Happy Friday! How did your first week of 2015 go?

Pictured are my first 2 books of the year. This week has been part-holiday hangover and catching up with the friends I missed, part semi-manic getting back into the swing of work and things.

Anyway, here are some links for you to enjoy over the weekend.
 

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

My Best of 2014 will be up shortly – some books, some films.

Rounding off 2014, capsule reviews of the books I read in November and in December.

On my business blog – My 2014 in Review.

 

 

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How cats conquered cinema. Anne Billson’s ever-wonderful articles about cats on film are always relevant to my interests. And an important public service, people!

And so Inside Llewyn Davis illustrated two universal truths – not only that cats improve every film they are in, but that their very presence can provide narrative glue, not to mention enough tension to leave cat-lovers, at least, on the edge of their seats.

Damn right.

The Guardian brings us Books in 2015: The Essential Literary Calendar. I’m looking forward to The First Bad Man by Miranda July, and umm catching up on loads from last year, frankly.

The Two Faces of Joaquin Phoenix: A Tour Through the Actor’s Menagerie of Creeps, Choirboys, and Burnouts – on Grantland, a great piece about the physicality of one of the best actors working today.

On Brain Pickings, Joan Didion’s Favorite Books of All Time, in a Handwritten Reading List. *prayer emoji*

 

 

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Some poor reporter had to hang out with Emerson Spartz, the self-proclaimed Virologist for several days. His business model conflates value with clicks and basically regurgitates and shits out and regurgitates the worst of the internet. It is awful and he sounds awful.

Podcast of the week is a repeat – You Must Remember This, written and narrated by Karina Longworth. It’s my go-to cooking podcast, so now when I chop onions I think of the many loves of Howard Hughes. It also confirms my favour of Bette Davis as HHBIC (Hollywood Hot Bitch in Charge).

The Hairpin has a new contributing editor, who is interviewed in the Guardian. Jazmine Hughes: “Women are magic”.

On the Awl: Some 2015 predictions. Funny. Bleak.

 

 

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This week is the Bout of Books readathon 12.0.

Since the idea is to set your own goals and just to read a bit more than you normally would in any given week, I’ve been casually taking part.

So far I’ve finished Open City by Teju Cole, which was an interesting look into race relations but other than that a little dense.

Currently, I’m reading This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett (non-fiction) and The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammet (fiction) – both of which are great so far.

What have you been reading lately?
 

 

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In New York Magazine, a happy employee asks, What Do We Give Up When We Become Freedom-Seeking Entrepreneurs? A lot, sure, but secure jobs are a blip.

A lovely post from Madi: The Self-Kindness Project: A journey to self-acceptance [OFFLINE]

Austin Kleon’s tip for a New Year resolution: Something small, every day.

 

What have you been reading this week?

 

 

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Happy New Year!

It’s been a few weeks. I hope you all had a great festive holiday and spent some time with family and friends.

I spent my wedding anniversary ill in bed around the time the last Reading Week should have gone out, but then celebrated Christmas with family and spent the past week catching up with reading and friends. On balance, a pretty good end to 2014.

So, what’s been happening online?

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

I only got 1 book for Christmas – but I’ve tons of new books laying around so I made an End-of-2014 Book Haul.

My Best of 2014 will be up shortly – subscribe to get it first.
 

 

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Why 2014 Was the Year of the Essay. You know I’m all about it.

Katherine Angel on Gender, blah, blah, blah in publishing and literary criticism.

Lots of Hollywood chat this season, including:

In Hollywood, It’s a Men’s, Men’s, Men’s World. Like we didn’t already know that! This one is mercifully light on the Sony hack and pointing towards change.

The Birdcage, or How Hollywood’s toxic (and worsening) addiction to franchises changed movies forever in 2014. Sadface.

And a couple of fun ones: A Brief History of Kissing in Movies and The Rapid Decline of Movie Quotation

I really enjoyed this profile – The Unbreakable Laura Hillenbrand – author of Seabiscuit and Unbroken (now a movie). I haven’t read her books yet, but loved the notion that a reporter who can’t leave the house can out-write her peers through smart thinking and elaborate work-arounds.

I also enjoyed this interview with Mara Wilson. You know, the girl who played Matilda, all grown up. She’s worth a follow on Twitter and I’m looking forward to her upcoming book.

Does The Handmaid’s Tale Hold Up? Hint: in all but the details of the era, yes.

