What Caught My Eye Online #68
Indie bookstore love, page-turners, and more
Welcome to this week’s roundup! Here’s what I’ve been loving:
My favorite local indie bookstore. Last week, I chaperoned a book club field trip to a bookstore and the Indian restaurant across the street. (Yes, I know how selfless I am.) A generous grant allowed us to let our book club kids each pick out a book to take home. It was a delight to go shopping as a group, especially right before Indie Bookstore Day. The selection at our local store is impeccable, so of course I left with a stack:
Over the weekend, one of my school libraries had a book drive at the same bookstore. We got over 30 books donated to us. A local author even stopped in and signed a boxed set of her books that was donated. I’m so thankful for such a fantastic local resource that not only provides me with great books but also makes it easier for me and my colleagues to provide our students with high-interest reading options.
And now for this week’s links!
Goodreads suggests these 132 page-turners to help you out of a reading slump. Some favorites on this list include None of This Is True, Small Things Like These, The Bee Sting, The Nix, and Gilead.
Early in her career, Toni Morrison worked at Random House. Here are five books she edited.
Iris Apfel was a style icon. Dorothea Lasky considers that style for The Paris Review.
Who is the patron saint of realism? Raymond Carver or Lucia Berlin? I've read and loved work from both.
I love cookbooks, so I enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at what cookbook publishers are looking for.
Jeff Kinney, author of the hugely successful Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, is donating tens of thousands of books. I love this story! I appreciate how the Wimpy Kid series draws in so many young readers.
The New York Public Library has its own book award called the Young Lions Fiction Award, “which honors the work of exceptional young (aged 35 or younger) and early-career authors." Check out this year's five finalists.
I just read Katie Kitamura's new novel, Audition, which perplexed and delighted me in equal measure. She's interviewed by Jennifer Wilson for The New Yorker.
Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned by Staying Put by Annie B. Jones is one of my most anticipated books of the year. Read an excerpt here.
Authors Tommy Orange and Kaveh Akbar have embarked on a book tour turned road trip.
This great book list features fiction that makes sense of life's biggest questions.
I love a bookish gift! Here are 15 gifts for your book club.
Here are seven novels by autistic authors that are revolutionizing literature.
CrimeReads shares the best psychological thrillers of April.
Lauded children's authors Rebecca Stead and Erin Entrada Kelly interview each other.
I love the niche book lists that Electric Lit posts. This one features eight Irish novels about the rise and fall of big houses. I love Irish literature AND big houses!
The bloggers behind Beyond the Bookends have ranked Taylor Jenkins Reid's books.
Popular romance author Jasmine Guillory talks about the joys of writing for Barnes and Noble.
Here are six dreamy summer vacation destinations for fans of Emily Henry.
Beth Allison Barr talks with Religion News Services about her new book that, as a pastor's daughter, I can't wait to read, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry.
I think media literacy is one of the most important things we can teach young people right now. Book Riot explores how the library can help.
This is a great piece about how The Great Gatsby took over high school.
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Did you visit any bookstores for Indie Bookstore Day? Did any of this week’s links resonate with you? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Love the Irish literature/big house list!