The Enjoying Critters Weekly Link Round-Up

Denis's new work schedule definitely agrees with us both. Last week we went to the Desert Botanical Garden for the Monarch exhibit at the Butterfly Pavilion; this week we packed up some goodies and headed up to the White Mountains and Black Canyon Lake. Next week, we'll be heading to the Desert Botanical Garden again for Ofrendas... and perhaps other places, too. Who knows? My social calendar does show an author signing at the Poisoned Pen for tomorrow afternoon. I think I'll get dolled up and head over there to meet Donis Casey and Vicki Delany while Denis is at work.

Denis took this photo of a female Western Bluebird yesterday at Black Canyon Lake. She was decked out in her drab winter colors and keeping an eye on what we were doing, although she was much too shy to join in with the squirrels and Stellar's jays.

Denis and I love to head up to Black Canyon Lake. At over 7,000 feet in elevation up in the Ponderosa pines, it's a refreshing change from the desert heat-- although our preferred time is after Labor Day so we miss the crowds that like to hang out at the lake.

It definitely isn't the place for anyone who's shy and skittish around critters. I'd just sat down on a park bench when a young golden-mantled squirrel climbed up my pant leg, sat on my lap, tapped me on a boob a time or two with a tiny paw, and looked at me as though to say, "Where's the goodies?" I didn't have to be asked twice. Sunflower seeds and unshelled peanuts were brought out almost immediately!

Denis and I find the wildlife every bit as good for the soul as the setting at Black Canyon Lake, and I could rhapsodize about it for several more paragraphs, but... y'all would like some links, wouldn't you?

Bookish Links & Other Interesting Stuff

• 'tis the season: Literary Halloween costumes.
• How much can you tell about your neighbors from their mailboxes?
• The survey says: the biggest readers in the US are teens are thirtysomethings. (Guess I'll have to read faster to up the percentages for my age bracket....)
• Photos found at a flea market depict haunting images of war when merged with modern-day views.
• This rescue of a baby elephant tugs at the heart strings.
• Never thought I'd know someone who had her own Etsy shop! Need a scarf? I know a talented someone who knits quickly!

eBooks 

• Why Amazon is within its rights to remove access to your Kindle books. (Read the fine print, people....)
• Newsweek magazine is going completely digital.
• Periodical reading on tablets is on the rise. (And just think... no more stacks of magazines lying around the house....)

I  ♥  Lists & Quizzes

• The ultimate Charlotte's Web quiz
• The Top Ten city skylines
• Ten of literature's greatest comeback books
• Adam Lancaster's ten favorite books set in libraries
• 15 postcards from famous authors

New to My Google Reader

• Girl Lost in a Book

That's it for this week. Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!