It’s Banned Books Week again. I wish I could just tell a nice story about how valuable some books that might be controversial were to me when I was growing up. Or even a nice piece about how hard it can be to let go when you’re a parent, to trust your kids and give…
Tag: reading
What Do you Know from Funny?
The world’s great philosophers don’t fully understand funny. I discovered this in my second year of grad school. I was taking a class on the Canterbury Tales. As the semester wore on, I was more and more fascinated by Chaucer’s humor. Stop and think for the moment. If you name the top ten most influential…
Books that Matter (Caturday Questions)
Big Cat, Little Cat Reader Responses and Books that Matter What’s an example of a book that hollowed you out? You got to the good part and you just… couldn’t put it down, but you could barely bring yourself to keep reading. Maybe the emotions were too painful, too close to home. Do you seek…
Finish this Chapter (Caturday Questions)
Little Cat is reading his favorite book. He knows he said he’d go for a walk but he just wants to finish this chapter. And maybe the next one. Okay it’s not technically a book. It’s a catalogue from the local pet store. Little Cat thinks a “catalogue” is a book full of pictures of…
Lazy Weekend (Caturday Questions)
Normally, I Tie the Comic to an Essay on a Literary Theme. For Example, I Could Tie this to Character Motivation or the Untapped Potential of the Lazy Weekend in Most Works of Literature Not this time. Have a good lazy weekend, everyone. Unless you work in food or retail in which case I just…
Homework: A Love Story
As an elementary school teacher, I have never been a fan of homework. During my first year teaching, my Grade-Level Lead Teacher handed me the spelling worksheets and multiple-choice reading activities to send home with the kids each day. I hardly looked at them, and definitely hated grading them. The students with high test scores,…
The Sandman and Cultural Appropriation
I’ve probably read the Sandman graphic novel series a dozen times. The last time I went through the whole thing was easily a dozen years ago. But if you ever have half an hour or so, we can sit down and I can tell you almost page for page what’s in it. Even the weird…
Falling in Love with Long Reads Again
An uneventful day at the office. “Let’s go for lunch. I’ve got something for you,” said Wen, calling from her windowless cubicle to mine. “I double-subscribed it for twelve months,” she handed me a stack of The New Yorker, packed in clear plastic bags. “Hope you don’t mind – they’re all previous issues.” I clearly…
The Self-Care Collision
We talk a lot about self-care here. We’re all aware of how important it is, and as we’ve developed our policies and worked with writers, we’ve emphasized that every one of us needs to take the time for self-care. To set boundaries. To be honest about how they’re feeling. And perhaps most of all, to…
Good vs. Likable (Caturday Question)
Good Writing is the Best, and Cheapest, Special Effect The point here is that good vs. likeable is a false choice. You like what you like, right? And nobody can tell you otherwise. Also, there’s no inherent reason why pornographic films should have worse writing than any other kind of entertainment. I seem to recall…