What Caught My Eye Online #24

Imprisoning librarians, reluctant readers, ebooks, and more

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Hi there! I was sick with Covid most of last week, and I was not thriving.

The only good thing is that I had plenty of time to read a lot of great books and essays, which I’m excited to share with you. The books will come on Saturday, but today you get my weekly list of links that have caught my attention lately. I hope you find something that catches yours.

• This Vanity Fair headline is chilling: 17 States Are Considering Laws That Would Imprison Librarians.

  • “Once upon a time, working as a librarian in America was not considered a dangerous vocation. Rewarding, of course. Sweet, sure. Occasionally dull, yes, but a lot of jobs can be boring. Yet, for the most part, most people working as librarians in the US did not wake up, head to work, and wonder, What are the chances I’m going to be charged with a crime for letting someone take out a book today? But thanks to GOP state legislators, that’s now become a legitimate fear.”

• Kelly Jensen is doing vital work by reporting on book bans and challenges each week. She writes the Literary Activism Substack, and I hope you’ll all subscribe. One of her newest posts includes totally doable tips for fighting bans and supporting libraries.

• Here’s a wonderful essay by children’s author Alicia D. Williams about the important connection between music and verse for reluctant readers.

• I’ve found that many library patrons don’t realize how expensive ebooks are for libraries. This piece talks about the limits Seattle Public Libraries have had to set up due to rising costs. Who needs reality shows when you have library vs. publisher drama?

• The first book I read this year was Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson. I LOVED IT! The writing was stunning. I enjoyed getting to know more about the author. I love him even more after learning he’s a fan of Stoner by John Williams.

• This is a great story about a middle school book club that’s expanding into a national nonprofit.

• I enjoyed this calming video and literary journey inside several London bookstores. To quote Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”

• If you need more bookstores in your life (and you probably do), check out these illustrations of NYC bookstores as if they came to life.

• SheReads shares the most anticipated short stories and poetry of summer 2024.

• NPR talks with Ruth Reichl about her new book, The Paris Novel, which sounds delightful.

• NPR also reshared this chat between Terry Gross and John Green from 2017. They talk about Green’s book, Turtles All the Way Down, which will soon be a movie. I always appreciate Green’s vulnerability and sensitivity. He seems like a truly wonderful person. This interview (and Green’s book) helped me understand more about what it’s like to suffer from OCD.

• Librarians list 20 ways to strengthen your reading life. This is a great list!

• I’ve only read one Joan Didion book and would like to explore more of her work. Alissa Wilkinson put together a Didion primer if you want to know more about her writing and where you might like to begin.

• Emily Henry talks with The Guardian about love stories and her new novel, Funny Story, which I adored.

• If you use Spotify and enjoy audiobooks, check out this list from Book Riot featuring 10 audiobook recommendations you can listen to on the app. Unroyal and Thunder Song both sound interesting. We can’t keep I’m Glad My Mom Died on the shelf at one of my high school libraries, so I know the youths are into that one.

• One of my favorite YouTubers gives her viewers a behind-the-scenes look at an innovative bakery in Denver. I love learning how things work and get made, so I found this fascinating. It turns out that making croissants from scratch is much harder than unrolling them from the Pilsbury can.

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What caught your eye this week? Thanks for reading!