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Reading Week #52

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nicola-beer-prague
Flashback to this time last year in Prague. Soon: Split!

Happy Friday! How are things in your world?

This week has been a goer, just getting on and pretending like it wasn’t snowing on Tuesday (the END of APRIL).

Last night I watched the Spooks film and imagined what the love child of Kit Harington and Brandon Crawford would look like (as an adult, obviously) and I pretty much made my own week.

Aaaaanyway, have some links!
 

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

Bookish Blether Episode 8 is all about Book Clubs! Holly and I are often asked how to join or start one, so we shared some of our knowledge, along with some tips on surviving it once you’re in one.

As all 3 of you reading them may have noticed, I gave up on BEDA half-way. Here’s why.

On my business blog, April Links.
 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

Nellie Bly’s Lessons in Writing What You Want To by Alice Gregory. Air punch!

Sally Hughes on How contouring took all the fun out of getting made up.

I’m really late posting this, but it’s a great read. In Fusion, YouTuber and comedian Akilah Hughes wrote this great piece about how YouTube rarely promotes black YouTube stars, even during Black History Month.

About once a month I have a binge of Sadie Stein’s Daily Correspondent blogs on the Paris Review website. The time has come! Here are a few recent highlights: On Jerks and Complicity | The Ambidextrous Marine Biologist | Nailed | Labours of Love (featuring Rebecca West).

Peter K. Rosenthal reviews The Avengers: Age of Ultron . He understands where these movies are headed.

 

 

–– DIGITAL ––

Shauna Haider aka Nubby Twiglet on how Blogging Changed My Life.

I’m a bit over this topic, but here’s a good addition anyway. From Nieman lab – Getting beyond “public radio voice”: Finding and decoding identity on the air. Got me thinking about how we suppress identity in response to cultural pressures.

How about a podcast recommendation? I’m a bit behind my usual pace but listened to the first episode of Another Round from Buzzfeed. Anecdotes, cultural chat and more from 2 smart ladies.
 

 

–– ON PAPER ––

I’m still reading The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan, which is officially out now.

I’ve also begun Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty, a mortician and performer who also runs the YouTube channel called Ask a Mortician. I’ve read 2 chapters and I never use this word but it’s fabulous.

What’s on your nightstand?
 

 

–– &c. ––

How to Structure Your Days If You’re Depressed from Rookie. A calming read.

Also Rookie-related, from New York Times Live – Tavi Gevinson writes her future as she lives it (20 min video, short article).

This is important/horrifying. How Female Hormones Can Make a Bloody Mess of your Mental Health.

 

​Have a lovely weekend, friends!

 

Reading Week #51

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west-front

The weather seems to have turned now but it was absolutely glorious for a few days this week. I took full advantage of my self-employed status on Wednesday and had a long lunch at Glasgow’s favourite beer garden, WEST.

This weekend I’ll be mostly seeing friends and catching a couple of events at Aye Write, Glasgow’s book festival. What are your plans?

Here’s some reading to keep you going.

 

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

Oh. It’s probably about time I posted something here, huh?

On my business blog, 2 New Podcasts for Microbusinesses that I’ve been enjoying lately (bigger businesses will get plenty out of them, too).
 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

“I think that people should be nervous because women are emailing each other. Women are DMing each other. The women are talking. The women are emailing.”

The Women Are Emailing. I bloody love this. Shoot me an email, ladies.

On Binge Reading Disorder. Do you suffer from it? Interesting that we’re more likely to share an article we haven’t finished. I wouldn’t say this isn’t true for me.

“Get a day job, but don’t get too good at it. It will take you away from your writing.” – Mad Men Creator Matthew Weiner’s (somewhat self-aggrandising) advice for writers.

Might as well make it 3 weeks in a row: Broad City again – Season 1 is finally available in the UK, on iTunes.
 

 

–– DIGITAL ––

On the rise of IMing in the workplace: Are You Just LARPing Your Job? The way a lot of media people I hear on podcasts and follow on Twitter talk about this kind of thing – probably. But maybe I’m bitter because I have no colleagues to LARP with.

Anita Sarkeesian’s Guide to Internetting While Female is super informative – a must-read.

