TODAY: In 1835, the HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago. Darwin published his diary journal, The Voyage of the Beagle, four years later.
- “It is one of the last great shared texts in our culture.” Andrew Blauner considers the enduring lessons of “Peanuts.” | Lit Hub
- In case your new year’s resolution is to exercise more, Daniel Lieberman has some ideas on how to make it more fun (yes, really). | Lit Hub
- “The Himalaya are shrouded in their stories, like monsoon clouds.” Ed Douglas charts the cultural geographies of one great landform. | Lit Hub
- Ron Charles on a Gatsby prequel, Danez Smith on a queer Black love story, and more of the Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
- Here are 89 upcoming mysteries, thrillers, and crime novels to get you through the year. | CrimeReads
- “At every turn, Ignatius is exactly the character you expect him to be. Late in the novel, one character asks him, “Don’t you ever shut up?” He doesn’t. That’s the problem.” Tom Bissell on the virtues—and the failings—of John Kennedy Toole’s cult classic A Confederacy of Dunces. | The New Yorker
- “It was a difficult year for everybody but in terms of my job, I absolutely had a brilliant year.” How the coronavirus crisis made one librarian’s work even better. | The Bookseller
- From Susan Choi to W.G. Sebald, Peter Ho Davies recommends great books about the unknowable. | The Guardian
- Current and former employees of Small Press Distribution are speaking out to allege wage theft, workplace abuses, and other mistreatment. | Publishers Weekly
- Gaze upon some beautiful, optical illusion-forward book covers that prove… books can be deceiving (sorry). | Spine
- “Ease does not necessarily make the finished product any less great.” On Dolly Parton’s songcraft. | Bookforum
Also on Lit Hub: Activists, scientists, and poets: Your climate readings for January • In search of the Muslim community of Ladakh • Read from Anna North’s latest novel Outlawed.
