Happy Friday Links
9-24-21
Hey Readers,
Hello, fall. The official start of autumn was this week, but many places are already seeing the change of seasons. In Texas, there isn’t much change from summer to fall until sometime in October. It has been a milder summer than usual, only a few 100° degree days this year. I love the feel of fall; the air feels different, the sky looks bluer, the wind shifts to another direction. It is just like a reset, a new beginning to start the upcoming holiday season.
I’m taking a three-day weekend for myself, a treat for getting through another 15th deadline. I have set aside time this weekend for brainstorming; I have several ideas for an upcoming newsletter series; I need to determine if there is enough substance for the long term or just a few posts. Hopefully, I can make progress on a few “research-intensive” newsletters about places and things that bring readers joy.
Some weeks I find some real gems to share with you, and other weeks, I find the selections are slim. When I got up this morning, I had just a few to share. Through the magic of the internet, I found a few additional links that I think you’ll enjoy; I know I did. So, off we go:
I’ve gone on “tourist places” short train rides, some better than others, but a multi-state train ride has always been a dream of mine. I discovered this Substack newsletter with this post, which adds “food” into the mix. I’m smitten.
If you are primarily a non-fiction reader or know someone else that prefers non-fiction over fiction, this Book Riot article is helpful if you want to explore more fiction.
There are many things I’m not interested in, but I never gave any thought to the difference between these two words. Food for thought as I frame future conversations with others.
Here is something fun for when you have nothing else to do. There are a few national holidays where many people are off work; there are other holidays where some are off work. Then there are holidays for every day of the year featuring causes, special interests, foods, the arts and more. This calendar features all of these special holidays for each day of the year.
I am not much of a romance reader, but I occasionally read a romance novel. I do love knowing how all the fun happens behind the scenes, and this article was fascinating. I choose a book by its cover more often than not, and learning about these covers helps me understand the differences between different types of romance novels.
I’m a sucker for a quiz, and if it’s related to books, I’m all in. This quiz features only one publisher’s catalog of books as the answers. Still, I enjoyed it as it provided a look at the different options and the types of books those choices revealed to you. I’d love to find one of these types of quizzes related to books in general, not just a specific publisher. If you know of one, let me know, please.
Many readers had a difficult time reading during the early stages of the pandemic last year. For some, this has continued into this year and is still causing problems with readers. Some of the results of this survey by Book Riot surprised me. The survey found that the overall quantity of reading hasn’t changed as much as we felt it had, but most everything else about reading did change.
I don’t know that I’d ever get a tattoo, but it would be a “literary” tattoo if I did. I enjoyed this article and the pictures of other literary tattoos.
I love it when I discover a new podcast about books. This one is different because the discussion isn’t necessarily about the specific book; it is about its topic. Lately, there has been much in the news about gymnasts, and this podcast episode is another behind-the-scenes look at girls’ sports. Tune in to the podcast for episodes about all things behind the books.
Well, I went from not having much to share to having too much. Don’t worry if it’s too much to read today. Save this newsletter and read it later at your leisure. It also resides in the archives, along with all past newsletter issues. I keep a lot of the newsletters I receive on Friday for the weekend. I like to save them for when I have more time to relax and enjoy.
Here’s hoping you have a fantastic weekend full of fun times and lots of good books. Happy Reading!