Happy Friday Links

2-17-23

Hello readers, and happy Friday,

I hope everyone had a good Super Bowl weekend and consumed lots of football and yummy food. I’m not into football, so I used my Sunday catching up on some shows I recorded and finishing the book for my book club meeting on Wednesday.

I save my favorite Friday newsletters to read throughout the weekend to savor all the bookish (and other) goodness that creators curate for their readers. To send you on your way into your weekend, here are some links for your reading pleasure:

• This article brings back so many good memories and shows my age at the same time. A few were even new to me. Maybe those younger will get a kick out of some of the terms from yesteryear.

• I had no idea of the origins of the Toll House cookie recipe; this Eater article tells about Ruth Wakefield and the desserts that made her Inn famous. There’s even a podcast episode linked in the article.

• Mardi Gras is on Tuesday, February 21st, and this TripFiction article lists ten great books set in New Orleans. There’s fiction, nonfiction, and noir for your reading pleasure. Be sure to read the first comment for many more recommendations.

• I sing their praises often, and I’m doing it again this week. Check out last week’s episode of The Library of Lost Time, where Mel & Dave highlight two books and then talk about the Hudson River Rail Excursion in New York. Be sure to click on the last link, “in this video,” for a short vintage excursion you must see to believe. It looks like it was so much fun!

• What a great idea to get books into the hands of students and teachers from underserved communities across the country. The Busload of Books Tour is happening now, so visit the website to find out where the Swanson/Behr family will be next and show up and cheer them on.

• For your viewing pleasure! Check out these cozy and comfortable book nooks and get ideas to create your own little bookish corner of a room.

• I recently discovered the Our Towns Foundation website, which has such interesting articles about dozens of towns across the United States. Check out this podcast episode of what it was like growing up in The Color Capital of the World, a crayon manufacturing town.

• Readers tell me they would like to read more diversely, but where does a reader begin? This Bibliolifestyle article introduces the reader to diverse books and provides many tips on making diverse reading an integral part of your reading life.

• I discovered Nancy Pearl when she published The Writer’s Library with Jeff Schwager in 2020. I continued down a rabbit hole where I stumbled across her Book Lust TV show on the government access channel, Seattle Channel. These thirty-to-forty-minute YouTube and podcast episodes are a treasure trove of author interviews and excellent book discussions. She also makes an appearance on several older Professional Book Nerds podcast episodes.

• I had no idea of the history of audiobooks. This NY Times (gift link) article about Marianne Mantell, who passed away last month at age 93, tells how she helped pave the way for audiobooks.

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What do you have planned for your upcoming weekend? I’ll finish a couple of books for an upcoming newsletter by the end of the weekend, and then I’ll be reading something just for fun. I’m not working weekends yet, but that will start soon, so I’m enjoying this while I can.

May your weekend ahead include fun, family, and of course, a little reading. Have a great weekend, and happy reading!