What Caught My Eye Online #59
Little Free Libraries, book prizes, bookish objects, and more
Welcome to this week’s roundup! Here’s what I’ve been loving lately:
Sonic’s Diet Cherry Limeade. I have one next to me as I write this. There are few drinks as refreshing as this cherry and lime concoction. It’s been a loyal friend for decades, so it’s way past time to sing its praises.
Weeding and shifting books. Those are the tasks keeping me busy at work so far this week. Discarding books that aren’t circulating any longer and moving around what’s left to create more shelf space can make a library feel like a brand-new place. I love doing this type of stuff!
My Friday nap. After spending eight hours moving books around, I welcome a long nap. A new Friday tradition has been taking a nap on my bed as soon as I get home from work. I anticipate this nap all day. It feels so indulgent and relaxing. I highly recommend scheduling yourself a nap!
And now for this week’s links.
Most headlines I read these days make me pretty sad, but I love this one: “Little Free Library Study Reveals Benefits for Book-Impoverished Communities.”
I appreciated this piece by Kelly Jensen about how most people of faith are anti-book banning. I’ve had two people at my church ask me how the increase in censorship affects my work, and they were both thrilled to hear that my school district has actually increased its collection of books by traditionally marginalized voices. I’m thankful for their support and the support of other people of faith working hard to fight fear-mongering and censorship in their communities.
The American Library Association has launched a public supporter program. Supporters get some cool perks, including a tote bag. (Bookish people love tote bags, don’t we?)
The BBC asks, “Can TikTok and diversity address 'historic low' in reading?”
The 2025 National Book Critics Circle finalists have been announced.
The longlist for the International Booker Prize was also announced. I’m eager to explore these translated titles.
Here are ten books about music as self-invention.
I enjoyed this interview and podcast episode in which Anne Bogel talks with a reader desperately trying to figure out what types of books she actually likes.
This is a fascinating and beautiful look at a “new exhibition at the Center for Book Arts in New York [that] features a range of items — transistor radios, lanterns, cigarette lighters and more — designed to look like books.”
A publisher specializing in reviving lost works suggests five forgotten 20th-century books.
These books being republished by Beacon Classics are so pretty! I was in a bookstore over the weekend and saw their gorgeous edition of Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son.
Here are 12 poems and short stories by Black writers to read for free online. (In case you missed it, I shared 10 Beloved Books by Black Writers last week.)
I clicked on this book list so fast: 7 Stories About Women Coming of Age in Their 30s and 40s.
NPR reports that the first known cookbook by a Black American is getting a new edition 160 years later.
A new book just came out that I can’t wait to read called Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart. Lit Hub has an excerpt. (Kristin Kobes Du Mez recommended Money, Lies, and God on Substack the other day. Du Mez is the author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, which is a must-read, especially in this political season.)
I love vivid settings when I read fiction, and books set in New York City are a particular favorite. The Times is sharing several New York books their readers love.
This simple lemon and chile pasta dish looks delicious.
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What things have you been enjoying lately? What caught your eye this week? I’d love to hear your thoughts or recommendations!
I love a good nap and a diet cherry limeade. You're speaking my love languages. ha ha
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