Happy Friday Links

4-12-24

Hi friends,

I hope your week has been a good one. The eclipse was awesome! I was in the area of totality and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I hope you were able to experience it, too. It’s been a crazy few weeks. I had an unexpected house guest for several days, which blew a hole in my schedule for the newsletter. I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, and it’s been a little rough.

I originally planned to go to the Newburyport Literary Festival the last weekend of April, but I’ve almost talked myself out of going. They finally released the schedule, and there are a few authors that I’d like to see, but not as many as I’d hoped for to make the cross-country trip worthwhile. I’ve been looking at festivals in May and June, and I’d like to go to a few, so I’m trying to decide which one looks best for me and where I want to drive to. Wish me luck! Since I got off track on the Happy Friday Links, I have a bunch to share today, so let’s get started.

• A fun conversation between two historical fiction authors discussing fiction and women’s history.

• I mentioned in this newsletter about the upcoming Libby Awards. You can check out the winners here.

• As a kid, I can remember making Tollhouse cookies quite often.

  Kim Baker
  from the
  As We Eat
  newsletter writes about the origins of the Tollhouse cookie recipe.

• One of the things I can get lost in on the internet is looking at reading nooks. This Spruce article provides so many ideas on how to build a cozy reading nook of your own.

• If you are still looking for ideas on how to increase the number of books you read, this NPR article offers a few more suggestions.

• This year’s Epigraph Literary Festival is coming up soon. It’s an entirely free online festival with prerecorded content, and you can check it out here.

• I’m late to the Holly Jackson fandom. I just read The Good Girls Guide to Murder and really enjoyed it. I have the following two books in the series on hold through Libby. In this Guardian article, she talks about her background, her journey to becoming a published author, and how TikTok catapulted her writing career.

• I’ve never read any of Don Winslow’s books, but after reading this CrimeReads article, I think I might have to start with his City series and play catch up.

• When I think I’ve heard everything about libraries, librarians, and banning books, something like this comes up and makes me realize just how performative and political this all is.

• I didn’t realize shopping in a used bookstore required instructions, but this Washington Post article provides some instructions, tips, and tricks to make it a fun experience.

• For the second month in a row, I didn’t publish a list of new books publishing during the month. When I’m looking to see what new books are published each month, a couple of my favorites are here and here—you can check both for April’s new books.

• E-book demand continues to rise at libraries, and libraries struggle to keep up with demand and pay the fees to license e-books. This AP article looks at potential new state laws to lessen the burden on libraries.

• Popular audiobook narrator Julia Whelan has created an audio-based publishing company called Audiobrary. She says it won’t have the same audiobooks as all the other platforms and will have its own original audiobooks and unique audio projects. The premise sounds interesting, but it’s still so early, and I think I need to learn more before forming an opinion.

• BookRiot says that public libraries are being targeted, and it’s not only about “the books.” After reading this article, I feel it’s time for those of us who love our public libraries to find something to do to help protect them from the people and organizations that intend to continue harming them. If you want to learn more about what is happening in public libraries, be sure to subscribe to

  Literary Activism
  . What you learn in each newsletter will make your head spin.

What fun things do you have on your schedule for this weekend? Are you reading any good books—books so good that you can’t put them down to take care of life? Everyone would love to know what those books are so we don’t have to take care of life either. You can tell us in the comments below.

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Bookish Fun Fact

Today's bookish fun fact is every reader’s favorite day—it’s D.E.A.R. Day. What is D.E.A.R. Day, you ask? It’s “Drop Everything and Read Day.” In 1981, Cleary published Ramona Quimby, Age 8, and this book began the “nationwide initiative for families to dedicate 30 minutes of reading, putting aside all distractions.” Harper Collins organized the first D.E.A.R. day in honor of Beverly Cleary’s 90th birthday on April 12, 2006. It’s for kids and adults alike, and research has indicated that reading reduces stress and can result in a longer lifespan. And it goes without saying—reading is fun. So, “drop everything and read!”

I’m heading to the San Antonio Book Festival this weekend, and I can’t wait to tell you about it when I return. It’s close to me—much closer than Savannah, and I’m behind on my podcasts again, so I need a 4-5 hour drive to get caught up. There are several authors I want to see and a couple of panels I really want to go to; my knee is feeling so much better that I hope to do more than I was able to in Savannah. I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of everything that brings you joy. Happy reading!

Some of the links in this newsletter may be affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. This costs you nothing and helps me feed my voracious reading habit, and for that, I thank you.