Suggestion Saturday: December 14, 2013

Here is this week’s list of blog posts and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Snobs Kill Books via matthaig1. I’ve never understood the concept of hating something because it’s too mainstream. When I recommend a book at On the Other Hand it’s because I loved it. Genre and the level of popularity has nothing to do with it except with how I found out it existed. Some of the people who recommend books to me are into very mainstream authors. Others aren’t. Both groups are highly appreciated.

Chanukah, Feminism, and the Heroism of Yehudit. This is a really interesting story.

Ma’am, Miss, Lady… what do I say? The comment section isn’t anything to write home about, but the blog post itself is full of smart observations about the types of titles society does and does not give to women.  Sometimes the concept of micro-aggressions is taken too seriously. This is not one of them.

Choose to Make Christmas Merry via JesusNeedsNewPR. My husband and I have set similar boundaries. It’s glorious.

Why Can’t We Just Talk About Sex? I think it boils down to judgment. Talking about your sex life opens the door to other people’s opinions on who you’re sleeping with, what kinds of sex you’re having, what type of birth control you are or are not using (assuming you’re doing the sorts of things that could potentially lead to pregnancy), and a whole host of other issues that can be quite controversial in certain circles. There are some damn good reasons why sex, religion, politics, and money have traditionally been considered off-limits for polite conversation. I completely support the idea of other people feeling comfortable talking about this stuff, but this is still a fairly private topic for me.

News Is Bad For You – And Giving Up Reading It Will Make You Happier via TammySchoch. My life is much calmer and happier since I stopped following the news. I still hear the really important stuff through Twitter or conversations with friends, but I no longer have to filter through all of those alarming stories that make the world seem like a much scarier place than it actually is.

Punctuation Social Personalities. To this list I’d add:

)( Continues to drag controversial topics back into the fray in the faint hope of changing your mind.

% Loves playing devil’s advocate to keep the conversation “balanced.”

~ More interested in knowing why you believe than what you believe.

<) Would rather eat an ice-cream cone than debate.

**** Curses for the shock value of it, but would never use the same language in front of his or her grandparents.

:O Loves to gossip. Terrible at keeping secrets.

:1 Has nothing useful to say, so says nothing.

 


How to Wake Up: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow makes a lot of sense.

I’m not Buddhist, but their teachings about living in the moment and not becoming too attached to the way things are resonates with me. This book is written for those of us who appreciate Buddhist wisdom without necessarily believing everything it teaches. I don’t think you need to agree with everything in order to glean some good stuff out of Buddhist thought, and this is a great place to start.

What have you been reading?

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0 Responses to Suggestion Saturday: December 14, 2013

  1. Aaron

    I’m reading Worm. Here’s the About page: http://parahumans.wordpress.com/about/

    You can read it all through the site.

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