Every Friday, the PQ Weekly Roundup collects the most shared links in our social media network—bookish articles, reviews, quizzes, recommendations and more—in convenient digest form.

• Far and away the most-clicked link of the week was this fascinating piece on what books and reading meant to people during World War II. Highly recommended read!
• We often rely on book reviews to help us determine where to spend our hard-earned time and money when it comes to our reading. But have you ever wondered what makes a good piece of literary criticism?
• “[T]here is no writer’s lifestyle; your lifestyle is determined by what that other work is.” On the fantasy of the writerly existence as “basically an Anthropologie catalog” … and on the reality of the writing life.
• I was tickled to see that Alistair MacLeod’s short story “In the Fall” will be getting the film treatment. I do wonder, though, how they will manage to capture MacLeod’s signature gorgeous narrative in a new medium.
• And finally, don’t forget that February is Black History Month. It is a great opportunity to diversify your reading. We recommend Tony Miller’s Daddy Hall.

Thanks for checking in for this first roundup of February! We hope you enjoyed this fresh crop of links.

See you next week,