A Wild and Wondrous Weekly Link Round-Up

Lots of things going on this past week, although one of 'em wasn't the installation of our solar panels. We had a large band of rainstorms file through the valley, which meant that the men couldn't get any work done. I happened to like those rainstorms; they were quite well-mannered. In our area, a nice steady soaking rain, and-- get this-- it would rain steadily all morning, then clear off for my afternoon pool sessions, then cloud up to rain some more afterwards. Now... I'm just not used to Mother Nature being so cooperative!

Sue Grafton & Barbara Peters at the Biltmore

Tuesday night, Denis and I drove over to the Arizona Biltmore for the launch of Sue Grafton's W Is For Wasted. It looked to me as though all 500 seats were filled in the Gold Room, and the two of us had front row seats. I've had an earworm ever since that night-- Buddy Holly singing "Peggy Sue"-- and if you want to know why, you'll just have to wait a while for my recap of the evening! (Cruel, aren't I?)

Last night, Denis and I headed back out to The Poisoned Pen for Laurie R. King's launch of her latest book, The Bones of Paris. King is my personal summer discovery (I'm already on the third book of her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series), so I was thrilled to learn that she'd be at my favorite bookstore. Little did I know that the evening would be even more special than I'd anticipated: another favorite author, Betty Webb, attended. She sat down next to Denis in the row in front of me, and all three of us wound up chatting about Iceland and Scotland. How cool is that?!?

Next week, there are no trips to The Poisoned Pen, but we're scheduled to have the solar panels installed. On the next link round-up you may be able to see the finished product on our roof and lapping up the bountiful Arizona sunshine!

Bookish News & Other Interesting Stuff

• For any of you Diana Gabaldon fans-- they're cast Jamie; now they've cast Claire.
• The BBC has begun broadcasting a six-part series called "Young Montalbano" (for any of you who are fans of Andrea Camilleri's mystery series). Keep your eyes peeled for it because it's not on this side of the pond yet. I've seen the first episode, and I really liked it-- even though I thought the actor portraying Catarella was a bit over the top.
• 71% of travelers prefer print books over eBooks. All I can say is that they (for the most part) must be people who read a dozen or less books per year. Y'all know what a bookaholic I am, and I would not have survived our month-long trip to the UK without my Kindle and my Nook. There's no way I would have had enough room for a month's worth of books and clothes!
• Two people sounding off on why it's trendy to hate Amazon. Opinion #1. Opinion #2.
• The future of the traditional bookstore in a digital world.
• The "Netflix for Books" is here.
• Life in the new Sherlockian Renaissance.
• A lake the size of Delaware has been discovered beneath the desert in Kenya; however, the news isn't all good.
• Having grown up in tornado country, I admit that-- although these photos are beautiful-- they scare the bejabbers out of me.
• A librarian in Columbus, Ohio, quietly saved a million dollars to give back to libraries.
• J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. have announced a new movie franchise set in the wizarding world!

I  ♥  Lists

• The top ten literary landmarks of the South.
• The most popular Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates.
• 21 children's book characters born to be Halloween costumes.
• 9 of the most sympathetic villains in books.
• 10 famous books with lesser-known subtitles.
• The most stylish people in literature.

Book Candy

• The Pages chair.
• 16 libraries you have to see before you die.

That's all 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. Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!