The MediaVillage Articles Club: Holiday Selections

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the city,
Articles Club members were saying, “Oh, what a pity!
Our monthly meeting was missed for festive drinking and eating,
But with time off ahead, what will we be reading?”
Recommendations were called for, so recommendations were made,
Thanks to a digital age upgrade.
To Facebook we went for a lively group chat,
To share some of this and a little of that.

I recommended Toys Were Us: The Tragic End of F.A.O. Schwarz by Thomas Beller, which appeared in the December issue of Town & Country. The article is an appropriate and timely holiday read; an ode to changing shopping trends and New York City nostalgia. Even as a native New Yorker who admittedly did not shop much at F.A.O. Schwarz, reading Beller’s account of the demise of 5^th Avenue’s destination toy store makes clear that it is nothing short of tragic. (The title is not hyperbole.)

Chelsea sent along Annie Zaleski’s Why Mariah Carey’s Christmas Hit Will be Around Forever which appeared on The A.V. Club. Chelsea writes, “Mariah Carey has cemented herself in our holiday playlists every year with everyone's favorite earworm, "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Here's a piece that delves into the song's popularity and includes some quotes from the song's writers about how it came to be. So if you want to know, in painstaking detail, why this song is always stuck in your head without fail every holiday season, read on.”

Just for fun, Chelsea also shared this “very serious New York Times piece on DJ Khaled and his Snapchat antics/brilliance” by Jon Caramanica.

Faithshared a piece that may likely be required reading of all Beliebers. What Would Cool Jesus Do? by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, published by GQ, explores the “mystifyingly cool” mega-church Hillsong, of which Justin Bieber is a congregant (a believer, in his own right, apparently). Faith, a master of click bait, writes, “Read this for the story of how Justin Bieber got baptized.”

Faith also recommended a heartwarming short read from the Los Angeles Times, Waheeda Samady’s A Pediatrician Takes Pride in Her Afghan Cabdriver Father. A few years old, this story of a daughter connecting with her father is resonant and reflective -- a good piece as we look ahead to the New Year.

The last article pick from Faith is New York Magazine’s Life is Too Short for Work Salad by June DeMelo. Faith shared the link with a single comment on Facebook: “How I feel about lunch.”

Among the many articles that Jennings posted to my Facebook wall over the last year was Carolyn Parkhurst’s Eloise: An Update, an unforgettable piece from The New Yorker. While Eloise, the famed imp from Kay Thompson’s children’s book series, may not be living as regally at 46 (she’s downgraded to the Crowne Plaza) she is still as happy as ever. “Ooh, I love, love, love my life!” she writes. And is there a more fitting sentiment for the New Year than that? Here’s to loving, loving, loving life in 2016.

Image at top courtesy of Corbis. The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage/MyersBizNet management or associated bloggers.