BOOK PERSON | Spring Break

A miniature edition.

Hello my little spring lambs,

On Friday I turned 34, which I celebrated by taking the day off work and lounging in bed for hours, occasionally rising to eat a doughnut. It was perfect and I’m extending that chill vibe through the weekend.

I’m also celebrating getting my first COVID vaccine today— 30 minutes before this hits your inbox, in fact. Nothing has made me feel so hopeful in a long time and I plan to savour that feeling for as long as I can. In the meantime, I wanted to offer a few pleasant diversions in lieu of the usual programming:

• Every week my friend Veronica forwards me the Friday edition of Nature Briefing, which includes a weekly “can you spot the penguin?” search for Rockhopper Leif Penguinson. I look forward to it every week and now you can too!

• This oral history of Coyote Ugly is an amazing read, especially if you ever watched Coyote Ugly at a sleepover as a teen girl.

• Kathryn Schulz, who wrote the earthquake story that haunts your dreams, has an incredible story in the New Yorker about animal navigation which will fill you with awe and admiration for the natural world. Rock lobsters migrate in a giant conga line! Cataglyphis ants count their steps! No one knows how birds navigate but maybe it has something to do with magnetic poles!

• I really miss the podcast Mystery Show so I was very grateful to Amanda for sending me this mini-mystery by writer Darcie Wilder, investigating how and why Kendall Jenner (“the second-least important member of the Kardashian family”) read her book.

• This podcast featuring Sarah Jaffe talking about her new book, Work Won’t Love You Back, which analyzes our contemporary narrative of labour and the idea that you should find a job you “love” so that you don’t mind being exploited by your workplace. Thanks Lizzy for texting it to me multiple times.

• This Twitter account documenting mascots in Japan. I really love that the Federation of Academic Scriveners has their own (adorable) mascot, though I think this guy is my favourite. If you had a mascot, what would it be? Tell me all about it.

I’ll be back next week with book recommendations! See you then.