Weekend Reading

A bumper issue this week because I’ve had a little more time to read (because I’m making more time). I think I’ll be more selective moving forward though, but here is what I found interesting this week.

    • Thicker Than Water
      In the 1986 John Hughes-penned film Pretty in Pink, Molly Ringwald plays Andie Walsh, a quick-witted, externally tough, yet entirely sympathetic fashion-savvy teenager with a preference for New Wave. In the way of teenage movie clichés, Andie is from the “wrong side of the tracks.
      http://ift.tt/1TDPzMS
    • 19 Books To Read Before The Movie Comes Out In 2016
      What it’s about: This is the true account of six soldiers and what they braved during 13 hours when the U.S. State Department Special Mission Compound and a CIA station were attacked by terrorists in Benghazi.
      http://ift.tt/1OKmn8E
      I’m always wary of reading a book after I’ve seen the movie… but then sometimes the movie adaptations are just awful. Lose lose?
    • 15 Highly Anticipated Books of 2016
      Sure, George R.R. Martin probably won’t deliver The Winds of Winter this year, but who needs Seven Kingdoms and an Iron Throne when you’ve got spectacular tales of soldiers, stalkers, royals, and fugitives hitting shelves in 2016? (Actually we want it all, but we’ll try to be patient.)
      http://ift.tt/1Rs4V7Y
      I’m two books into the year already, and started my third, likely to be a few from this list too.
    • The Triumph of Email
      Email, ughhhh. There is too much of it, and the wrong kind of it, from the wrong people.
      http://ift.tt/1PK9xEt
      I don’t mind email, but I’m a smug Inbox Zero kinda guy.
    • You Can’t Trust What You Read About Nutrition
      As the new year begins, millions of people are vowing to shape up their eating habits. This usually involves dividing foods into moralistic categories: good/bad, healthy/unhealthy, nutritious/indulgent, slimming/fattening — but which foods belong where depends on whom you ask. The U.S.
      http://ift.tt/1PK0CTI
      Backing up what I’ve suspected for a while now, and why I don’t read many articles that tell me what I should/shouldn’t eat.
    • Half the World Lives on 1% of Its Land, Mapped
      In the simple map above lies a stark spatial imbalance: half the people in the world cram into just 1 percent of the Earth’s surface (in yellow), and the other half sprawl across the remaining 99 percent (in black).
      http://ift.tt/1S4xFFi
      Stuff like this boggles my tiny mind. Earth is frickin MASSIVE.
    • Object of Intrigue: The X-Files’ ‘I Want to Believe’ Poster
      On January 24, The X-Files returns to television in the form of a six-part miniseries. As the premiere date nears, original fans of the show–those who discussed it on the alt.tv.
      http://ift.tt/1MEVprA
      One for fans.
    • How “true crime” went from guilty pleasure to high culture
      If you’re like me, there’s nothing better than settling into the couch after a long day’s work and flipping on the television to Investigation Discovery.
      http://ift.tt/1JV9QI4
      Enjoying Making a Murder and Serial?
    • New year, new you? Forget it
      So here we are again: that time known to publishers as “New Year, New You”, partly because they want to sell life-makeover books and partly because, well… alliteration! I trust we’re all in agreement that “New Year, New You” is preposterous and bad.
      http://ift.tt/1JOcfo0
      Timely. Happy New Year, btw!
    • When Are You Really an Adult?
      It would probably be fair to call Henry “aimless.” After he graduated from Harvard, he moved back in with his parents, a boomerang kid straight out of a trend piece about the travails of young adults.
      http://ift.tt/1OwWffD
      I’ve only skim read this, was too busy tweeting and doing colouring in.
    • Where Hair Pullers Like Me Are Not Alone
      My first thought was that I’d come late to the party. Groups had already formed in the ballroom of the Marriott Hotel in Chicago, circles of giggling teenage girls and the shy, downcast younger ones who remained at their mothers’ sides. I spotted a young woman about my age and sat beside her.
      http://ift.tt/1RoGbPF
    • Who Controls Your Facebook Feed
      Every time you open Facebook, one of the world’s most influential, controversial, and misunderstood algorithms springs into action.
      http://ift.tt/1SuymXD
    • Someone at this museum has a sense of humor
      Holy Fahrvergnügen! Those things creep me out. True that.
      http://ift.tt/1OQEfc2
      Ha, brilliant!! (check the photo)

Note: Apologies, the links have been borked for the last few Weekend Reading posts and I’ve only just noticed. Fixed today!