 

 

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On Ten Years of Podcasting and the persistent limits of the medium, despite its recent surge in popularity.

I’m still totally loving Reply All – and this week the guys from Longform are on it! My podcast cup overrunneth. I ‘ship your ears with this baby.

Fact-checking in journalism particularly in digital journalism, has become a big issue since the big Rolling Stone – UVA campus rape article debacle. Two good pieces I’ve read coming out of that:

Specifically, On Rolling Stone, Fact-Checking, and the Limits of Journalism on Feministing.

And generally, In Praise of Fact-Checking via Flavorwire.
 

 

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I’m aware that calling a section of this newsletter ‘ladybits’ only goes so far. So let’s try out a new subheading, shall we?

Written about the newsroom but probably applies to your industry, too: Diversity: Don’t Talk About It, Be About It.

A Lesbian Dilemma: All My Heroes Are Men Who Hated Women. They did know how to have fun, tho.

How Feminism Conquered Pop Culture. Well, kinda. No mention of how this strong public sentiment is being immediately turned around and sold back to us. This piece is, at the very least, pretty comprehensive.

 

 

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I’ve had a good couple of weeks, reading-wise.

I finished the new hotness, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel and it was pretty much worth the hype.

The first book of 2015 for me is Open City by Teju Cole.

What have you been reading lately?
 

 

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A piece on SAD, to which I can wholly relate: Old Man Winter Ate My Sense of Adventure

A nice wee holiday story to warm your heart: A real Good Samaritan.

 

What have you been reading this week?

 

 

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I had to take a couple of half-day mental health breaks this week, including paying a visit to the wee guy up top.

Fortunately for you, that means lots of links!

Glad tidings, indeed.

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

Nope, but I did make a video! Friday Reads.
 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

#ReadWomen2014: The Next Chapter. The Guardian ending the year as it began, with a call to action to read more women writers.

&&& 10 Female Authors That Ruled 2014.

I watched Wild this week, which came out in the US last week, due out in the UK on January. Here are two very different reviews from Richard Brody – who hated the direction, and Alison Willmore – who lauds Witherspoon’s character and performance. My views? Under embargo, wump wump.

Why is American publishing so white? (Subtext subtitle: “And why are they always making it so obvious?”)

The big blow-up in publishing this week was regarding big-time YouTuber Zoe Sugg’s novel being ghostwritten. Quelle surprise. While the hot takes fired in, I took the time to read this remarkable little piece by a different kind of ghost writer: Ghosts are Real, At Least in Publishing.

 

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Remember the girl who interviewed Shia LeBeouf without interviewing Shia LeBeouf? She’s written this smashing piece for Dazed about what it’s like to have the internet take your actions out of context: Interviewing Shia wasn’t that weird. What happened next was.

Generation Selfie, in which Anna Hart is the only person who can write thoughtfully about over-argued, click-bait, moral hand-wringing topics.

 

 

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Ayesha Siddiqi: ‘We need to stop waiting for permission to write’. You heard the lady! Love her compassion here. Also, follow her on Twitter.

Shit’s been making me angry this week. For example:

The UK’s sexist new pornography restrictions aren’t just an act of state censorship, but could be the first step towards something even worse. Can we just, not?

Speaking of awful:

Releasing private Sony e mails to hurt people is the same as releasing nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence. Why are they ok to print?

— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) December 11, 2014

Comparing a sex crime to someone reading your correspondence? Get fucked, Apatow.

Meanwhile! Rolling Stone threw a rape victim to the misogynist horde.

If you came for the cheery stuff, reverse on up to the Arts & Culture section.
 

 

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I finally finished that pesky little Truman Capote real crime classic, In Cold Blood – as promised.

Coincidentally, the case is back in the news. Harold Nye, an agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation had conflicting notes which are now allowed to be published. Nye hated the book so much he threw it across the room; and walked out of the movie. More on Salon.com: The new “In Cold Blood” revisionism: What if Capote’s classic wasn’t fully true?

Now I’m reading a wee novel called Here They Come by Yannick Murphy, listening to Poehler’s Yes Please on audiobook, and ready to get another essay collection on the go. You?

 

 

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Microsoft Says Goodbye to Clip Art, so NPR caught up with one of its most prolific artists.

An odd and interesting piece by Jon Ronson on Shimer College: the worst school in America? This place sounds kind of bullshit, but also kind of fascinating and misunderstood.

 

What have you been reading this week?

 

 

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