Drinking hot chocolate makes you smarter, study shows
Secret To A Great Book? Mood
Horror is a mood, one of the most under-appreciated, under-discussed literary devices available to writers. And because horror is a mood, it’s subjective and transcends the limits of specific tropes or themes within a book—horror can be part and parcel of fantasy novels, mysteries or thrillers, literary fiction, and historical fiction. – Book Riot
VIRGINIA POSTREL: Four Thousand Years Ago, Textile Traders Invented a Basic Social Technology: Mass Literacy.
The best books for 2020 recommended by VCs and TechCrunch writers (Part 1) - TechCrunch: “…Books are no guaranteed antidote to the daily grind of the information economy, but they do provide room for readers and authors to breathe, to take stock of where we are and where we are going. Not in the moment, but of the moment. Whether that means escaping into the lives of fictional characters on another planet, or understanding the lives of others on our very own, books provide the material that can help us rethink all that’s going on and what happens next. So I’m delighted to share nine book recommendations from my fellow TechCrunch writers as well as a few VCs on what to read in 2020. Some books are a few weeks old, others a few years, but they all made an impact on the lives of their reviewers this year as we confronted one of the most challenging times in recent memory… [This list is a very a very different list than the one I Czech out post from November 29 – and well worth a look – and a purchase or three.]
Photography by Veronika imrichova
Veronika Imrichová of Andrew Imrich Slovak Paradise fame
How German Librarians Finally Caught an Elusive Book Thief - Atlas Obscura – “For decades, often using a fake identity, he stole antique maps worth thousands of dollars each…
2020’s Best-kept Literary Secret
This eighth novel from Marly Youmans breaks a lot of twenty-first-century rules and is hard to categorize—two more possible reasons that it never made the New York Review of Books. It’s a beautifully crafted adventure set in the America of 330 years ago. The novel is both Christian and about Christians but doesn’t comfortably fit into the “Christian fiction” category. The protagonist is a teenage girl, but readers of all ages will love this book (it will especially appeal to women and older teen girls). Who doesn’t love a rip-roaring story about a dangerous foreign land and a smart, thoughtful, God-fearing heroine?
See also: “Axe-grinding and message spoil what you make”: An interview with Marly Youmans
… You’ve Got to Draw the Line Somewhere: Doodling for Writers.
Fish Ewan offers up a wonderful chart detailing the links between perspective in drawing and literary Point of View. She has excellent points and pointers as to how exploring our characters in ink can help us learn more about the folks we write about in our memoirs. The prompts throughout the book are brilliant!
The Battle of Blair Mountain Was the Largest Labor Uprising in U.S. History Teen Vogue
What Is Land Inequality and How Does It Threaten Women? Euronews
Failing grades spike in Virginia’s largest school system as online learning gap emerges nationwide WaPo
Utah monolith: Internet sleuths got there, but its origins are still a mystery BBC. Conceptual art purchased by an unknown squillionaire for their private collection?
Disinformation Is Rampant. Here’s How Teachers Are Combatting It Education Week: “As students search for news online, it’s increasingly likely that they’ll come across the steady stream of disinformation on the web: conspiracy theories like QAnon, manipulated images and videos, false claims that the coronavirus is a hoax. These stories and statements are regularly debunked by fact-checkers and news outlets. But some students believe them—and bring them into social studies classrooms. These past few months, the election has been at the center of this: President Donald Trump consistently said, with no evidence, that the election had been stolen from him through massive voter fraud. Viral videos that wrongly claimed to show election officials sneaking in extra votes or burning ballots circulated on social media.
‘Sistine Chapel of the ancients’ rock art discovered in remote Amazon forest Guardian
Even razor clams on sparsely populated Olympic Coast can’t escape plastics, study finds Phys.org (DL).
Megalodons, the Ocean’s Most Ferocious Prehistoric Predators, Raised Their Young in Nurseries Smithsonian
Watchdog suspects EY knew it issued ‘factually inaccurate’ Wirecard audit FT
Bank of America latest to say no to financing Arctic drilling Agence France Presse
The Race To Crack Battery Recycling—Before It’s Too Late Wired