Weekly Roundup #2
Best of the Year Lists, Fall Wallpaper, Soup, and More
I love so much about this time of year. I can’t get enough of the colors of the season: deep oranges, yellows, and burgundy. My sweaters have returned from their storage bags and are now on proud display in my closet. Even if it makes me basic and boring, I want all the pumpkin spice, especially the pumpkin spice chai from Starbucks that tastes like a miracle in a cup. Autumn is the best, and you’ll find some season-specific links below, as well as some other things I enjoyed. Happy browsing!
Best Books of 2023 - Publishers Weekly
Lists are already coming out, naming the best books of 2023. I always look forward to this one from Publishers Weekly.
Best Books of 2023 - Bookshop.org
Here’s another list that features a few more obscure titles.
Free, Downloadable Tech Backgrounds for November 2023 - The Everygirl
I love getting wallpaper backgrounds from the Everygirl, and November’s are especially beautiful.
Soup’s On - New York Times
Once the weather starts to cool down, I’m all about soups. Tomato with grilled cheese? Iconic. Baked potato? Absolutely. Chicken noodle? I want all of it. This list has good recipes and beautiful photos that are sure to make you hungry.
“I’d watch my mother make her version of Cuban ajiaco, simmering a seemingly ever-changing mix of meat and starchy vegetables — malanga, calabaza, yuca, plantains — in a pot. The only nonnegotiables were the small corn cobs that bobbed in the broth and a shower of lime juice, tangy brightness against earthy comfort. From where I stood, it seemed so effortless, so open to adaptation.
Soup is always that full of possibility.”
Fran Lebowitz Wants You to Thank Your Librarian - Harper’s Bazaar
Though I’ve heard of her, I don’t know much about Fran Lebowitz, but I love what she says about libraries and librarians in this interview.
“. . .lots of times people in the book line tell me, ‘I’m a school librarian, I get death threats.’ School librarians. These people are like the backbone of democracy. They are so important. They were very important in my childhood, very important to me. No one should get near telling them what to do. You know what you should do if you meet a librarian? Say thank you.”
20 of TikTok’s Favorite Nonfiction Books - Book Riot
I like to keep up with what books are trending on TikTok and other social media platforms because they’re usually titles that students are interested in reading. This is a nice list from Book Riot featuring some books I added to my own TBR.
“It has been covered over and over again the ways in which TikTok has skyrocketed the popularity of some books, new and old alike. The early 2000s dystopian novels, the Colleen Hoover dark romances, and debuts are all on the table for TikTok’s spotlight of attention. This can lead to a re-entry on a bestseller list, selling out stock at local bookstores, and the popularity authors dream of when they first dream of writing. Partially a result of the pandemic, partially the hyper-specific algorithm, partially the love of young women, reading is fun and popular and cool again.”
Falling Into Autumn: Artistic Poems to Inspire Creative Fall Activities - Read Poetry
If I’m being honest, one of the only fall activities in which I am interested involves my favorite fuzzy blanket, a candle, coffee, and a great book, but I appreciate this list nonetheless.
“To inspire your fall activities, from painting pumpkins to crafting cozy masterpieces, we’ve compiled a collection of poems that celebrate the beauty and creativity of this wondrous time of year.”
What Britney Spears’s Memoir Has to Say - The New Yorker
Britney was a big deal when I was growing up, so I couldn’t resist her memoir. The Woman in Me tells a mostly sad story and gives an up-close look at how the media tends to treat young women. I love this New Yorker review of the book.
“We know the story by now. In 2008, after a series of messy public episodes, zealously documented by the tabloid press, Spears was hospitalized in a psychiatric facility and her father successfully petitioned a California court for a conservatorship, deeming Spears unfit to make personal and financial decisions on her own behalf. But Spears did not disappear from public life. What happened instead was somehow eerier. She continued to release mega-selling albums. She graced the small screen, covered magazines, and performed onstage many, many, many, many, many times, including during a four-year residency in Las Vegas. But her fans sensed something sinister at work beneath her industriousness, and they took up a rallying cry: ‘Free Britney.’”
Haunted Houses - Paloma Magazine
Paloma is back with their third issue. I love the design and creative direction of this literary mag. (My poem, “The Vows,” closed out their first issue.)
That’s all from me this week! I’ll be back on Saturday with October’s reading recap. Thanks for reading!