The Mix

“Land of Big Numbers,” by Te-Ping Chen (Mariner Books) A Chinese tech company recently made headlines for its use of “smart” cushions in office chairs to monitor its employees’ workplace performance.

“Wild Swims,” by Dorthe Nors (Graywolf Press) “Hygge” is the Danish word for a sense of coziness and comfort that is supposedly characteristic of that Scandinavian country.

“We Could Be Heroes,” by Mike Chen (Mira) In Mike Chen’s “We Could Be Heroes,” Jamie and Zoe each wake up alone in an unfamiliar apartment. Neither has any memory of who they are or how they got there.

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Feb. 7-13 Feb. 7: Saxophonist Brian Travers of UB40 is 62. Comedian Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) is 61. Actor James Spader is 61. Country singer Garth Brooks is 59.

LONDON — Hilton Valentine, the founding guitarist of the English rock and roll band The Animals who is credited with coming up with one of the most famous opening riffs of the 1960s, has died. He was 77.

NICOSIA, Cyprus — The abstract figures of naked women gyrating to the rhythms of a five-piece band had shocked many people almost 60 years ago as they eyed the artwork for the first time on the walls of a popular restaurant-nightclub in Cyprus.

NEW YORK — The “help wanted” list for top management jobs in journalism is suddenly getting very long.

Directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West first came across the name Pauli Murray while working on their Oscar-nominated documentary “RBG.

MIAMI — Writer Carl Hiaasen is retiring from the Miami Herald after composing newspaper columns for the past 35 years, the newspaper says. The Herald published a story this week saying that Hiaasen would be done after his last column on March 14.

BERLIN — A six-member jury of former winners has been chosen to allocate the prizes at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, which is taking place in a revamped form because of the coronavirus pandemic.