Literary Linking: January 30 – February 3

This week’s articles cover topics including: rereading Orwell’s 1984, Austen & Freud toothpaste, A.A. Milne’s home on the market, and more!

My favorite bookish links from the week of January 30 – February 3:

NYPL Staff Picks 2017
“True stories, tales of courage, historical romances, edge-of-your seat thrillers… There’s a huge world of books out there. [The NYPL] expert staff members pick out their favorites to help you find your next one.”

You, Too, Will Love Big Brother: A Life Of Reading And Rereading ‘1984’
“The adjective ‘Orwellian’ gets tossed around with abandon these days. It’s become such a cliche that the intensity of the original experience, the layers of thought and meaning, can get lost in the noise — so I invite you to pull up a chair (in that little alcove the telescreen can’t see), pour yourself a glass of oily ersatz Victory Gin, and dive in. You, too, will find yourself rolling down that glorious corridor. You, too, will love Big Brother.”

Freshen Up With Jane Austen and Sigmund Freud-Themed Toothpastes
“Believe it or not, there’s more to the world of toothpaste than mint. Aside from children’s fruit-flavored toothpaste, there are also wacky options like cupcake, wasabi, and—a bit more abstractly—Jane Austen and Sigmund Freud.”

Making Your Own House at Pooh Corner — Author A.A. Milne’s Home Is for Sale
“Now the home of the man who wrote that and the other Pooh stories, A.A. Milne, could be yours. Cotchford Farm, where author A.A. Milne wrote the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet and the rest is being sold by British real estate company Savills for $2.38 million.”

Librarians Ponder the Future Under Trump
“In his opening keynote at the 2017 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta, just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, W. Kamau Bell made a plea to librarians: don’t let Trump’s vision of America become the new normal.”