Friday, June 06, 2014

A Dazzle of a Weekly Link Round-Up


I know that y'all are wondering what's so dazzling about this week's link round-up. Do I have more photos of Casa Kittling being transformed by new paint colors? No, can't say as I do. Did Denis buy me a diamond ring? No-- and that's a good thing, since I loathe diamonds. Do I know the winning lottery numbers? Nope. So what's so dazzling about this week's link round-up? It's not so much the links that dazzle (in fact I think there are fewer this week) as it is how I've spent my time: in a dazzle of damselflies.

A Rambur's Forktail damselfly
For some reason unknown to me, several Rambur's Forktail damselflies (like the one you see to the right) have taken a shine to the shady end of my pool. So have I. Summer is in full bloom here, with a blazing sun, a sky so blue it hurts your eyes, and temperatures hovering around 110°F./43°C. It's the absolute best time to take a couple of books and a tall, cold drink out to sit in the shady end of the pool and devour one story after another.

But I've been sharing my books and my arms with these tiny dazzlers. One prefers Julia Spencer-Fleming, another adult likes William Kent Krueger, while the youngest and tiniest of them all prefers Sam Eastland's tale of Stalinist Russia. And none of them will dream of sharing my book or arm with another of their kind, so I've been watching flashes of gold and aqua and bronze and lime green battle it out for supremacy and the right to read and relax with me. I've even had to fish one of the losers out of the pool so it could fly back to relax another day.

Let me share these links with you folks so I can go back out and be dazzled once more!


Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits
  • How Amazon.com is hurting readers, authors, and publishers.
  • George RR Martin's editor is hinting there might be an eighth Game of Thrones book. (I've just spent the past couple of weeks getting hooked on-- and catching up with-- the HBO television series. Sooner or later, I'll be turning to the books.)
  • Good news for the Phoenix area-- and me because I'm very close by-- independent bookstore, Changing Hands, has opened a second store in Phoenix. Much more convenient for me than their store in Tempe!
  • Germans have a very difficult time saying "squirrel," and that's perfectly okay because I have a very difficult time speaking German!
  • In junta-ruled Thailand, reading can get you in trouble.
  • To let you know that I'm well and truly hooked on Game of Thrones, here's a video about the science of the book and television series.

Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones

I  ♥  Lists

Book Candy


Well, that's it for this edition. Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure. Now pardon me... I have a date with a few dazzlers!

Have a great weekend!



      12 comments:

      1. Cathy - Oh, you got such a great photo there - 'dazzling' is right. And I must go check out that Mayan link - fascinating!

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        Replies
        1. I've always been fascinated with Mayan culture.

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      2. Thanks for the lovely photo. Out of curiosity, how long is the damselfly in question? I don't know if I've seen them. I have seen dragonflies.

        I agree with you on diamonds, and am so envious that Changing Hands is opening a bookstore near you. Now, I wonder if they'd consider lower Manhattan for another location?

        I have to go out now and don't like to read the links hurriedly, so will come home and later ponder them. Friday is always a good day with these links to read, especially those about reading, characters, bookshelves, etc.

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        Replies
        1. An adult damselfly is usually about as long as your little finger and very, very slender. The juvenile that's been spending the most time with me is barely two inches long and so skinny you can barely see it at all when it moves.

          It was work for Changing Hands to open this second location, so I would imagine that a third in Manhattan will take a few years... unless I start frequenting it as often as I do The Poisoned Pen! ;-)

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      3. Cathy - I skimmed the article on Amazon, but I believe I got the gist of the writer's complaint. I have two comments to offer. First, publishers still have the ability to decide to use Amazon as a distribution channel or not. They wouldn't be using Amazon if there was a different mix of sellers that would provide them with more profit. That's Business 101, deal with it. Secondly, it wasn't so long ago that a number of publishers settled (what I understand was) a price fixing lawsuit that artificially kept the prices of some publishers' books higher than a market level. So I think any publisher, even those not involved in that case, who suggests Amazon is hurting the reader, might be perceived by some of us readers as somewhat hypocritical. Ken in McLean

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        Replies
        1. Yes, there's a bit of hypocrisy there, isn't there? But I also believe that there is danger in continually letting Amazon dictate terms to everyone.

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      4. The links are great. Gosh, what one can learn at this blog.

        I laughed at the Germans who couldn't say "squirrel," and vice versa.

        I grew up with a Yiddish-speaking mother and other relatives, so the sounds
        of that language and German aren't hard for me. I do laugh at my friends who
        try to pronounce Yiddish words, as several are commonly used in New York,
        but they can't do it, as the hard "ch" sound as in "challah" or "Chanukkah."
        And no one seems to be able to say the "kv" as in "kvetch."

        I balked at being at all interested in the German language until a friend
        pointed out lovely poetry in that language, and my sister mentioned lieder
        that she sings. So, I relented.

        Love all the bookcase and bookstore news. And I'm thinking of a
        deep turquoise wall with bookshelves at some point in the future to
        hold my TBR stacks.

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        Replies
        1. For some reason, my mouth can deal with the Romance languages much easier than others. I don't know why.

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      5. I had to check the links of bookstores featured in movies and 7 habits of effective readers. good to know. thanks.
        http://www.thecuecard.com/

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      Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!