Weekend reads: Week of February 28, 2025

Here's a collection of literary posts that we didn't share on our reader blog last week but thought were worth highlighting.

• The ascendance of the book ladder (Slate)

• A history of symbol swearing in books (Medium)

• Why children love Edward Gorey: A centenary tribute (The New York Times)

• The CIA book smuggling operation that helped bring down Communism (The Guardian)

• Pistachio kulfi inspired by Asha Thanki’s A Thousand Times Before (Literary Hub)

• A slop publisher sold a ripoff of my book on Amazon (404 Media)