What Caught My Eye Online #51
More "best of" lists, Jon Batiste, and caroling
Welcome to this week’s roundup! This will be the last What Caught My Eye post for 2024. I’ll be enjoying time off with family, but I’ll be back in 2025.
Here’s what I’ve been loving this week:
Christmas presents. I love shopping for gifts, giving gifts, and receiving gifts. Over the weekend, I spent hours wrapping presents with my mom and enjoyed every second. (Okay, maybe by the last few gifts, I wasn’t enjoying every second.)
Being brave. Another thing I did over the weekend was one of the bravest things a person can do. I don’t mean to brag or paint myself as a hero, but I must share that I went to Costco. On a Saturday. Before Christmas. Some people are just born warriors and I guess I fall into that category. Did I almost have a meltdown in the bread section because it was so busy? Of course. But I persevered! (If you’re wondering, I did stop for a little treat on the way home to celebrate my courage.)
And now for this week’s links!
Social media star and librarian Michael Threets was the keynote speaker for the School Library Journal Summit. This part of his speech struck me:
“There was a time when I wouldn't have been able to stand up here and talk about libraries, when people who look like me, people who look like many of you, wouldn’t be able to be literate. You'd be forbidden to be literate. And that is such a privilege. It is such a right to be literate, to be able to seize hold of library joy, of book joy.”
Speaking of School Library Journal, here they offer book suggestions for those wanting to celebrate the late Nikki Giovanni’s life and work.
The New York Public Library and the University of Pennsylvania “have released a new report as part of an ongoing collaboration to study and advocate for the role of public libraries in the communities they serve.” See all the data here.
If you’ve been wanting to read more indie books, check out this starred list by Kirkus.
I’m always looking for good mysteries and thrillers. CrimeReads shares their top psychological thrillers of 2024. I haven’t read any of them, so I’m eager to try some new-to-me authors.
Lit Hub has rounded up the best-reviewed books of 2024. I look forward to this list each year. James tops the list, unsurprisingly.
Lit Hub also offers up the 50 biggest literary stories of 2024.
Here are nine novels that capture the complexity of sisters.
NPR recommends 10 biographies and memoirs. I’m excited to read Gather Me by Glory Edim and Life After Power by Jared Cohen.
Electric Lit suggests 11 powerful coming-of-age stories set in Korea.
Take a look inside Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad’s soul-filled Brooklyn home. It’s beautiful, and each room seems so thoughtful. I love that one of their decorating challenges is finding a home for all of Jon’s Grammy awards.
After watching that house tour, I remembered how much I love Jon Batiste, so I did a YouTube deep dive instead of sleeping, as one does. In this video, Batiste shares what he can’t live without, and one of the items is a can of beans. We love a humble man. Watch here as he listens to and reimagines a Green Day song. And if you haven’t seen the music video for his song “Freedom,” you must watch it. It’s a delight.
Laura Tremaine has been one of my favorite Instagram follows for a long time, and she’s on Substack now. Give her a follow if you’re interested in journaling, friendship, reading, and sharing your story. You can check out her “not a gift guide” gift guide here. Her two teenage kids offer their own recommendations, too, which could be helpful if you’re still shopping for someone in that age range.
Please enjoy this hilarious skit about a caroling group that only sings Coldplay songs.
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I’d love to hear what you’ve been loving lately. Let me know in the comments.
Happy holidays, everyone!
You are brave, indeed! I have a list for Costco a mile long. I'm too scared.
I can barely stomach Costco on a non-holiday weekend! I’m waiting to retire so I can visit mid-week at 9.00 a.m.