YouTube is moving towards an ad-free, paid subscription offering. The spread of income isn’t yet clear, and it seems to turn its video eco-system into something of a zero-sum game for creators.

If you’re interested in the above, give the latest episode of the Hello Internet podcast a listen. Both hosts – CGP Grey and Braday Haran – are independent YouTube creators and raise some interesting potential issues with the new offering.

A great interview with Amanda Hess on Zulkey. “When I write about men… the comments tend to be really pleasant. Isn’t that annoying?”

Inside the Podcast Brain: Why Do Audio Stories Captivate? from The Atlantic.

This tweet.

 

 

–– ON PAPER ––

Docket cleared, time for some new books this week! This morning I read It was snowing butterflies by Charles Darwin, an extract from The Voyage of the Beagle that’s part of the Penguin Little Black Classics Series.

This weekend I’ll be digging into The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan – another local debut (and how bloody gorgeous is the cover?!).

I could use a laugh too, so maybe I’ll dip into my advanced copy of Limmy’s Daft Wee Stories, which looks excellent and comes out this summer. So many great Scottish titles out this season.

What’s on your nightstand?
 

 

–– &c. ––

“Men must learn to be silent. It must be very painful for them, to silence in themselves the voice of theory, the practice of theoretical interpretation. They have just got to get treatment.” – Marguerite Duras.

Socks and Singleness: what we take for granted. Kate Foster on the importance of appreciating what we have, when we have it.

On The Butter: The Murder of Crows. Just give it a go.

How to Pleasure Your Man in 11 Easy Steps. lolz.

 

​Have a lovely weekend, friends!

 

Reading Week #50 – Milestone!

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london-horizon

Happy Friday! It’s Reading Week #50!

A little over a year on, it’s been such fun to curate and share, and I really thank you for reading it. Please do share the subscribe link to anyone you think will enjoy it!

I had a great start to the week at London Book Fair meeting internet friends and acquaintances, discovering new publishers, and taking in some panels. All the excitement has put the rest of my week a bit on the back-foot, but the sun is shining and I’m so ready for a relaxing weekend. I hope you are too!

Here are some links for your downtime and reading pleasure.
 

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

Bookish Blether #7 | Reviewing Books is up now!

I messed up my scheduling on the rest, but you can still check my BEDA efforts on Tumblr.
 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

In 1985, Marguerite Duras predicted that, ‘In the 2000s, there will be only answers’, and that there would be screens everywhere. Sounds pretty sci-fi, huh?

And, in related, I then read this HBR piece about Relearning the Art of Asking Questions. Appropriate! And pretty useful.

Here’s Margaret Ashworth on the Daily Mail style guide. I do love a good nose at these.

In Answer to Buzzfeed’s “23 Words For Book Lovers That Really Should Exist.

I mentioned Broad City last week, but fuck it – Rachel Syme did this great profile of Abby and Ilana in Grantland: The Broad Strokes.
 

 

–– DIGITAL ––

In Celebration of Old-School LiveJournal. And OMG it’s like my entire teenage years in one post. It also got so misty thinking about WinAmp (It really whips the llama’s ass!)

And the modern equivalent (sorta): A complete history of “F*** yeah” Tumblrs, the happiest blogs on the Web.

The Future of Loneliness – as imagined by the wonderful Olivia Laing.

Newsletter recommendation: Hot Pod by Nick Quah. There’s more about it, and him, in this profile on the Daily Dot.

And related, yet another piece on podcasts and Serial, which pulls in some interesting data.

 

 

–– ON PAPER / ON SCREEN ––

It wasn’t a busy reading week so I’m still working my way through In Praise of Messy Lives by Katie Roiphe and Fishnet by Kirstin Innes.

I’ve also started dipping into Canongate’s wonderful My Dear Bessie, a series of letters between two war-time penpals-turned-lovers which has been curated and carefully edited by Simon Garfield. They’ve been read extensively at the Letters Live events and are such a lovely read.

What are you currently reading? Hit ‘reply’ with your recs, please!
 

 

–– &c. ––

A funny pieces from Sophie Heawood: Stuck on an ice-bound ferry? What a great opportunity for apocalyptic sex. I’ll let you find out what it’s about.

Sarah Ditum in The New Statesman: Why I changed my mind about porn.

 

​Have a lovely weekend, friends!