Stuff We Like :: 8.2.19

Hello, end-of-summer! You could slow down a little if you want.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT HOME/SCHOOL/LIFE

• I’ve been taking a little summer break from blogging — I’ve been doing my live series over on Patreon, working on the summer issue, and wrapping up the Year Two curriculum (true story: the second year is so much easier than the first!), but the HSL blog has been pretty quiet. I’m kind of in planning/evaluating mode, so if you have thoughts about things you like, stuff you’d like to read more of, or other ideas for the HSL blog, now is a great time to share them!

• in the magazine: Thanks for all the feedback on the summer issue format! It has been really helpful — even though it seems to be about a 50/50 split for people who prefer each version.

• on the blog: The awesome Sarah Smee is bringing back our Kindle Deals posts! (She’s the best!)

• at the academy: We wrapped our summer chemistry class with an escape room challenge inspired by the periodic table. 

• from the archives: The bigger picture of multiple intelligences, tips for making your homeschool feel more home-y and less school-y, and some of our favorite homeschool school supplies

LINKS I LIKED

• I identify with Dorothy Parker less as an adult than I did as a teenager (when she was my — possibly problematic — role model), but I’ll still read any story about the Algonquin Round Table.

• This recently rediscovered Langston Hughes essay is going on my U.S. history required reading list.

• This is one of the best essays I’ve read in recent years.

• The complicated history of feminist utopian literature: “We didn’t slay the angel in the house just to replace her with a lady CIA officer in a flak jacket, cool shades, and a cattle prod.”

THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW BUT NOW I DO

• My inability to fall asleep unless I have one shoulder under a blanket is maybe not as weird as I have always thought it is.

BOOKS ADDED TO MY TBR LIST

• This Is How You Lose the Time War (I have heard so many good things about this!)

• I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution (I love Emily Nussbaum, and not just because Buffy changed her life)

WHAT’S MAKING ME HAPPY

• Octavia Butler love! (I remember when I was trying to convince people to read Kindred, and now she’s everywhere, and it’s so great. I wasn’t super-smart about discovering her or anything — I was just lucky to have a great teacher who recommended her to me.)

• This. (*Please be good. Please be good.*)

WHAT’S CONFUSING ME

• The Cats trailer. I mean — I don't even know what I mean. But it’s weird.

(We’re Amazon affiliates, so if you purchase something through an Amazon link, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Obviously this doesn’t influence what we recommend, and we link to places other than Amazon.)

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