“Reading poetry is a willful act. Making sense of strange groupings of words requires an agile form of listening—one that can bridge ambiguity and keep pace with a poet’s linguistic leaps. It’s precisely these skills that make poetry pleasurable, and also useful in the workplace, says Pádraig Ó Tuama, an Irish theologian, poet, and the host of the new podcast Poetry Unbound. ‘In poetry, one allows ambivalence and ambiguity of multiple meanings to coexist. It creates space for hospitality and complexity,’ he says.” Our work days should be more poetic. “The coiner of the term “cozy mystery” is lost to time, but most fans think that it first popped up in the mid-1980s as part of a reactionary movement to trends in crime fiction. As modern media became more lurid and explicit, murder mysteries followed suit. Crime writers started taking inspiration from serial killers and real-world grisly predators, and their books became less about the pleasure of deduction and more about atrocity tourism. A loosely-connected group of authors decided to turn back the clock, looking to the work of writers like Agatha Christie and J. Jefferson Farjeon to create mystery novels that focused on deduction and deception rather than dismemberment and forensics. Authors like Marion Chesney and Joanne Fluke created popular series that used murder as a contrivance to get their sleuths moving, rather than the be-all and end-all.” Just like that: my weekend reading and TV plans are sorted. “Fall and cold weather are just around the corner, and soon book lovers will be hoarding up their books, blankets, and warm drinks. Before the autumn winds start blowing, why not stop at your local craft store and pick up paints, brushes, and artsy odds and ends to make some bookish crafts? Here’s a list of six easy DIY bookish crafts to decorate your home or your shelves.” I know, I know, it’s winter now, but bookish crafts are perennial!
