Around the Web: Journaling, Dating, and New Anne Frank Pages
Alright, folks! Who’s ready for some more cool stuff from Around the Web? There were a lot of things that caught my attention in between completing work tasks this week, so I’ll warn you in advance that if you’re trying to get something done these are excellent procrastination tools.
Journal Prompts
If you’re anything like me, you’ve journaled on and off for a while. When you first start, it’s exciting and fun, but sometimes it becomes a chore when you’re not sure what to say. BookRiot has got your covered with “31 Bookish Journal Prompts to Inspire You For A Month.” Some are short and easy, like “Hardcover or paperback?” Others might require a little more thought, like “Which author of color deserves a larger audience? What will you do to help introduce more people to this writer?” One things for sure, they’re all sure to get your creative juices flowing.
Books and Online Dating
Writer D. Arthur noticed that a lot of straight men don’t list women writers or books by women in their online dating profiles. She launched an investigation into this phenomenon through her own OKCupid account and shared the results on Electric Literature. It’s an interesting look into reading habits and dating psychology.
Books and Nature
Ecologist Liam Heneghan noticed while he was cleaning out his children’s bookshelves that many of their books had environmental content. This observation launched a full-blown investigation into how our ideas of nature start in the pages of children’s literature. He discusses these ideas in the Christian Science Montior, and it’s worth a read for those interested in nature.
Tom Wolfe Dies
In sadder news, journalist and author Tom Wolfe passed away on Monday after being hospitalized with an infection. The Right Stuff author was eighty-eight and had a career that included thirteen non-fiction books and four novels. His last book was published in 2016.
Two New Anne Frank Diary Pages
Ann Frank, the teenage diarist who wrote while hiding from the Nazis during World War II, had more to say that just what’s written in the printed version of her diary. Her original checkered diary, the one she wrote before beginning work on a book she called “The Secret Annex,” contained two pages that had been pasted over with brown paper. The New York Times describes how these pages were revealed using non-destructive imaging technology. The pages show the teenagers first attempt into writing with a literary tone. The subject of the pages is a discussion of sex, which may explain why Frank wanted to hide them.
The fact that the pages were intentionally hidden may have some people wondering about the morality of uncovering them now. What do you think? Should her writings have been kept private or is the value of seeing her developing style worth it? Share your answers in the comments.