Oona Out of Order

Margarita Montimore / Novel

The novel follows the eponymous Oona, who, starting at age 19, begins to experience each new year out of order. Time travel is always messy, but Montimore's mastery over manipulating time is clear. Some years in Oona's life stretch into lengthy, multi-chapter stories. Another might last a few paragraphs. It's the duty of the author to grant importance to individual events by giving it more time in the limelight.

Parents Got More Time Off. Then the Backlash Started

Daisuke Wakabayashi & Sheera Frenkel / NYT

This is the type of article that makes me want to write. The topic isn't top of mind when you think pandemic or lockdown, but it also seems like it should be so obvious. When combining tech reporting and the COVID-19 crisis, I imagine articles about fake news or tracking. Instead, we have something that's personal and just pure gold.

Notes from Our Homes to Yours

NYT

I love how simple and elegant the solution for Notes from Our Homes to Yours is. NYT writers needed to share their thoughts, quarantine diaries, and location guides. The writers kept their own styles and voices, dropping links to Google Sheets or Docs instead of standardizing formats and waiting on a massive web development endeavour.

Frozen II Is an Enchanted Quest for Sequel Money

David Sims / The Atlantic

I have to give Sims a hand here for how vicious his writing is without becoming vitriol. The comment that the secret call Elsa hears is "the siren song of sequel money" says it all. This article heavily inspired my review of another Disney film, Mulan.

The Boring Intimacy of the All-Day Group Chat

Julie Beck / The Atlantic

This feature from The Atlantic's The Friendship Files reminds me of my time in yearbook, trying to highlight the mundane. Here, Beck gives us a slice of the friends' lives without imposing her own voice on the story.

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