Happy Friday Links

5-10-24

Hi readers,

How has your reading week been? I’ve had a great reading week, and it would be even better if I could stay awake at night while reading in bed. I’ve been falling asleep after reading just a couple of pages.

I just finished a really great book that I’ve put off reading since it was published in 2019, and I have no idea why it took so long to read. If you have love and fond memories of The Wizard of Oz and haven’t read Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts, grab this book and settle in for a wonderful story. Be sure to read the author’s note at the end, which tells you more about what was fact versus the author’s imagination. She is an excellent writer.

It’s Friday, and it's time for Happy Friday Links. These newsletters are the ones I have the most fun doing—not so much the actual newsletter itself but finding all the links to include. Sometimes, I have so many that I wind up with extras, and occasionally, I struggle to find enough, but this week is full of links, so let’s get started:

• I’m headed to Seattle in July for a cruise and then several days of sightseeing, and I was delighted to see this list of independent bookstores in the area. I plan on stopping in at as many of these as I can. If you live in this area, let me know which ones are a “don’t miss.”

• In this week’s newsletter,

  Rashmee Roshan Lall
  shares information about the Eurovision Song Contest, which I’d never heard of before. It is also the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s international breakthrough performance of Waterloo, one of my favorite bands of my teenage years.

• It takes a village to mourn a mom in this CBS Evening News story. Equal parts sad and heartwarming.

• Bookishly Delightful
  has created the BEST guide to using Libby tags that I’ve come across. I used to put books I wanted to “remember to read” on hold and then just click “deliver later” when it was my turn, but not anymore. I’ve wholeheartedly embraced tags, and it’s been so nice not having a bunch of books becoming available that I’m not ready to read yet.

• One of my favorite days each year is the day the Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide is released, and this year, that happens on Thursday, May 16th. Check out this post on the MMD Blog to find out how to get your copy.

• The Culture Study Podcast recently had an episode on Goodreads—How Did Goodreads Get So Bad? The guest on that episode was literary critic Maris Kreizman, who hosted the podcast The Maris Review, which sadly ended last year. You can find her writings on LitHub, where she writes a bi-weekly column and never shies away from expressing her opinion.

• In keeping with the above, here is a link to a NY Times (gift link) opinion piece she wrote about Goodreads in December 2023. I don’t know if I agree completely with her criticism of Goodreads, but I do know that plenty of unhappy readers are switching to other platforms to track their reading.

• A CBS Sunday Morning segment with Erik Larson was taped at Ft. Sumter to discuss his latest book, The Demon of Unrest. I haven’t read it yet, but I hope to someday.

• If you live in California or are planning on traveling to California on vacation this year, this would be a great Substack newsletter to follow for fun sightseeing ideas while you are there.

  Mark & Patti Clifford
  write
  California Mishegoss
  and share links to fun things to do and great places to eat across the state.

• As a kid, I remember road trips from California to Oklahoma to visit relatives every summer, and we stayed at several “motels and motor lodges” along the way. This Smithsonian article tells how these “vintage motels are being reimagined for modern times.” It makes me happy to see these places not only restored but reimagined into fun places to stay.

• I have been following this story on Threads and Facebook, and every time I think I’ve heard it all, it just gets crazier. Here is a link to an article on LitHub, and many authors have weighed in on it across social media. Search RTD or Readers Take Denver, and you can spend hours down the rabbit hole with all the crazy details. I feel bad for all the authors and readers affected.

Have you heard anything about the debacle at RTD? Several authors have written apologies to their readers and fans for the debacle at this year’s festival. It sounds like the 2025 festival has been canceled, but now there is a controversy about authors not being offered full refunds even though the organizer is canceling the festival. Time will tell how all this will shake out.

That’s it for this week’s links. Hopefully, you found something fun to read for your weekend. Have a wonderful weekend full of rest and a great book to read. 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.