope Anne brings you a little bit of comfort today.
I have 6 grandchildren with oldest at 4 years old. They are amazing at sitting and listening to books. I have to say that our oldest (4) loves all of the old Berenstain Bears books that we had while raising our four children. We collected a couple hundred or so books while raising our children in the eighties and nineties. I am looking for new ideas of books for birthday and christmas for this age group. Any ideas?
My kids and I loved the Rosemary Wells books, particularly the Max and Ruby books. I think they’re wonderful! I think our favorites were Bunny Cakes, Bunny Money, and Bunny Party. There is a Christmas book too, Max’s Christmas.
Thank you!
I recommend checking out @mariapwalther on twitter. She was 2 of my kids’ absolutely phenomenal first grade teacher, and she now teaches teachers! Here is one tweet for an example of her recommendations: https://twitter.com/mariapwalther/status/1328457824356028418?s=20
Thank you! I will check her out.
I really enjoyed the links to your old posts on getting outside during the winter and 20 winter books!
We recently got a puppy who needs to get energy out. Hoping he’ll be the extra push I need to make getting outside in the winter a priority.
Also, I already have 3 of the books on your winter recommendations on my nightstand. So excited to read them this winter!
The Social Dilemma is great and something I’ve been talking about for a long time. Everyone needs to watch it, especially how it is affecting our kids and people in general.
I’m not a Lifetime or Hallmark holiday movie watcher. But I want to recommend a fun (and a little more adult!) Netflix limited series from last year: Home For Christmas. It was filmed in Norway and is dubbed in English. The setting is marvelous, and the story sweet and sexy. Just what this single girl needs . . . and I want to go to Norway for Christmas someday!
I’m very interested in your Book Journal coming out!! But I hope it won’t have the plain green cover that Goodreads showed….that’s only temporary, right? Something fabulous is in the cards?? I hope so. I loved the cover on I’d Rather Be Reading.
I watched the Social Dilemma and as a HSP it freaked me out.
BUT I think there’s a good conversation to be had about how the documentary itself was produced, scripted and designed by the very people who figured out how to use social media technology to manipulate our viewpoints. The nuance of that underlying dilemma is actually fascinating. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. Do we trust the information and perspective of the people who have told us they know exactly how to manage and maintain our personal perspectives? It reminds me of that poison scene in The Princess Bride. We’re trying to figure out which cup is poisoned, meanwhile it all is and the people who poisoned it are technically immune, even when they admit to everything they’ve done.
The Social Dilemma was a solid “meh” for me. It seemed like a wasted opportunity. Every single person decrying social media made their initial fortune from it. Easy to critique from a place of now-established financial security. In addition, approximately half of the “documentary” is wasted on a faux-family drama of all the evils that occur with too much scrolling. It was like an 80s just-say-no-to-drugs ad combined with a Lifetime movie. It was interesting to see where Vincent Kartheiser has ended up post-Mad Men, I guess.
Anne, I’ve been a member of your bookclub for about 3 months. I wanted to tell you how much I love your “Links I Love. “ You have great articles and tell about fun movies to watch. I also love your Book Lovers Gift Guides!! I always look forward to one if your posts!! Thank you so much!!
Social Dilemma does share how social media is using us, the people, as the product to “market”. However, the concern about social media came about after Trump won 2016 and the Dem’s alleged that Trump has used social media to spread misinformation to win. NOT TRUE. Trump did strategically use social media to get his message out. That is why we see Twitter, Youtube and facebook now censoring anything they deem “not true” which is really cover for “anything that does not line up with their ideology. You will see at the end of the documentary the very liberal ideology that the producers espouse.
Congratulations on the Oprah shoutout! https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/g29194023/best-book-podcasts/