This week the weather has been perfect. Balmy. Plenty of sunshine. My Tombstone roses are blooming. I sat in the living room by the picture window the other day and watched a bird selecting and pulling off twigs from the fairy duster bush-- a prime indicator of nest building going on. Female hummingbirds are drinking deep at the feeders, which means they're raising their first batch of young. There's something magical about spring!
Spring has sprung in me, too. I feel better than I have in countless months. (I'd hate to have to tell you when the last time was that I felt this good.) I've been cooking and baking, weeding books from my shelves, going through closets and filling the trunk of the car with donations to Goodwill. I'm hoping that a very dear friend will be visiting next month, so it would be a good idea if I continued to clean... both inside and out!
Enough of that, though. On to the links!
It's Spring!
- I've been having a blast keeping an eye on this webcam that shows a hummingbird nest with two tiny occupants. If you're going to take a look, don't wait too long-- they're growing fast!
Book Lists
- Top ten state of the nation novels.
- The ten best books about New York.
- The ten best American poems.
- 9 ways of looking at earthquakes through literature.
- Top ten books on colour.
- Favorite books written by Irish authors.
Home Library, Anyone?
- I love drooling over photos of home libraries, don't you? How to choose the right bookshelf furniture.
- How to create your own built-in bookshelf step by step.
- Best spots for creating a home library.
- How to design a home library.
- 33 modern reading corner designs and ideas.
Bookish News & Other Fun Stuff
- 20 awesome literary tattoos.
- Amazing book sculptures.
- Matilda gets an e-reader.
- The full trailer for Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
- Have you joined the Campaign for Reader Privacy?
- The proprietor of Reader's Oasis in Quartzite, Arizona, is a little bit... unusual.
- This is sad, but at least a beautiful piece of furniture isn't being thrown on the scrap heap: converting an old card catalog.
- Kiddie tales reimagined as Hollywood films.
Social Media & Blogging Tips
From the Blogs
- On reviewing translations from Words without Borders.
- From Musings of an All Purpose Monkey: a fabulous guest post by author James Thompson. (If you've ever suffered from migraines, read this!)
New to My Google Reader
That's it for this week. I hope you found something that piqued your interest. Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll serve up a fresh batch of links for your surfing pleasure!
Cathy - I am so glad to hear that you're feeling better! I've been thinking of you and hoping that you were :-). Thanks for this link round-up, too. Much appreciated, as always!
ReplyDeleteGlad to know you feel so well. I'm still waiting for the day I can throw open the windows and act like a housewife for a few days. Our snow is disappearing but we still need heat for at least a while most days. Love the hummingbird video.
ReplyDeleteWe are enjoying our first hint of autumn, and spring seems way off. Great news about you feeling well! And thanks for the round-up - love those kiddie-tale posters!
ReplyDeleteI woke up to snow on Monday but was running in shorts and a tshirt on Wednesday. St. Louis has some crazy weather.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the links on the home library, especially since I spent 4 days last week staining my new shelves and will spend this weekend working on them as well.
I also loved the tats! I'm a fan of tastefully done tats, have a couple myself and I want a literary one, just haven't found the right one yet.
I've got about a dozen of those links pulled up to look at now. I could be busy for hours just from this post! :)
ReplyDeleteMargot-- Where I'm concerned, no news is usually good news! :)
ReplyDeleteBarbara-- That hummingbird webcam is very distracting if I have it going while I'm trying to do some actual work sitting here!
Susan-- I thought they were a hoot!
Kris-- I'm originally from central Illinois. I know all about weird weather. That's why I moved to someplace where weather is usually very boring! LOL Oooh... will we see photos when you're done???
Alyce-- It's good to hear I found some interesting links this week! :)