What Caught My Eye Online #58
Translated books, a Kevin Wilson story, and more
Welcome to this week’s roundup! Here’s what I’ve been loving these past few days:
New cookbooks. I wanted some new recipe inspiration, so I picked up a couple of new cookbooks. The first is the latest release from Half Baked Harvest and it’s full of quick and cozy recipes, as the title suggests. I already made one pasta dish and it was delicious. The other book I got is from one of my favorite TikTok follows, Matthew Bounds, called Keep It Simple, Y’all. Quick simplicity is what I’m looking for in dinner recipes.
A new book club. I help lead a high school book club for students and staff along with my friend Mary, who writes beautifully about her life and interests here. Our newest session started last Wednesday. We had a great turnout and a lot of interest in the book we chose, Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes. Seeing so many kids excited to read, learn, and have fun together was nice.
Healthcare workers. A family member had a health emergency earlier this week (they’re fine now) that involved an ambulance ride to the emergency room. It was scary for all involved, but the kindness and compassion of the EMTs and ER staff helped so much. Many years ago, I was as sick as I’ve ever been with a bad case of pneumonia and a fractured rib from coughing so hard. I went to my local urgent care, and I still remember the warmth and empathy of the nurses and doctors like I saw them yesterday. Good healthcare workers are one of our greatest gifts. They help make some of the worst moments in our lives bearable.
And now for this week’s links.
This is an encouraging story about how Authors Against Book Bans helped defeat attempted library censorship in Florida. I love these words from AABB’s national leadership member and author Maggie Tokuda-Hall:
“Things are grim. I won’t lie about the state of the nation. But in darkness, we find our communities. And our community is deep with the smartest, most educated cohort available: readers. And I truly believe that if we leverage even a fraction of our community’s power to face this moment, we will have significant wins all across the nation. Even in the places, like this school district in Florida—where the Proud Boys presence is so constant that we were unable to send members to their meeting out of safety concerns—we can win. Knowledge is power. And that’s exactly why there are so many people trying to keep the public from accessing it. We don’t have to let them.”
A Modern Mrs. Darcy staffer reflects on the benefits of reading widely vs. reading more genre-specific.
Book Riot shares some YA authors who have adult debuts coming out this year.
I often attend a live storytelling event in my city where I’m privileged to hear beautiful and moving stories from a wide array of people. One of those stories made its way to the New York Times, which is exciting. It’s a tender story about an adopted daughter finding her biological mother. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house the night this story was told, so have some tissues handy.
I’d like to read more translated literature. I’m also interested in the translation process and love learning about books I might not have discovered if they hadn’t been translated into English, so I was happy to see that a British publisher that specializes in translated work is coming to the United States:
“Since its founding a decade ago, Tilted Axis has gained a reputation for bringing out a wide range of groundbreaking, genre-defying literature in translation. With only eight employees working part-time on a tight budget, it has published 42 books translated from 18 languages, including Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Eastern Armenian, Kazakh, Kannada, Bengali, Uzbek and Turkish.”
Publishers Weekly highlights a new book that examines how women keep reinventing independent publishing.
Electric Lit shares a fantastic short story by Kevin Wilson, author of Now Is Not the Time to Panic and Nothing to See Here, two books I adore. This story was a good reminder that I need to read more Kevin Wilson.
I appreciate these tips from Shira Gill about how to align your spending with your values.
The Guardian profiles Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in which she talks about motherhood, cancel culture, grief, and her upcoming novel.
NetGalley recommends 25 must-read books by Black authors for your 2025 TBR.
SheReads suggests twisty novels set in the self-care space.
Spotify is part of launching new mental health fiction awards.
Barnes and Noble have a couple of notable guest posts on their blog. One is from Anne Tyler and another is from Amanda Peters.
Here are ten modern takes on traditional Latin American folktales.
This is a lovely post about the natural pace of change from the brilliant Barbara Brown Taylor, one of my favorite spiritual writers.
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What caught your eye this week? What have you been enjoying lately? Leave your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading!
I am excited to read so much this week, the Kevin Wilson piece, the Adichie piece and the Pivot story which made it to the Times. I missed that one. Thank you for another great roundup and for the shout out. Book club is back!