Shelf life 📚

Surprise me View in browser May 31, 2019 When I walked into this room, I thought it was a library. Then I realized I'd been tricked by trompe l'oeil.    This week I'm wrapping up my time away on writing retreat, and... whew. I will have more words about this book process, which is far from over, in a future newsletter. But for now, I'm out of words. Let me just note that today's CYG spring books episode was well-timed. Because I am filled with a new level of respect and admiration for everyone who's written one. I'm reading How "involuntarily celibate" misogynists became obsessed with plastic surgery. A migrant spy and his secret spectacles. Inside Europe's most accessible city. How California's failures to fix its housing crisis show the holes in progressive politics. Some white residents of Baton Rouge want to secede along racial lines. A cheerleading team struggles together in Venezuela. U.S. citizens are crossing the border to get free health care in Mexico. Meanwhile, migrants who give birth in U.S. detention are separated from their babies. On a Greyhound across America with a migrant family. On the venn-diagram overlap between Waldorf Schools and anti-vaxxers. The latest parenting-advice craze is data. Postpartum depression, in photos. In praise of the menopause soliloquy in Fleabag. Emma Thompson on life at 60. Mindy Kaling in full bloom. How trans actors are rewriting the rules of TV casting. A trans soldier reconciles her relationship with the military. "Everyone loves what I produce but doesn’t want to acknowledge that a huge part of it is that I’m gay and I’m celebrating my masculine and feminine energies." I think about this all the time: Why do I trust strangers' reviews? Superfoods are superfluous. And apparently there's a run on celery. Members only Become a paying member for just $5/year. You'll get pie charts and the satisfaction of knowing you support the human being (hi, that's me) who creates this newsletter every week! I'm looking & listening Fleabag season 2, which I loved. A women's room pep talk. A pie-chart icon! Friends saying smart things: Amina on having a personal brand, and Cord on how Hollywood portrays black men. And I laughed so hard at cliff wife (forward the video to the 8:10 mark) that I cried. I can't believe I've never done this before. She is me. I am her. GIFspiration The only moment in a Disney cartoon that I ever fantasized about as a child. When I was a kid, going to the library felt like a slice of this fantasy. More books than one person could ever read, all in one place! As a jaded adult, I am in awe of libraries in a different way: I marvel that they exist in America. Like, we have never ensured access to health care but somehow we protect books as a public good? Trust that I'm not complaining about universal book access! But it does feel extremely improbable when I stop to think about it, which I do almost every time I tap the Libby app or walk into a library. I endorse Three things: Brick mode. Apparently you can set up an away-from-phone auto-reply for texts?! I want to try this, but I'm afraid it would mean spamming everyone in my group chats. Outbox as legacy. I loved this thread memorializing the journalist Robert Pear, and the screenshot of the dozens of "thank you" emails he sent. Something to aspire to. Treating fact-checkers well is the journalistic equivalent of treating restaurant servers well. #deadmall on Instagram. Why have I been so soothed by looking at abandoned malls lately? I could scroll this hashtag for ages. What does it mean that I've had these three links bookmarked for awhile now? Something about death and digital legacy? Maybe when I get my brain back after this deadline, I'll figure it out. You've got answers I skipped this feature last week, but I'm back at it today: What's your favorite book about the U.S. written by someone who is NOT from the U.S.?   >>  Click to submit an answer. <<   (Note that these are your queries, not mine! I pull them from a long list of questions submitted by subscribers as part of my survey a few months ago.) The Classifieds Kámen Road Travel & Work Bags - Shop New Designs - Made to Order - Responsibly sourced - USA made - Carry What You Love. Dreaming of Mexico? Join Mexican-American artist Stephanie Echeveste on her Weaving & Mezcal Retreat. You’ll learn Zapotec weaving, sip mezcal, & explore Oaxaca. Join the last 6-mo. Business Foundations Program of 2019. It’s “Worth every penny” & shifts your biz for the better. Book a free info call. Turn your Pinterest board into your dream wedding with Lucie! Use your pins to score the affordable, preowned decor and dresses you need! Dear Team Leaders, when you read critically, and act practically, you can build better workplaces. Anne Libby writes, curates and opines -- often in the voice of your cranky (cool?) aunt -- at her newsletter On Management. Create space at Kripalu to examine your grief, no matter how old, through open conversation, shared stories, structured writing exercises, the healing modality of sound - & maybe even laughter. Led by Modern Loss & NYT bestselling author Emily Rapp Black, 7/28-8/1. Info here. Book your classified ad today! Click for rates and info. Testimonials "One of the finest high-low edits of online journalism" -Wired UK. Really clinging to this characterization of my editing ability, as I'm about to jump into editing a book manuscript that strives to be high-low. This newsletter has a shelf life. Forward it to someone who's never checked out. 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