Good morning! I have started a new thing that I wanted to tell you about, where I thank journalists when I read a story that I particularly like. There is every reason to do this (especially under the new administration, which we already know will be very hostile to journalists) and no reason not to. Try it! The NPR Book Concierge has arrived once again! Every year I get zillions of recommendations from this thing, and you should too! How fantasy movies portray the experience of oppression in near-totally white terms (by the fabulous Zeba Blay). Vann R. Newkirk II…
5 CommentsCategory: Links Round-Ups
Manuel Gonzales NK Jemisin Nicole Chung Mira Jacob Masha Gessen Vann R. Newkirk II Rebecca Traister Rembert Browne Nikole Hannah-Jones Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham A whole bunch of writers of many genres Stay safe, guys.
11 CommentsHappy Friday, team! This time next week, I’d like to say the worst election season that ever electioned will all be over, but I can’t say it with any degree of confidence. This time next week WHO KNOWS but hopefully it’ll be okay and we can start the long and arduous process of getting our mental health back to normal. Have some links, in the meantime. A very cool look at how the designer for The Science behind Game of Thrones created the book’s cover (and her very own Iron Throne). Remember that whole VOYA mess? Of course you do.…
11 CommentsI’m over at Lady Business recommending nonfiction! This is not tremendously on brand for me, but I just need y’all to know that there are people whose job title is “smokejumper” and before they became smokejumpers, their job title was “hot shot.” For real. This is real life. Here is how excited I was to share this news with Whiskey Jenny.\ Once again, I want to really emphasize that we have done nothing to deserve Alexandra Petri. Here’s her recap of the second and third presidential debates. 2016 is not real. Here’s the evidence. The thing about Mike Hookem is…
9 CommentsLook, I know. I know. You want to read the hot takes on Luke Cage. I understand that’s where you’re at. I am RIGHT THERE WITH YOU. But I have only watched four episodes of the series, and thus I haven’t read that much criticism of it yet.1 You will have to wait for the next one for that sweet Luke Cage talk. Here’s what you can have: A complete history of Addy Walker, who I honestly still can’t deal with the fact that they retired her books and her doll. Hmph. Why clothes for women don’t have any goddamn…
15 CommentsI’m an aunt, y’all! Wooooooooo! Truly it is the happiest of Fridays! Though I can’t transmit my joy directly into your brains, I will nevertheless do my best to give you some happiness in the form of excellent links. Enjoy! In case you missed it, I wrote a fandom vocabulary primer for the Oxford Dictionaries blog. The goddess Alexandra Petri (the woman who brought us Emo Kylo Ren) outlines the Great American Novel. A history of Harry Potter fandom. The Seattle Seahawks made a loud noise about the statement they were planning to make before their opening game, but what…
18 CommentsMorgan Jenkins is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers on the intersection of politics and pop culture, and this article about whiteness in Emma Cline’s The Girls is fire. Pixar has a list of storytelling rules of which one, I believe, is that you can use a coincidence to get a character into, but not out of, trouble. Here’s Alice Mattison on how to write coincidence well. Sexual harassment in the SF world. Did I tell you I’m fascinated with the stories of people who are in (or who leave) fundamentalist religions? So this Gothamist article about a meet-up…
29 CommentsHappy Friday, everyone! How to cull your books: The Awl guide. Let me tell you my method, team. Take all the books. Line them up on the floor, right to left, by how much you love them. Then draw a line somewhere in the middle of that long line of books and cull everything to the left of your line. Boom. Done. More on fan entitlement (and a bit of side-eye for Steven Moffat, which I am never not here for) from The Mary Sue. I’m really digging Maddie Myers’s work on The Mary Sue these days, y’all! Go follow…
11 CommentsI decided to take a break from having sad links and only have happy links. So you can look forward to some gay Sulu, bonkers Oscar Wilde adjacence, and Catullus telling people to go fuck themselves (he does that so well). Bahahaha Constance Holland (nee Lloyd; formerly Wilde) has a fake gravestone at a cemetery in Spain. OF COURSE SHE DOES God I love Oscar Wilde stories. American literature needs indie publishers, says The Atlantic. They don’t exactly go deep on the point that indie presses are an avenue for publishing more marginalized voices, so if y’all have a recent…
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