What I Read This Week: November 12, 2017

Fall is finally here! The foliage in DC hit peak this week, I broke out my warmer coats (and gloves), and I got to enjoy the sound of my boots crunching through the leaves on the ground. I heart fall.

In other news, I was a magazine reading machine while watching football last Sunday. I managed to get through half of my backlog. That's a very good thing because my bin was over full and December issues will begin arriving soon.

• Magazines
  
• HGTV, November 2017 - As always, this magazine is just full of pretty design pictures that I will soon see on Pinterest. I did like the article that showed you multiple ways to design your holiday tablescape.
• Food Network, November 2017 - My love of holiday food issues continues. Even if I don't pull any recipes (and in this case I didn't), I love to see all the variations you can put on the typical holiday favorites. There are many ways you can make stuffing and that makes me very happy. The pie feature in this issue was also super tasty looking.
• Real Simple, October 2017 - The organization and cleaning tips this magazine gives are beginning to be a bit stale.
  
  Thankfully, the other articles they tend to include keep the magazine readable. I loved the best of the best product testing in this issue. I'm particularly intrigued by a shampoo/conditioner that might be good for my fine hair. I also liked the article that covered all the ways you can recycle things (including things like appliances). Finally, the article that talked about which healthy habits are real and which are just hype put my mind at ease (I'm looking at you vitamin supplements).
• Real Simple, November 2017 - There were more tablescape ideas in this issue. I do enjoy looking at all those pretty pictures. I liked the article that discussed how to work
  
  through all those typical holiday stress points (traveling, cooking chaos, dealing with relatives, etc.). There was also a touching column about how a woman handled her mother's end of life dementia. Finally, the article about how to tell if your fit reminds me that I really need to get back in the habit of regular workouts that are more than just walking. 
• The Atlantic, November 2017 - The main stories in this issue were all about creativity and innovation. As much as I loved reading about the Mona Lisa and Google's moonshot factory, I think another story in this issue was far more important. In the back pages of this issue is an article by Caitlin Flanagan called "A Death on Campus." It investigates how a pledge,
  
  Tim Piazza, was injured and, ultimately, killed by hazing activities and gross negligence. The article looks at the misbehavior and Greek life and how colleges seem to be loath to take permanent action towards dismantling the worse parts of the Greek system. The final paragraphs of story walk us through the last hour of Tim's life. I was nearly sick reading about the callousness and pain he must have endured. Anyone who is in Greek life or is considering entering as a pledge should read this article. 
• Books
• Did I finish the last book in The Selection Series? Indeedy I did. I'll save my full review of The One (and the whole
  
  series) for my regular review but, on the whole, the books aren't great but they are incredibly addictive.
• I started reading the third book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novel series, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. I'm very interested to see what happens to Elena and Lila now that they've fully entered adulthood. Surprisingly, I've managed to avoid every spoiler out there for this series. 
• Other
• The BBC posted an article that looked at the uncertain future of handwriting. As someone who bullet journals, takes notes by hand, and sends out handwritten snail mail, it makes me sad to see that handwriting is dying and that many schools are no longer teaching it. If the Husband and I ever have kids, I will be teaching them handwriting. It's a necessary life skill.