Working Up a Sweat for This Weekly Link Round-Up

Most of the time Denis and I time our big yard clean-ups to coincide with the quarterly curbside trash pickups, and that's what we did this time. We got up much earlier than normal to try to beat the worst of the sun and heat, put our sweatbands, hats and heavy gloves on, and got to work.

All in a morning's work....

Denis was in charge of raking and bagging, while I did pruning, trimming, weed pulling and bagging. For part of the pruning, I was standing close to a hummingbird feeder and in the midst of blooming shrubs, and I faced a constant stream of hummingbirds trying to bully me into stopping what I was doing. Alas, the poor little devils failed. Once we combine all those black bags in the photo to the left with the other things going out to the curb (anyone in the market for an old plaid recliner?), and haul them all out to the street tomorrow morning, we'll be done.

I'm pleasantly tired right now, but inside I'm beginning to hum with excitement. I'm deserting Denis this evening (before he goes to work and deserts me *wink*) and driving over to the Poisoned Pen. I have my book buy list printed out, my notebook and pens ready, my camera batteries charged.... Not only will I be seeing fellow book blogger Lesa Holstine again, I'll be seeing Craig Johnson for the first time. Since he's one of my Top Five authors, I don't know whether to laugh, pop, or dance a jig!

Maybe I'd better get all these links posted for you before I do any of the three?


Bookish News & Other Interesting Stuff

• Bancroft Press is running a fun contest to promote Elizabeth Leiknes' newest book, The Understory. The winner will receive eBooks of both Leiknes' titles, and their choice of two more eBooks from the Bancroft catalog. To read the rules and to enter, visit Bancroft Press's Facebook page.
• Good news for mystery lovers who love their mysteries on television as well as the printed page: three of Deon Meyer's thrillers are being adapted for TV with Sean Bean to star as DI Benny Griessel, and Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce mysteries have been optioned for television movies.
• The real-life "House at Pooh Corner" is for sale.
• Burlington, Vermont has a new bookstore in town, and I love the sign in Phoenix Books' window.
• Now there's a phone app to prevent cricked necks while reading the spines of shelved books.
• Booksellers v. Libraries? Publishers v. Amazon? These are the wrong battles to fight (and I agree).
• There's a Harry Potter manuscript on display at the British Library.
• Would you live without running water? Neither would I. But we seem to want tens of thousands of Native Americans to do it. Read the article and think about this whenever something goes wrong in your life. (Doing things like this helps keep my thoughts in perspective....)

I  ♥ Lists

• The ten best historical novels
• Amazon announces the most well-read cities in America.
• Extremely silly photos of extremely serious writers

Book Candy

• Got any spare orange crates lying around?

New to My Google Reader

• Musings
• My R and R Space
• Avadhut Recommends
• Carole's Book Corner
• Lit Endeavors

It's now time to start primping for the Poisoned Pen, so I have to love you and leave you. Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!