Whew, we made it to Friday once more, friends! I had a weird, hard week, which turned out to mostly be because I was pre-menstrual, but also a little bit because I lost a contact lens that now has to be expensively replaced, plus I have been feeling sad that free Wordle fun times are coming to an end. (I’m happy the creator is getting paid, though!) I’m seeing my sister this weekend, however, and I’m hoping I can con her into watching Yellowjackets with me. We’ll see. In the meantime, have some links!
Nasim Mansuri finds a way to love a book — CS Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy — that doesn’t love her back. (link)
The first generation of school shooting survivors has grown up. (link)
Who gets to go with their gut in the movies? Who gets to be the hero who saves the day? (SPOILERS, it’s men.) (link)
Anne Helen Peterson’s description of why Candy Crush is addictive and empty, and Wordle is fun and sweet, is so spot on. (link)
In news that will surprise nobody, Noom is just a diet app, rebranded. I hope the Maintenance Phase podcast does an episode on Noom soon, but I suppose that would be giving them more attention I don’t want them to have. Fuckin diet culture. (link)
Another review of To Paradise, this one getting into Hanya Yanagihara’s pretty messed-up attitude toward disability! Among other things! (link)
I absolutely love The Secret History, but even so, this essay about the moral vacuity of its world is very good. (But I still love it.) (link)
Do you want Bernardine Evaristo to recommend you some books, of course you want that. (link)
“Let people like things” is a credo that has stepped way beyond its original context. (link)
How much do influencers charge brands? NOBODY REALLY KNOWS, not even the influencers or the brands, but one company is trying to change that. (link)
“For kids today from poorer backgrounds, the path I took through education no longer exists.” A $4000 Pell Grant changed Tara Westover’s life. (link)
What is all the constant tracking and counting doing to our reading habits? (Despite having insanely read 31 books in January, I cannot relate to this article because I never set numbered reading goals.) (link)
Sarah Raughly considers what it means that it takes Black tragedy to get publishers interested in Black books. (link)
That’s all for now! Wish me luck on a very busy weekend!