What I’m reading
- in print / on screen
Well, my double-teaming of the ARCs didn’t quite work out; I had to pick one to stick with. But I’m finishing it this weekend and returning to the other today, so it’s OK. Considering what my work week was like, I’m mildly impressed with myself for getting through a 400-page galley.
And…I’ve been reading blogs! Every day! I’m not leaving much evidence of it with comments, but I do have more links saved for sharing than I’ve had for weeks.
- on audio
I came close to DNF’ing an audiobook this week. I didn’t do it–there was nothing else I urgently wanted to listen to instead, and my commutes this week were particularly irksome–and I will write up my thoughts about it, because this blog exists to help me remember what I’ve read, even if it bugged me. Perhaps it’s especially important to record those reading experiences, to help avoid repeating them?
What I’m watching
It wasn’t much of a watching week. Paul was out two evenings this week, and I rarely watch TV on my own these days. I’m quite sure this is connected with having a good reading week, though.
What I’m writing
I’m working on a couple of book reviews this weekend, and thinking about a blogging experiment–short daily posts (daily‽ I know!) highlighting and commenting on some of those links in my save-and-share files–an expansion of what I usually do in the next section of this post, in some ways. Just watch your feed reader–you’ll see if it comes to pass.
What caught my eye this week
A fourteen-year-old’s eloquent praise of the patron saint of girl brainiacs:
”An outspoken, bookish, fluffy-haired kid, I was immediately drawn to Hermione Granger: clever, smart, and, best of all, appreciated for her nerdiness. The other characters accept the fact that she raises her hand in every class, reads textbooks for fun, and can always be found in the library. They sometimes tease her, but she knows that, in the end, they love her for it. In fact, Hermione’s knowledge saves their lives, many times over.
..Admirably smart, she remains a positive role model for all of the girls, like me, who spent their recesses curled up in a corner of the playground with a book they couldn’t wait to finish. In Hermione’s world, being smart is what makes her important.”
—“What’s right with Hermione”, by Naomi Horn at BoingBoing
On a related note, reading about Hermione, Harry, and Hogwarts can actually make you a better person. Science says so!
”Three new studies, conducted by by professor Loris Vezzali of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, were performed to see how children and university students treat “out-groups” (a sciencey term for marginalized folks) before and after being exposed to Harry Potter…At the end of the six weeks, the kids who’d read the sections where Harry has to deal with bigots found that their attitudes towards marginalized groups had changed to become much more positive.
”…The researchers believe that fantasy books in particular help kids and adults to deal with our prejudices because we’re confronting them in a way that’s parallel to real-world issues, and so avoids any defensiveness that might come up when discussing actual IRL marginalized groups. Realizing that it’s not cool to hate Muggles is a lot easier than confronting your own potential homophobia, but it’s nice to know that one actually does have a mitigating effect on the other.”
—“Studies Find Reading Harry Potter Makes You A Kinder, More Empathetic Human” at The Mary Sue
Also related—these kids ARE READING! A new paper from the Pew Research Center reporting on the reading and library-use habits of Millennials (ages 16–29) finds that, among other things,
”Some 43% (of Millennials) report reading a book—in any format—on a daily basis, a rate similar to older adults. Overall, 88% of Americans under 30 read a book in the past year, compared with 79% of those age 30 and older. “
My apologies to any readers who fall into that age group and may not appreciate my referring to them as “kids,” but I actually have two kids in your age group. (Well, technically just one…the other aged out two months ago.) (Yes, I AM old enough to be your mom.)
What Else is New?
Sheila at Book Journey is once again inviting people to “Play in the Banned” and join her in celebrating the freedom to read during Banned Books Week:
”There are some amazing reads on this list. For the past 4 years I have dedicated Banned Book Week to only read banned books and because of that I have read some great classics, re-read some childhood favorites, and explored new books to me as well.
”Do not get me wrong – being pro-banned books does not mean that I want to read every banned book. For instance, I have no interest whatsoever to read 50 Shades Of Gray. However, I do not have the right to say that because I choose not to read it that no one can. That is the difference.”
Banned Books Week is September 21–27, 2014.
We went to the Hollywood Bowl last night for one of the final shows of this season, “The Simpsons Take The Bowl”, but these photos are from the Fourth of July. (EW.com‘s PopWatch blog reported on the highlights of Friday night’s performance–and there’s one more show tonight, if you’re local and can find tickets still available!)
