A New Way of Looking at Things Weekly Link Round-Up

Sometimes we all need to look at things in a new way whether it's something in our personal lives or the way we look at the outside world. Sometimes we forget that a new perspective is a good thing. I was reminded of that Wednesday night when Denis and I went to The Poisoned Pen to see Gregg Hurwitz, whose latest book, Don't Look Back, is one of my favorite reads of 2014. (No, you haven't missed the review. It will be posted in the near future!)

We've all probably had the experience of seeing a beloved book/series turned into a film or television series. I would imagine that none of those translations are ever close to what our mind's eye envisioned as we read the books. Hurwitz works in both mediums, and he equates the book-into-film translation as a baseball player who tries to play basketball. Both sports use different sets of muscles, and few baseball players can even begin to make the transition to basketball well. Books and films are entirely different mediums, Hurwitz reminded us, and as viewers we just have to adjust, we just have to acclimate. 

I had to adjust and acclimate this evening as Denis and I watched "Still Life," a 90-minute Canadian television adaptation of Louise Penny's first Armand Gamache novel. As we watched, we (especially me, since I'm still under the spell of Penny's The Long Way Home) kept making references to what was "wrong" in the film. Then I remembered Hurwitz's words and decided that I needed to watch "Still Life" in a new way. Watch it for what it is, not what I think it should be. You know, I liked it much better after I stopped whining. It's a good police procedural, and I will watch the others as they become available. If I want the depth and the magic, I know just where to find them-- between the covers of Louise Penny's incomparable books.

Oh. *ahem* You came here for some links, didn't you? Let me round 'em up!

Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits

• An unfinished play by one of my favorites-- Tennessee Williams-- has been found. 
• Are you a fellow fan of the writing team known as Michael Stanley and their Detective Kubu mysteries set in Botswana? Want to know what's been going with them? Read their latest newsletter!
• Now I know where all those missing socks go-- and you won't believe it!
• The Guardian has published an unreleased chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
• Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew believes he's found the mountaintop where Dracula lived.
• I know I'm not alone when I say that Longmire's cancellation makes no sense.
• They litter every corner of this country, and California may be the first state to ban plastic bags.
• I guess these folks haven't read the research about reading eBooks and retaining information-- a Florida university has opened a "bookless" library.
• Hugh Grant is returning to his romantic comedy roots.
• Bruce Springsteen has written a children's book.
• For this mystery writer, Istanbul's Byzantine past is hiding in plain sight.
• The first images from the world's most powerful commercial satellite are incredibly detailed.

 

 

Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones

• Big in the news has been the discovery of an enormous dinosaur whose name translates to "fears nothing." One article has a graphic that puts the dinosaur's size in perspective, while another talks more about its discovery. 
• Another dinosaur skeleton, discovered in Utah 155 years ago, is going to be excavated.
• How about some 39,000-year-old Neanderthal art?
• An accident with a garden hose led to the recent significant discovery at Stonehenge.
• A woman in Winslow, Arizona has been unearthing the past of a forgotten Indian cemetery.

 

 

I  ♥  Lists

• 10 unusual and beautiful libraries
• 7 famous author feuds
• The 10 best Patricia Highsmith books
• The best Pinterest boards for bookish types

 

 

Book Candy & Other Shiny Things

• Want to support Banned Books Week? There's a t-shirt for that. 
• Take a look at this Jacketed Spines curtain.
• I love the thatched cottages in Europe. I had no idea there was such a thing as American Thatch!
• A book from Queen Mary's Dolls' House library grows up.
• These little libraries of Marc Giai-Miniet are amazing!
• And Tim Sidford lives in a small world of his own, too.

 

 

That's all for this week. I hope I found a link or two that tickled your fancy. Don't forget to stop by next Friday for a freshly selected batch of links for your weekend surfing pleasure. Have a great weekend!