The Day of Arrival Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I'm writing this intro on the morning of the day our nieces are to arrive from the UK. I have a feeling I'm going to be worn out before they get here. There are always last minute adjustments that have to be made. Denis's back has been bothering him, so it's not been easy for him to move his gear back into our bedroom so Daisy and Suzanne can have the guest suite. But it's done! 

Today is the day the cleaning woman was scheduled to come. We have a new one who likes to show up whenever she feels like it. I had to tell her that that isn't going to work. I have to trundle over to the doctor's office for my follow-up appointment, and since the cleaning woman showed up early, I didn't get the battery on my scooter fully charged. Hopefully, I don't run out of juice in the middle of the intersection. The home health nurse will be coming this evening to rewrap my leg. And then our nieces will arrive. 

Whew!

I only have one post that must be done while they're here, and that may be all that you hear from me until mid-April. Have fun while I'm gone, and read plenty of good books. Now it's time for me to head to the doctor's office.

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Kristen Arnett answers questions about bad literary behavior.
• Counterfeit books are a growing problem, but a solution may be near.
• Why do we scream "Geronimo!" when jumping out of airplanes?
• The secret life of the celebrity ghost writer.
• Libraries struggle to afford the demand for eBooks and seek new state laws in their fight with publishers.
• A lost Gershwin musical has been found nearly 100 years after it was last performed.
• Is it a betrayal to publish dead writers' books?
• A chilling batch of evidence could revive the unsolved Black Dahlia murder mystery.
• Connecticut librarians push a bill that would expand eBook an audiobook access.
  

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Librarians lock the Autauga-Prattville (Alabama) Public Libary in protest after the director is fired by the board.
• This week, the State of Florida agreed to settle a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Parental Rights in Education Act, better known as the "Don't Say Gay" law. 
• Officials at the Princeton (Texas) Independent School District have removed more than 100 library books deemed "inappropriate" for review.
• Flathead County (Montana) library board trustees propose removing the Young Adult designation.
• Tennessee lawmakers propose changes to how books get removed from school libraries.
• The Nebraska State Board of Education votes "no" on a rule impacting content in school libraries.
• Idaho Republican legislators have revived a library materials bill.
• Voters have recalled anti-LGBTQ+ Orange County (California) school board members.
• Hanover County (Virginia) leader calls for change after a children's book with same-sex parents sparks controversy.
• A Wisconsin school turns to BookLooks for pulling library and classroom books.
• A class of fourth-graders protests Charlotte-Mecklenburg school leaders' decision to discontinue the use of an online library program.
• A West Prairie (Illinois) policy change raises the "scary thought" about possible book bans. (Keep in mind that the State of Illinois was the first to outlaw book bans.)
• Authors Against Book Bans mobilizes.
• The UK's The Guardian reports that book bans in U.S. schools and libraries surged to record highs in 2023. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
  
• Iowa Poll: Half say new law requiring schools to ban books depicting sex acts goes too far.
• Publishers issued a letter to the New York City Department of Education over discarded books.
• Why ban books when you can ban book awards? A suburban Illinois district has cancelled the Caudill Awards.
• In Virginia, censors attempt to axe Katherine Applegate's Wishtree. Why? They're upset over the tree's gender. (Just when you thought it couldn't get any more ludicrous.)

 

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Items used by Roman cavalry and other treasures were unearthed by a metal detectorist in Wales.
• Why did colonists trash this piece of armor after settling in Maryland 300 years ago?
• Europe's last hunter-gatherers had sophisticated societies that helped them avoid inbreeding.
• 1,000-year-old vessels found in Guatemala held tobacco possibly used as "narcotics to induce deep sleep, visions, and divinatory trances." More from Smithsonian Magazine.
  
• This is what ancient Roman wine tasted like.
• A remarkable fresco depicting a scene from Greek mythology has been found in Pompeii.
• Ancient Iberians ingested red dust loaded with mind-altering mercury. 
• A 1,200-year-old lord's tomb laden with gold has been unearthed in Panama. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Ryker the service dog flunked out of training school in spectacular fashion.
• Why a rare "golden" tiger photographed in India is worrying conservationists.
• A female stingray named Charlotte that hasn't had a mate in eight years is mysteriously pregnant. Is a shark the father?
• Scientists have finally figured out how whales are able to "sing" underwater. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
  
• More giant pandas are coming to the U.S. in a new loan from China.
• See fifteen images from the Underwater Photographer of the Year Awards.
• Ten fun facts about jellyfish.
• The most popular dog breed in each U.S. state.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Tijuana: crime fiction in the borderlands.
• You could run a "penguin post office" in Antarctica.
• Scientists have discovered that world's oldest forest hiding in England.
• Giant redwoods: the world's largest trees are "thriving in the UK."
• What do gardens and murder have in common?
• From Brideshead to Saltburn: why we can't get enough of country house stories.
• A sleeping subduction zone could awaken and form a new "Ring of Fire" that swallows the Atlantic Ocean.
• The 25 happiest cities in America.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Gulbadan Begum, the itinerant princess who chronicled Akbar's Mughal Empire.
• Agatha Christie, surfing pioneer.
• Princess Dashkova, the Russian noblewoman beloved by Catherine the Great and Benjamin Franklin, embodied the Age of Enlightenment.
• From the inventor of mass-market paper bags to a scientist who unraveled the mysteries of polio, meet five American women whose remarkable achievements have long been overlooked.
• What Virginia Woolf got wrong about Lady Anne Clifford.
• Court O'Reilly "etches" elaborate images of the natural world directly into wood.
• A serial killer in Iran.
• Mbarak Mombée: an African explorer robbed of his name.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Eight everyday things that are much older than you think.
• The surprising name origins of twenty famous 1990s bands.
• The power of siblings in mysteries and thrillers.
• The best Scotland Yard detective books.
• The most important novels of the last 100 years.
• Classic locked room mysteries.
• Nine of the best villains in literature.
• Twenty great international books for U.S. readers.

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

No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!