08: Happy Bookish Birthday To Moi
It is my birthday! Send me your favorite book-y things from around the web that I can tuck into tonight, Funfetti cake in hand.
New here? Welcome! Consult my first post to see what amateur bibliotherapy means. If I link to a paywalled article that you can’t access, reply to this email and let me know.
Happy birthday to me! I hope you’ll celebrate with me by pouring a drink in my honor, be it tea and tequila, and maybe supporting a bookstore, restaurant or charity if you can spare the dollar bills. The Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund, Book Industry Charitable Foundation, and Via Carota’s Gift Card page are good places to go if you’re so inclined.
This week, I’d like to give a shout-out to the Simon & Schuster marketing team, which has capitalized on my omnipresent insomnia to email me every few days at 12:31am with a subject similar to: “Can’t Sleep? Here Are Some Books You Might Like!” Y’all get me.
Here are this week’s reads.
The Articles
How To Make It in America as a Professional Falconer, The New York Times (~7 min). I have… never thought that much about birds. But, I have been waking up to chirping birds a lot more often lately, and I have to recommend this article for its foray into the contemporary world of falconry. (It also features the brother of the BA Test Kitchen’s Molly Baz, for those in the know.) For a cultural read on why nature seems to be in the spotlight now more than ever, Amanda Hess over at the NYT is also talking about it.
The Book of Reese: How Reese Witherspoon Turned Her Literary Obsession Into an Empire, Vanity Fair (~23 min). I have mixed feelings about how celebrities have co-opted books as accessories in their plans of lifestyle-brand domination. While I like Emma Roberts’s literary recommendation project Belletrist and was interested in Emma Watson’s now-defunct feminist book club, it often feels like celebrities use books for better PR: books can temper reputations of frivolity, showcase charitable giving and education initiatives, and illustrate politics without requiring celebrities to do more than post a book cover on Instagram.
On the one hand, I’m always glad to see celebrities peddle books instead of Tummy Teatox spon-con. I know it’s certainly a get for publishing houses and bookstores when a celebrity is willing to lend their influence, and there are some celebrities who have convinced me they’ve actually read the books they promote, like Florence Welch, Kerry Washington, Lupita N’yongo and Jenny Slate. (Please note that Lea Michele does not make this list.)
On the other hand, apart from Oprah’s iconic book club and maybe Reese’s, a lot of the efforts feel somewhat disingenuous. Ann Patchett, author of a million famous books including Bel Canto and The Dutch House and Commonwealth, took the time to profile Reese for Vanity Fair and makes a compelling case as to why Reese’s work stands out.
Kidz Bop’s “censored” songs aren’t just annoying — they’re problematic, Vox (~7 min). Kidz Bop sucks and has always sucked. A recent visual essay from The Pudding shows that Kidz Bop albums have become more censored over time, which also indicates that Kidz Bop will continue to suck forever. But what does the censorship of Kidz Bop songs indicate about American perceptions of sex and violence? This Vox piece endeavors to explain.
To Navigate Love, French Intellectuals Mapped It, CityLab (~5 min). What’s sexier than maps? Nothing, I say! This article talks about the French origins of allegorical maps, which portray the stages of courtship and relationships as imagined cartographic sites like the Temple of Prudishness or the Castle of Cuckoldry.
They Are What You Eat: A Visit to the Headquarters of your Favorite Mall Foods, The New York Times (~10 min). I don’t know if you know this about me, but I fucking love Cinnabon. I once ordered several boxes of takeout from the elusive Manhattan Cinnabon to my apartment at 9:45 at night and, at 11pm, was heartbroken to see that my order had been cancelled. (It was probably a blessing in disguise, but the devastation persists.) I think about the fascinating history of Cinnabon’s invention almost every day. I am a shill for Cinnabon.
Read this article if you want to see the brains behind Cinnabon (and Carvel, Jamba Juice, Moe’s, and more) at work in their wild office.
The Books
Here are some books I recently purchased from Three Lives & Company and Bookshop.org, in case you need some inspiration (or want to send me a gift and need to know what I have already).
Elsewhere on the web, Books Are Magic has a list of new and upcoming books from Asian and Asian American authors; Bookshop.org has a ton of curated lists including a shelf of books by Taurus writers (like yours truly); and Buzzfeed has an actually surprising list of 36 great books you might not already know about.
Have a delightful week. Please consult this Tweet and adopt this ethos with me from afar.