What Caught My Eye Online #28

A library surprise, book lists, collage, and more

Photo by Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash

Hi there! Thanks for joining me for another weekly roundup.

In case you missed it, I marked my first Substack birthday over the weekend. I created a summer reading zine to celebrate, so please check that out if you haven’t yet. Maybe you’ll find some new-to-you titles.

Before we get to this week’s links, I want to share a sweet story. I work in high school libraries, and May is an extra-busy time. We have state testing going on in the library, and we’re winding down for the school year with inventory and other last-minute tasks. As I was helping with testing this afternoon, I answered the phone and spoke with a gentleman who had been a former student. He said he and his wife saw my school’s wish list on our local bookstore’s website and wanted to donate a few hundred dollars worth of books to us. That generous act of kindness made my entire day.

If you’ve been reading these weekly posts for very long, you know that I often highlight book bans and challenges. Libraries and library staff are facing many difficulties these days, so to have someone gifting books to the library and saying thank you for the work we do was just the boost I needed. If you appreciate the libraries and library staff in your life, let them know this week. A kind note or email will go a long way.

• Speaking of libraries, I love this brief look at a program one public library is doing for adults with intellectual disabilities. Libraries are for everyone, and this program is a wonderful reminder of that truth.

• If you need another summer reading guide in your life, this one from What Maddie Read is SO PRETTY and full of good suggestions.

• I’ve only done collage a few times, and I’ve been thinking about how I’d like to make it a regular part of my creative life. This piece from Emma Copley Eisenberg about the connection between collage and writing is the green light I needed to actually move forward and get crafty.

  • “Collage works in layers that are both similar to and totally unlike drafts of writing: nothing is erased; things are only added. I found it was easier in collage than in writing to move toward a hypothesis without knowing if the hypothesis would be supportable, to be attracted to color or shape simply for its aesthetic pleasure. The ghost of your process is always there in collage, physical and feel-able when you run your fingers over it.”

• Most people will agree that book bans are bad for mental health. Psychology Today unpacks why.

  • “While parents have a right to influence their child’s reading, banning books is detrimental to mental health. Perhaps the answer is not in pulling uncomfortable topics off the shelf, but engaging in conversations that matter, learning from one another’s perspectives, and trusting children to make choices guided by their values, regardless of the words on the page.”

• Check out this fantastic 2024 book preview from Tembe Denton-Hurst.

• The New York Times shares their picks for the best books of the year so far.

• Poet Laureate Ada Limón talks with Electric Lit about the new poetry collection she edited, You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World.

• This piece is a good reminder that it’s okay—and good!—to be messy sometimes.

• You can take a look at Alice Munro’s notebooks, thanks to The Paris Review.

• I’m trying to scroll less so I can be creative more, so I was glad to see this book list called 9 Books to Spark Your Creativity. Each suggestion sounds great.

• Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting is one of my favorite novels in recent years. Learn about his reading life here.

• This is a beautiful poem by Drew Jackson. Give him a follow on Instagram.

• I think I’d thrive in a Nancy Myers movie, especially in one of those big, spacious kitchens she’s known for having in her films. Give me my white linen pants and oversized button-down, and send me here to one of these coastal grandma-inspired destinations. Click just for the eye candy.

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  That’s all from me this week. What’s caught your eye lately?