Welcome to this week’s roundup! I read a lot of good stuff over the past week, including some longer pieces that have stuck with me. I hope you find something that intrigues you.
Here's a look behind the scenes of PostSecret and the man who started the project, Frank Warren.
"PostSecret contains echoes of his time volunteering on the suicide prevention hotline. Like the hotline, the project draws attention to the ways people conceal parts of themselves, and encourages disclosure. But the postcards go even further: They're public, available for anyone to see. They show us the types of stories people normally keep guarded, creating, in the aggregate, a living inventory of our taboos."
This long read about TikTok from the New York Times is a fascinating look at how the app has impacted many different areas of modern life, even for people who have never used it.
CrimeReads shares 10 great books about books (like I did recently).
Jonathan Haidt talks with the New Yorker about his excellent new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. This book blew my mind. It should be required reading for parents and educators.
Chanel Miller, author of the fantastic Know My Name, is publishing a children's novel.
The author of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, is back with another graphic novel. This one is about Iran's "Women, Life, Freedom" movement. Satrapi says:
"A real feminist revolution cannot succeed until men understand that the equality between them and the women is also good for them."
Viola Davis and her husband are launching an independent publishing company.
Electric Lit offers nine books about invisible disabilities.
Emily Henry discusses her new book and reading life for NYT's By the Book column. I love learning about what writers like to read.
This is a sweet essay about working in a small-town bookstore full of elderly customers.
NetGalley lists 30 summer books for your TBR.
Rodney Freeman, a Black librarian, penned an essay about the effects of book bans on the librarian profession.
For all the Swifties out there, Barnes and Noble posted a tortured poets department reading list.
I love Marisha Pessl’s books Special Topics in Calamity Physics and Night Film. She’s coming out with a new YA thriller in November, and I cannot wait.
It feels too soon for best books of 2024 lists, but here we are. So many of the books highlighted have gorgeous covers.
I read this article from Book Riot the other day in which the author tells readers to stop getting their book recommendations from TikTok and to turn to librarians instead. I’ve been a library worker for nearly 19 years, so you’d think I’d eagerly agree, but the tone of the piece felt condescending. I work with teenagers, and TikTok definitely influences what they read. Are Colleen Hoover and Sarah J. Maas the pinnacle of great literature? Probably not, but they’re writing stories engaging enough for kids to put down their devices for a while to read a book, often quite long ones.
Many of the viral TikTok books I know of are by and about women, and girls and women are the primary audience. Whenever I see someone dismissing #BookTok, it always feels a bit misogynistic. I doubt there would be as many articles about how TikTok is hurting literature if the books going viral were mysteries and biographies instead of romance and fantasy.
TikTok is rightfully accused of pushing a lot of non-diverse titles, but there are creators out there (including librarians) who are recommending excellent books written by people all over the world. Let’s not write off #BookTok and think that only librarians know how to recommend books. Let’s use all the tools at our disposal to find titles that speak to us and create feeds that are putting a wide range of literary voices before us.
What caught your eye online this week? Do you have thoughts on any of the links I shared? Thanks for reading!
I think I need to check out PostSecret.😌
Thank you for this!❤️