“Participatory listenership (i.e., interrupting)” has killed me stone dead. Have some sociolinguistic analysis about why some people think New Yorkers are rude. (link)

ASTROLOGY BOOK CLUB. I really enjoy astrology book club. (link)

NPR has worked hard to bring together this list of the 100 best books for young readers. Yay! (link)

“Living in the now is a constant negotiation of how to put the things that I value—humane and safe working conditions, diversity in storytelling, anti-racism and justice—into active practice in an imperfect world.” On the revival of West Side Story. (link)

Lauren Markham appreciates the magic of the postal service even more in these quarantimes than she did before. (link) (This is true of me, Jenny, also — I am sending out one lovely note per day to friends!)

Slate dot com has done the important journalism of charting all the murmurs murmured by anyone in the Twilight saga. (link)

“Black people will defend your right to Blackness… That’s how these deceptions are born.” Evette Dionne on Jessica Krug. (link)

The country can change. It’s done it before. (link)

“Instead of solving social problems, the U.S. uses techno-fixes to bypass them, plastering the wounds instead of removing the source of injury—and that’s if people even accept the solution on offer.” On the American failure to address the pandemic. (link)

Eula Biss is so consistently good and smart. (link)

Here’s what’s going on with Storygraph, the burgeoning successor to Goodreads. (link)

This article on the Nancy Meyers kitchen is a few months old but it is very, very good. (link)

That’s all, folks! Have an absolutely stupendous weekend! I will be shut up in a dark room whispering “participatory listenership (i.e., interrupting)” over and over again until I have come to terms with it. Which will never happen. So that is just what I will be doing with my life from this point onward. Be blessed.

The post i.e., Interrupting: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

Remember I told you about bookshop.org, where you can order books and it’s like indie bookstore Amazon? Well, they have a wonderful list of March and April book releases, and we can help them gain exposure and visibility in this time of coronavirus! And here’s how to support indie bookstores in a time of pandemic. For my own part I have preordered four books that I’m excited about from the queer-owned SF indie bookshop Tubby & Coos, using Bookshop dot org. Thanks Bookshop dot org!

Speaking of March book releases, we interviewed Intisar Khanani, author of the brand new (and terrific!) YA novel Thorn, for the podcast this week! Listen and buy her book — it’s wonderful!

And in case you’re still not sure why March/April book releases matter, here’s Amy Klein on what it’s like to have a book released in the midst of coronavirus.

Nicole Chung will only have a few more opportunities to see her mother alive. So what should she do about traveling in a time of pandemic? (This, uh, is a slightly older article, in that it’s quite recent but still feels like it’s coming to us from the past. WHY IS CORONAVIRUS HAPPENING SO MUCH.)

The Decameron has become, um, extremely relevant allasudden.

An expert on gatherings answers questions about how we’re going to view our social lives, businesses, etc., during and after this time of pandemic.

That time JRR Tolkien got mad at WH Auden for trying to write a book about him. He found it very distracting from his important project of finishing The Silmarillion, because of course he did.

In defense of Jessica on Love Is Blind.

“To save you two hours of hearing Hooper explain over and over why cats are cats but also not cats, we’ve pulled out 20 highlights from the director commentary for you to enjoy.” Dispatches from the directory’s commentary on Cats.

This is a very useful Q&A about COVID19 as it relates to groceries, delivery, and getting takeout. This is also a very useful piece about not panicking re groceries and delivery services.

The downfall of a school of witchcraft and wizardry.

Triaging COVID-19 patients based on their presumed likelihood of recovery is wrong.

….What.

“I’m going to say a silent prayer for Mr. Ronald now and roll for him later.” So this is how this is going. tw: distressing COVID-19 content.

Looking back at these links, there are… more of them about coronavirus than I necessarily intended. I am tired of having incompetent national leadership, and I would like to go on break for that. Plus nobody seems able to tell me whether our stupid stimulus checks are going to be taxable income, but I assume that they are and it makes me want to punch everyone in the dick.

ANYWAY. Federal incompetence aside, I love all of y’all a great deal, and I hope you will drop a line to let me know what’s been keeping you sane. We could all use some good ideas!

The post Apparently We’re Two Weeks In: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

Tumblr’s not dead — no! It is aliiiiiiiive!

China has blocked fanfiction site AO3 for Chinese users. The migration of Chinese fans to AO3 was a big story in 2019, with the Archive working hard to accommodate a large volume of new fans. To understand more about the migration patterns of Chinese fandom, read this!

