EASTER! How different this weekend has been to past Easter celebrations… There’s a mix of coronavirus-related stuff and a whole lot more unrelated. Take your pick. That’s why there’re so many links. And for more perfect distractions, hit my fiction reviews. Above all, stay safe, spread love, have faith xo
Kicking things off with Mary Magdalene.
And 10 things to know about British cathedrals.
This is what I need for the coming week before last week my sleep schedule just ran away from me…
There’s nothing more soothing than a French country house.
I like reading essays, because they’re easy non-fiction to dip into. These are the most anthologised ones.
The best armchair travel books.
In the face of disaster, we rally together. But now we’re physically apart.
Keeping track of reading habits.
And authoritarian opportunism. This is why as a law student there is SO MUCH HAPPENING making me think and apply what I’ve learned at uni.
Having rational faith in humanity. In the past couple of weeks I’ve lost sight of this so this is one to revisit.
Lessons from the 1918 flu epidemic. Or for a podcast version, go here.
Nature movies to watch. I’ll just watch The Sound of Music on repeat tbh.
On writing to lift people up (I really, truly, firmly believe this right now).
Scenes from Italy, the eye of the storm (though not anymore…).
How to spend 42 days in your room. The fiction version.
On writing in a time of grief.
Panic, pandemic, and the body politic.
The story of Aubrey Beardsley.
Because we love Parks and Rec, Amy Poehler on empathy and being a good citizen.
How to see the world when you’re stuck at home.
On Rumi. I’ve definitely invoked the first quote. Extremely thought-provoking.
This is some fabulous stuff from The Paris Review: Poets on Couches.
Art and carnage in the Italian renaissance.
Professors teaching coronavirus history (it’s too early imo but still interesting).
12 great writers on 12 great American birds.
When the world stops, travelling in John Keats’s Realms of Gold.
Or lessons in constructive solitude from Henry David Thoreau.
1930s Vogue. Oh, for another time.
Rome’s hard-partying emperor, Elagabalus.
Working from home design inspo.
An ode to the lemon tree. So thankful for ours right now tbh.
Vanity Fair quarantine reads. In case you needed more.
Or books about Melbourne, where I live.
What happens when you photograph a moment?
Stillness as a form of action. SO MUCH YES.
Loneliness can take its toll. I’m here. We’re here. Reach out.
On long-term thinking in a distracted world.
If Tiger King wasn’t your thing, some uplifting Netflix docos. Would also recommend Cheer. Here’s some movies too. Or else the 40 best literary adaptations to watch. Why isn’t Outlander on this list?!?!?!
Body of lies. What a longread.
If your attention span is shrinking, read poetry.
Some Roxanne Gay.
A literary companion to solitude in modern classics.
And 13 classics for the reading pile.
The power women of Mecklenburgh Square.
I’ve started a virtual book club with a friend so YES.
Portrait of a marriage, in photographs.
Why we turn to Jane Austen in dark times (I recently watched Emma, my fav Austen). See also how Emma changed fiction.
The coronavirus and the art world. It’s too early to say, and honestly, companies and governments and people are going to end up championing capitalism and neoliberalism and old systems in a bid to get back to ‘normal’. I hope enough of us realise this is a moment in history when we MUST change.
Some other happy things:
- Sir Patrick Stewart reading Shakespeare sonnets
- The Nanny table read
- Grace and Frankie table read
- Read a letter with Benedict Cumberbatch
- Download colouring pages from museums (in the past week, I’ve broken out board games, puzzles, and colouring books, so that’s where I’m at…)
- Lots of people going live on IG – too many to list
Finally, a bit of French music, to help me dream of what seems like another life…
little miss maudlin 