Happy Friday, pals! Hope you’re all well?

Something has been a wee bit off-kilter this week, including the hail and snow (no I am not kidding). But this morning I’m up after a lovely evening out in Edinburgh for dinner and a play – Right Now, currently playing at the Traverse. If you’re in the area you should definitely check it out.

If you’re not, how’s about some links instead?

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

ICYMI, on Bookish Blether, we did a Q&A.

 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

Emily Laidlaw’s The Relingos of Beijing: An Interview with Valeria Luiselli is about as close as you can get to reading Valeria Luiselli. Lovely stuff all about cities, spaces and sounds.

I’m getting rid of my books, so I read Summer Brennan on On the Heartbreaking Difficulty of Getting Rid of Books. I was with her on the part about finding things in the pages, and about books as markers of times in our lives. But that doesn’t mean you gotta keep ’em. They’re still just stuff, love.

The author and essayist Jenny Diski passed away yesterday, and it seems she was a great loss to the literary community. I haven’t read her work but will but will be digging into her London Review of Books archive this weekend.

Had a great book club discussion this past week which included questions about the resurgence of Friends (less surprising if you’re in the UK than elsewhere) and Emily Nussbaum on Difficult Women.

 

 

–– DIGITAL / LIFE ––

Young people, eh? Meanwhile, Molly Young asks, Is Staying In the New Going Out? (I think it might be.)

Speaking of cities and Central Perk, I really enjoyed Rosie Spinks on The caffeine curse: why coffee shops have always signalled urban change. You might need to tone your gentrification gag reflex for this one, but it’s worth it for the history lesson.

Pretty soon I came to realise that it doesn’t make any difference if you’ll be dead in 10 years or two months; you still get up, have a shower and make a cup of tea.

16 year-old Max Edwards on having terminal cancer.

 

 

–– ON PAPER ––

Sorry, I’m still working on 1Q84 – but I’m now onto Book 3.

BUT! Tell me tell me, what are you currently reading?
 

–– &c. ––

My former colleague made this great Game of Thrones recap for BBC The Social, and my lovely friend Jean explained the Scottish election for them, too. [VIDEOS, 3 min]

 

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Your turn! Read anything good this week? Hit reply or tweet me about it, won’t you?

Have a lovely weekend!
Nicola x

Happy Friday!

This week has been a good one. The sun finally came out and I’ve been getting lots of exercise. How has yours been? What are your weekend plans? Mine include a gin tasting, a readathon, and book club.

We’re getting so close to #100! What do you wanna see? Reply and let me know.

But for now, here are your regularly scheduled links.

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

I finally got around to posting my Q&A Answers [VIDEO, 15 mins] and the first of my Bye Bye Books [VIDEO, 7 mins] videos, about how I’m paring down my collection.

Meanwhile, on Bookish Blether, we answered even more questions. (P.S. We’re now on Instagram!)

 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

I’m sad that Prince died, and really wish I’d seen him live. Here’s his NY Times obituary – “the artist who defied genre” – and Bomani Jones on Why There Will Never Be Another Prince.

You Don’t Like the Girls in ‘Girls’? That’s Its Genius. This review from Wesley Morris is so good that I just went and spoiled the entire series for myself.

Maura Quint nailed How to Negotiate a Raise (If You’re a Woman). You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.

 

 

–– DIGITAL / LIFE ––

This Russian photographer matches random people with social network photos. Cool project – I’d love to see it recreated somewhere like LA.

Last week there was this Craigslist ad of a BelAir mother seeking a gender studies tutor for her son. Ruth Graham investigated, and it got weird.

Luck Is a Bigger Contributor to Success Than People Give It Credit For.

Related: this unsurprising but enlightening reminder: 4 Men with 4 Very Different Incomes Open Up About the Lives They Can Afford in Esquire.

 

 

–– ON PAPER ––

This week I’ve been plowing through Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie on audiobook in preparation for this week’s book club.

Apart from that, I finally finished the excellent Dead Ladies Project by Jessa Crispin, and now quite fancy revisiting some more Nellie Bly.

Oh and I bought this beautiful copy (pictured) of The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson with my Waterstones points – so that’s on the TBR list too.

What’s on your nightstand?
 

–– &c. ––

Women apologise too much? Ruth Whippman argues that perhaps men should apologise more.

 

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Your turn! Read anything good this week? Hit reply or tweet me about it, won’t you?

Have a lovely weekend!
Nicola x

Happy Friday!

Loaded with allergies today, have nothing to say for self. Hope you had a good week and have a lovely weekend.

So, links, right?

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

ICYMI, last week’s Bookish Blether was – fittingly – all about having bookish conversations. [AUDIO, 36 mins]

 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

Hanah Anderson and Matt Daniels graphed Film Dialogue from 2,000 screenplays, Broken Down by Gender and Age. Guess what they found?

GQ asked 21 authors to champion 21 Brilliant Books You’ve Never Heard Of. I’m into John Jeremiah Sullivan and Zadie Smith’s picks.

I was fascinated by this piece on Fiction vs Nonfiction and how we native English speakers tend to be a lot more stringent about this divide than our pals in other countries.

I’m planning to read the new Annie Dillard collection, The Abundance, very soon. In preparation I read a couple of pieces on her: Annie Dillard’s Impossible Pages in the New York Times, and Ex Post by the author herself.

Millennials Are Out-Reading Older Generations. Surprise! Just kidding, that’s not surprising.

 

 

–– DIGITAL / LIFE ––

On Teaching Men to Be Emotionally Honest. Props to Andrew Reiner on this one, and for avoiding false gendered equivalences.

Last week I recommended the Letter of Recommendation for segmented sleep. This week I loved this one on Looking Out the Window. Surprising, honest, funny.

Letting them die: parents refuse medical help for children in the name of Christ. Chilling.

Ask Polly: How Can I Make My Marriage Last? I Pocketed this one ages ago and finally got around to reading it all. Definitely one to keep on hand.

Why Learning To Code Won’t Save Your Job.

 

 

–– ON PAPER ––

I’m almost finished book one of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It’s good, but dude is obsessed with boobs. I don’t think he goes 5 pages without mentioning some “swelling chest” or other.

Next I’ll be reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie for book club.

What’s on your nightstand?
 

 

–– &c. ––

The Guardian looked at the dark side of its own comments sections and found that of the 10 most abused writers eight are women, and the two men are black.

The writer targeted most was Jessica Valenti – so she wrote about it.

 
 

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Your turn! Read anything good this week? Hit reply or tweet me about it, won’t you?

Have a lovely weekend!
Nicola x