Whatever happened to the tech guy who took a million dollar paycut and raised the minimum salary at his company to $70K?

This is a heartbreaking personal essay about replacing one’s abusive parents with new, better ones.

Asexuality has been described as the first identity the internet created, but it existed long, long before the internet.

Turns out internet trolls aren’t new: The early twentieth century was a banner era for people writing nasty anonymous letters. I did not know this and now understand why in English classes I read several very unsettling mid-century short stories about poison-pen letters.

Here’s what’s happening with Barnes & Noble since James Daunt’s hedge fund took it over.

I follow Alisha Rai on Twitter, and the ongoing saga of the cake pops tweet has been quite wild to witness.

This is a close reading of the prologue of The Secret History, which will surely make you want to reread The Secret History, which you should definitely do. Wouldn’t it be nice to read about murderous Latin students, rather than coronavirus? (Yes, it would be nice.)

Crispy and crunchy are NOT the same thing, and one of them has a whole-ass industry devoted to making it occur in foods.

A fortnight from now, I promise I will have a more robust links round-up. In the meantime, I hope you will remember to wash your hands upon entering a new location and again just before leaving. If you are sickly, I wish you health and protection by the herd. If you are healthy, it is now your job to protect the sick and vulnerable amongst you, and you must do that by not going on trips and avoiding gatherings and washing your hands for twenty full seconds every time. Thank you for being prosocial!

The post A Link Round-Up of Things to Read Whilst You’re Working Remotely appeared first on Reading the End.

A profile of Lindy West, on the occasion of the release of Shrill.

How the internet is helping to preserve critically endangered languages.

What is society really nostalgic for, when it talks about “going back” to an era of healthy, home-cooked meals?

The reality TV industry isn’t providing adequate mental health care to its participants. That needs to change.

This article about classic party fiction is good but the fact that it doesn’t include the party scene from Mary Renault’s The Charioteer makes me question its leadership.

I am constantly forgetting who Bret Easton Ellis is, but that didn’t make this review of his latest book any less satisfying.

On 10 Things I Hate about You.

Here’s a list of the best bookstores in each state in the US.

If you want to read new SFF in the month of April, Book Marks has you covered.

FASCinating piece on using fashion to solve cold cases.

Want to know what’s been happening with racism in the romance industry? The Guardian‘s got you!

And now, on to the readathon!

The post IT IS READATHON DAY, but also, A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

The internet is not a shared space of equality. It’s as segregated as the real world.

US vs UK book covers of 2018.

Years of poaching and loss of habitat have led to aggressive behavior in elephants. (An older article that was on Longform.org and was so fascinating I had to share.)

A line about limping in The Good Place last season really threw me, so I was glad to see this piece on disability in the afterlife.

CBS’s company culture is reflected in the rash of sexual harassment claims they face, but also in the stories they choose to tell.

“This is how all bad relationships should end. Just: Helicopter. Credits. No contact with civilians.” On Buffy’s break-up with Riley Finn. (This is, incidentally, how my relationship with George W. Bush ended. I cannot recommend it highly enough.)

These are Alyssa Cole’s best romances of 2018.

I am fascinated by this deep dive into glitter production. Please read it and then share your hypotheses about which industry buys the most glitter. Toothpaste is so far the best theory I’ve heard.

A black Jewish woman responds to Alice Walker’s anti-Semitism.

Here’s what it’s like to be a cable guy (while queer and female).

Jamilah King on the black lives lost at Jonestown — and the archivists who have dedicated their lives to making sure those lives are not forgotten.

The Tournament of Books shortlist has been announced!

“This concludes the last thing I’ll ever write about Kevin Spacey or Louis C.K., until they’re sentenced in courts of law, or I have to write their obituaries.” I mostly link to women writing about sexual harassers, but eh, I’ll make one exception because I love this kicker.

I was hoping Angelica Jade Bastien (one of my fave critics working right now) would tackle Surviving R Kelly, and she has! Aisha Harris has a thoughtful take on some of the reasons R Kelly has escaped consequences for his actions. And Morgan Jerkins explores the manipulation of teenage fans.

One of my favorite things about Ask a Manager is how she’s bringing together the advice community. Here’s an excellent roundtable of Ask a Manager, Dear Prudence, Captain Awkward, Care and Feeding, Dr. Nerdlove, and Ask a Clean Person, all talking about the world of giving advice.

Happy weekend! I got such a sweet hug this morning!

The post My godchild just gave me such a big hug: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.