Months after 60 Minutes aired its damning profile of Central Asia Institute’s founder Greg Mortensen (Three Cups of Tea), the American Institute for Philanthropy has called for his resignation. The call comes on the heels of Jon Krakauer‘s investigation into Mortensen’s use of the CAI’s finances.
AIP calls for Mortensen’s resignation
O flower of warriors, beware of that trap. Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part, eternal rewards.
Listen to Seamus Heaney read his translation of Beowulf on the BBC’s website. For what it’s worth, Heaney’s version gets my vote as the best one out there. Consider this passage for some Wednesday inspiration.
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Tuesday New Release Day: McEwan; Moore; Patchett; Tea; Jufresa; Wayne; Silver; Frangello; Gottlieb; Karp; Collins; Kleeman
Out this week: Nutshell by Ian McEwan; Jerusalem by Alan Moore; Commonwealth by Ann Patchett; Black Wave by Michelle Tea; Umami by Laia Jufresa; Loner by Teddy Wayne; Little Nothing by Marisa Silver; Every Kind of Wanting by Gina Frangello; Avid Reader: A Life by Robert Gottlieb; This Vast Southern Empire by Matthew Karp; When in French by Lauren Collins; and Intimations by Alexandra Kleeman. For more on these and other new titles, go read our Great Second-Half 2016 Book Preview.
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Stay Woken
“Woken is the usual past participle of the verb wake in modern English, but in some historical and contemporary varieties the past tense form woke is also used as a past participle.” The Oxford English Dictionary offers notes on the more than 600 new words, phrases, and senses added to its lexicon this quarter, including hygge, particle zoo, post-truth, and woke. Perhaps the OED can help our own Edan Lepucki, who needs help giving 11 feelings and experiences names.
Tuesday New Release Day
This Tuesday’s notable new releases include Ayelet Waldeman’s Red Hook Road, Laurence Gonzales’ Lucy and Tana French’s Faithful Place.
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On Miss Lora
The New Yorker‘s Book Bench talked with Junot Díaz about “Miss Lora,” his story about an illegal liaison between a boy and much older woman published in the magazine this week.
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Mona Awad’s Three Essential Writing Tools
Mona Awad shares the writing process behind her latest novel, All's Well, and her desired conditions for diving into storytelling.
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A Heartbreaking Playlist of Staggering Sadness
Emma Straub’s super sad true Year In Reading entry had our eyes welling up just from its synopses, but now Ms. Straub’s put together an extremely sad playlist to keep you depressed through all of February.