Friday, May 15, 2015

The Gearing Up for Giveaways Weekly Link Round-Up




We're having some unusual weather here in Phoenix: below normal temperatures, overcast, and rain. Normally the summer is gearing up, it's getting quite warm, there's not a cloud in the sky, and it's dry as a bone. We need the rain, so I'm not complaining-- especially since our twelve foot tall leaning cactus has been straightened-- I just hope that this rain now doesn't mean we won't have a monsoon season.

The weather certainly hasn't slowed down all the birds that visit Casa Kittling, like the male house finch you can see to the right. It can't slow them down because they have too many mouths to feed. I can put out three to four oranges per day, and between parents and those young feeling confident enough to fly over and perch, every bit of the juicy fruit is eaten. I've learned quite a bit about bird behavior just from watching them around the feeders and bird baths.

Next Monday you'll be seeing instructions for a giveaway. I picked up a few goodies from the Death on Demand Party at The Poisoned Pen last Saturday, and I'm going to share them all with you. The first giveaway will be Monday, and the rest will follow, one at a time, on Kittling: Books' Facebook page.

But enough about birds and giveaways. Here are this week's links!



►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
  • Steven Spielberg and Syfy will be adapting the classic novel Brave New World
  • A woman's message in a bottle has been found forty years after she threw it into the sea.
  • Never-ending stories: would you read a one million-word book?
  • Amazon Prime video is set to stream aloft with JetBlue Airlines.
  • This Google Map of Westeros clears up any Game of Thrones geography questions.
  • After Stephen Colbert announced that he was teaming with Donorschoose.org to fund every single teacher-requested grant in South Carolina, a wonderful thing began to happen.
  • Is this river floating?
  • There's a new eReader with GPS available in Brazil that's interactive with the settings of books. I wish I lived down there so I could give it a test read! 
  • How agency pricing has affected the bestseller lists.
  • Digital sales account for 31% of publisher Simon and Schuster's revenue.
  • Those lucky enough to receive BBC Radio 4 have been able to listen to Benedict Cumberbatch read Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis. Fortunately the rest of us can listen to it via iPlayer Radio. (I'm listening to it now... which makes it rather difficult to type!)
  • Some people may be losing their trust in eBooks.
  • An Iranian bookstore in Los Angeles is giving exiles a taste of the freedoms they lost in their homeland.
  • You've heard me talk about The Poisoned Pen often enough, now here's a short little video you can watch that will take you right into the store. You'll even get to see and hear Barbara Peters. 
  • I mentioned the voting for a new face for the $20 bill, and it looks as though we may be seeing Harriet Tubman instead of Andrew Jackson.



►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
  • City living in Roman Britain meant longer lives but worse teeth.
  • A ransacked Roman temple has hidden medieval secrets.
  • There are a lot of archaeologists in Finland doing a happy dance over $150 million worth of treasure.
  • Argh! Has Captain Kidd's treasure been found off the coast of Madagascar?
  • An ancient Egyptian fortress has been unearthed in the Sinai.
  • Returning the spoils of World War II that were taken by Americans.
  • After 252 years, an English warship is to be recovered off the coast of Uruguay.
  • Very, very slowly, archaeologists are learning the answers to the mysteries of Teotihuacan.
  • A chest purchased at an estate sale nets this Texas man some hidden treasure. 
  • Also in an earlier round-up I mentioned that Picasso's Women of Algiers was set to sell at auction, and many thought it would be record breaking. It was. Wow.



►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
  • It's a very VERY good thing that I wasn't holding this camera down in Australia because I would've returned home with wet shorts!
  • Mothers come in all shapes, sizes, and species.
  • The 30 happiest animals in the world.



►I  ♥  Lists◄



►The Happy Wanderer◄



That's all for now. Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!


Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!


7 comments:

  1. We've been having similar weather here, Cathy. We, too, need the rain - badly - but nice and steadily I hope, and not monsoon-style. Looking forward to your giveaway post! Now off to check out what's in that treasure chest they found in Texas!

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    1. I thought that was one of the coolest stories in the round-up, Margot!

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  2. We're having a lot of rain too and gloomy, gloomy skies. We need the rain. In fact, I read that last year over 90% of Texas counties were in drought condition. This year, something like 35% are. Big difference. Lower temps as well. However, I'm a little apprehensive that we'll pay for this later in the year somehow. Plus, hubby has had very little golf time - a very bad thing. LOL

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    1. Oh yes, that could be a *very* bad thing!

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  3. Replies
    1. I knew my going with something easier for me wouldn't make everyone happy. *sigh*

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    2. Lol! I'll just forego. Not a problem.

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