Link Love: My Year of Reading

I have re-embraced my love for reading this year. It’s my safe place and my way to escape the doomscrolling. Instead of Pod Save America, I am listening to audiobooks while doing household tasks or exercising and instead of nightly news reports, I read fantasy and sci-fi and all kinds of other fiction. Even my knitting has taken a backseat since I often watch tv or movies while knitting and I just haven’t felt called to watch anything — even fictionalized shows. I prefer to fall head first into a book.

As a result, I blew past my personal reading challenge goal in March or April and keep reading. I visit my local library to pick books up off the “new releases” shelf or books I’ve requested from the hold shelf. I download ebooks through Libby/Overdrive onto my Kobo Libra 2. Our Patreon (Inktellectual and Pen Champs tiers) even have a book club that makes sure I read more diversely. I am even involved in a local book club that also pushes me to read books I might not have chosen myself or sometimes to re-read a book which I seldom do because “there’s always more to read.”

I have even started a book journal where I log each book I’ve read with a small photo of the cover to help me remember the book. Since so many books I read are ebooks or on loan from the library, these little thumbnail images are the only way to “keep” the books and my memories of them alive.

With the exception of the purchase of the Kobo device last year, the hobby of reading books is relatively inexpensive. What I don’t borrow from the library digitally or physically, I either buy secondhand or through online ebook sales (bookbub.com is a great source for deals).

What is bringing you comfort and respite in these tumultous times?

Pens:

• A duo from a galaxy far, far away (via mnmlscholar)
• Ouch — Discovering A Damaged Pen (via Line Variation)
• Monoc Monoc Monoc (via The Pen Addict)
• Fountain Pen Rotation: What’s in Your Cup this Month? (via Fountain Pen Chronicles and More)

Ink:

• Anderillium Avian Series Fountain Pen Ink Review (via The Pen Addict)
• Ink Swatch Wednesday: A Hodgepodge (via CJs Wunderkammer)
• Ink Review: J Herbin Brown Inks (via Mountain of Ink)
• Lamy Petrol (2025 version) (via Inkcredible Colours)
• Ink Review #2740: Teranishi Guitar Gentle Green (via Mountain of Ink)
• Ink Omakase: April 2025 (via Inkcredible Colours)
• Snow Crystal vs Periwinkle Twinkle Ink: Reader-Requested Comparison (via Pen Chalet)
• Best Blue Fountain Pen Inks: Pen Chalet Staff Favorites Side-by-Side (via Pen Chalet)
• Robert Oster Jade Ink Review (via The Pen Addict)
• Colorverse Maryland Blue Crab Ink Review (via The Pen Addict)

Notebooks & Paper:

• Where Can I Buy? (via Philofaxy)
• Plotter Walkthrough: How I Use My Plotter Binders (Video) (via The Gentleman Stationer)
• The History of the “Pocket Slim” Filofax Part 3 (via Notebook Stories)
• Bullet Journal Monthly Log: 8 Practical Tips for Better Organization (via Rediscover Analog)
• Notebook Review: Logical Prime (via Notebook Stories)
• Using the Journal for Capturing Notes (via RozWoundUp)
• The Paper Mind Tranext Notebook Review (via BLAKE’S BROADCAST)

Art & Creativity:

• Sketchbook VS Sketchbook (via Comfortable Shoes Studio)
• My Secret to Using Dip Pen On Location (via Apple-Pine)
• The Fish Festival (via Abigail Halpin)
• REVIEW: Woomer Watercolor Paint Set 36 Colors (via Doodlewash)

Other Interesting Things:

• After More Than Half a Century, a One-of-a-Kind Chinese Typewriter Emerges from Obscurity (via Colossal)
• Here Are the Best Looks From the Met Gala 2025 Red Carpet (via My Modern Met)
• Over 90% Of Schools in England Have Banned Mobile Phone Use (via My Modern Met)
• Attention is the new gold: 10 tips for focussing (via Flow Magazine)
• Can Can Press is the Risograph studio reshaping the print and zine scene in Mexico City (via It’s Nice That)
• Goodnight Moon Stamps Available Today (via USPS Newsroom)
• The Art of Repair: Kintsugi // Frido (via Baum-kuchen)
• Stationery Favourites – April 2025 (via Inky Imaginings)

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