What Caught My Eye Online #66
A new poetry anthology, book bans in the military, journaling, and more
Welcome to this week’s roundup! Here’s what I’ve been loving this week:
Naps. I always love naps, but I love them a little bit more when it’s the week after spring break and I’ve ruined my sleep schedule.
The cute bunny I saw in my yard when I got home today. The pointy ears! The white tail! The playful little hop! Bunnies are precious.
A streamlined closet. I spent a lot of time during spring break decluttering and reorganizing my clothing. I ended up donating five or six trash bags full of clothes. It’s difficult for me to get started, but once I do, I’m always thankful I took the time.
And now for this week’s links!
I’m so pleased to have a couple of poems in the new anthology edited by
Matthew Long and Zina Gomez-Liss. Many other talented writers are included, so I feel blessed to be among them. You can find the free PDF on Matthew’s great Substack.
The influence of book-banning groups in the US is now being felt in the UK.
Shelf Awareness reports that independent booksellers are facing harassment and threats:
“Whether targeted for the books they carry, the events they host, the views they express, or their identities, independent booksellers have had to contend with all manner of harassment, threats, and attacks in recent years. While some indies are unfortunately no strangers to it, others have only recently seen themselves become targets, with many worrying that as the second Trump presidency continues, bad actors will feel ever more emboldened.”
Book bans are in place for the U.S. Naval Academy library. Maya Angelou is gone but Hitler remains on the shelf. This is not normal, and it’s not okay.
Petya K. Grady shared all about her notebook ecosystem, and I loved it so much.
In more notebook goodness, Angel Zheng tells us to stop taking journaling so seriously.
Scholar and podcaster Milan Terlunen writes about a literary blindspot in academia and criticism. He begins:
“I want to apologize, because we literary scholars have failed you. We’ve done so by praising and encouraging certain kinds of reading at the expense of others. In particular, in our writings, we’ve devalued one of the most popular kinds of reading—enjoying a story’s thrilling twists and turns, surprises and reveals—in short: reading for the plot.”
NPR highlights five new books that are all over the map (in a good way).
I love a campus novel! Here are seven that break the mold.
I always get excited when The Millions releases a new book preview. Here’s the one for this spring.
Here are five new thrillers and one classic noir to read when you’re done with The White Lotus.
These ten novels explore complicated feelings about ambition.
Writer Heather Swan offers up an incomplete biography of Jane Hirshfield in six jobs (with poems). Hirshfield is a wonderful poet.
Publishers Weekly shares 12 genre-stretching works of fiction.
Andrew Peterson has been writing a series of Lenten sonnets.
I don’t have kids, but I still appreciated this lunchbox-packing cheat sheet from Caroline Chambers. Deciding what to take to work for lunch is a constant struggle for me, so I like seeing a formula and list to follow.
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What things have caught your eye lately? Did anything I shared today resonate with you? I welcome your thoughts in the comments.
I did not realize that independent booksellers were being harassed. So unfortunate. Lots of other interesting info here.
You’ve given me inspiration…especially to organize my closet!😊❤️😊