This week The Broke and the Bookish ask us what we read when we want something "light and fun." Cue the puppies, kittens, rainbows, and unicorns. While there are definitely some books/authors I turn to when this is what I need, I tend to gravitate towards other reading materials when I need something that fits this bill.
1. People.com- People is a nice compromise between, say, Jezebel and TMZ.
2. someecards.com- I love, love, love someecards- they're snarky, timely, and funny as hell.
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3. Howsweeteats.com- While I adore her recipes, I love the "crumbs" section- musings about her life and great beauty recommendations.
4. Twitter- I don't take anything on Twitter seriously, ever. My absolute favorite is MLB Jesus (just ask my poor husband, to whom I constantly read his tweets to during Giants games).
5. Thoughtcatalog.com- While the articles aren't all warm and fuzzy, I tend to read the ones that aren't depressing or dramatic. The other day I thoroughly enjoyed a speculative list of Jay-Z's 99 problems (Beyonce appeared a few times, therefore contradicting the whole " and a bitch aint one" claim...).
6. In Style- I have subscribed to In Style for probably twelve years. I can afford maybe 5% of the clothes, but I adore the layouts and articles.
7. Student Creative Writing Pieces- Once in awhile my students are assigned creative timed writes, most of which end up being hilarious. The topic a few weeks ago was "the last time I cried." One girl wrote a dramatic, descriptive, heart-wrenching, and totally made-up piece about her family running out of milk, making it impossible for her to have her morning cereal. Another prompt was what they would do if it was their last week to live. A student wrote a story about me, spelling my last name backwards, about how we went to Narnia and got into a "nag off." They're the best. Seriously.
8. Books by Comedians or Celebrities: I know that they go through hard times, but there's generally a lot of humor and fluff padding the pages.
9. Nostalgic Reads: Harry Potter, Charlotte's Web, The Narnia Series, Curious George, etc...
10. Texts from Dog: Words can't describe how hilarious this site is- I've sent the links to friend before to only get texts back hours later informing me that they've spent the time in between reading the archives.
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Hee, awesome list! I don't quite visit People.com as often but I'd visit celebrity gossip websites (not TMZ though) especially when things get hectic. My roommate and I during grad school would swap opinions on items we read there, lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd agreed re: InStyle, I'd flip through it whenever my mum picks up a copy xD
My TTT
I feel this way about Elle Decor and I love celebrity home tours. Of course, then I imagine what it would b like to have that much extra money and there goes all the fun...(mostly).
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DeleteI love going through all the witty ecards -- that site never fails me. Twitter, too, though I am always forgetting I have an account on there. Last I was on I made sure to follow a funny batch of comedians and celebrities (:
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding me that I'm not a total depressive loser. I couldn't understand why I've read so few "light" books, and your list reminds me that I have OTHER places to seek lightness. Definitely going to check out thoughcatalog now.
ReplyDeleteAs for your students' writing - that just makes me jealous. Probably one of the big reasons I wanted to be an English teacher.
I'm saving this post! I love finding humor on the internet. Have you ever been to the Regretsy website?
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I didn't even think about it, but you're right -- a lot of time when I need something light between two darker books, I turn to a magazine. They're bright, fun and very easy to read. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteI love nostalgic reads too! Great list. Very different to anything I've seen today!
ReplyDeleteHAHA I've never heard of Texts from Dog! Those are awesome! I'm not a big Twitter reader, but I should be so I don't miss out on awesome author stuff (I'm a stalker), but I never have time for it!
ReplyDeleteI love following weird stuff on Twitter. You might like following PreschoolGems. I think she just got a book deal or something.
ReplyDeleteI also have been subscribing to Instyle for about 15years, and also can't afford about 95% of it. Still such a great time waster....
ReplyDeletexoe
Great take on the topic. I have to go waste all my time on dog now.
ReplyDeletealso adding howsweeteats.com and thoughtcatalog.com to my to do list as well. some cards already recieves repeat visits from my IP.
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