What Caught My Eye Online #41
Banned Books Week, Sally Rooney, a lovely poem, and more
Welcome to the latest roundup! Here’s what I’ve been loving this week:
New library books. My school district supplied each of its high school libraries with hundreds of new DEI titles. I spent an hour this morning just unpacking the boxes for one school. This is an enormous blessing for our libraries and students, one I don’t take lightly. This collection wouldn’t be possible in several US states right now. I’m thankful our kids will have access to so much great, new literature.
This neck/back massager. When I’m stressed or overwhelmed, I carry the tension in my neck and shoulders. A good neck massager helps me relax, so I got this one last week because my old one died. This model is great, especially the heating and speed options. I’ll probably be using this a lot because I have about 2500-ish books to catalog and process from the DEI orders since I work at five high school libraries. Maybe I can get reimbursed? : )
And now for the links!
It’s Banned Books Week, a time to celebrate the freedom to read and advocate for anticensorship. Publishers Weekly says the “data from the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom suggests that advocacy efforts are beginning to yield positive results, although new data from PEN America found censorship in schools is still surging.”
Here are ten things you can do during Banned Books Week.
Literary darling Sally Rooney released her latest novel yesterday. If you’re a fan of her work like I am, here are some books to try.
And here’s an interview with Rooney.
Poet August Kleinzahler shares a piece called “Whitney Houston” with Lit Hub. The book this poem is from sounds fantastic.
One of the high schools where I work has a group of middle schoolers attending as part of a special science program. We try to keep plenty of middle grade books stocked in the library, so I always appreciate lists like this one that recommend great titles featuring strong characters.
Horror novels are a popular genre among the teens I serve. This essay does a nice job of explaining why young people are drawn to horror and what they get out of it.
As a kid, I couldn’t get enough of teen magazines and the quizzes within their pages. Imagine my delight when I came across this quiz, which tells readers what their big fall book should be.
I loved this recent What Should I Read Next? episode. The guest, a teacher and Dean at a New England boarding school, talked about how her love for her Kindle meant she was reading fewer of the books she owned. I definitely relate to that, so this episode was entertaining and helpful.
Here are seven creepy and mysterious novels set on campuses. I was happy to see Marisha Pessl on this list.
Ann Patchett is out here doing the Lord’s work by recommending The Bee Sting.
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What caught your eye this week? What have you been loving? As always, I welcome your comments! Thanks for reading!
Ann Patchett is always out there doing the Lord’s work! I will do anything she tells me to do…so mostly I just lie around reading :)
I bought that massager. I brought a massage seat into my office years ago when I was really stressed from teaching and parenting. I still have it and use it, but I like that this is for your neck. Thanks for the links.