May You Live in Interesting Times Weekly Link Round-Up

It's been an interesting week, mostly spent on the phone trying to unsnarl, untwist, and untangle two different messes (neither of which were my fault). The Poisoned Pen author event for Faye, Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman was rescheduled due to a huge storm system that moved in. While I was at the dentist, Phoenix received yet another torrential downpour. Thankfully it was of short duration, but I still had my fingers crossed as I navigated the Jeep through flooded streets. I got home to see that the property had narrowly escaped being inundated. Again. But hey-- my pearlies are nice and white, and that chipped incisor was repaired!

Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits

• The Reanimation Library is breathing life into old books.
• This is a given, but it's still fun to look at this infographic that tells us that Reading Is Good For You.
• Robert Parker's Jesse Stone lives on with a new author.
• It's not much of a surprise that Facebook users voted for Harry Potter as the book that stayed with them.
• I'm beginning to think that infographics are my guilty pleasure. Here's one to tell us how long it takes to read popular books. 
• Sophie Hannah tells us how she wrote a new Agatha Christie mystery. (Jesse Stone isn't dead, and neither is Hercule Poirot.)
• As cutthroat as Amazon can be, you'd think they'd be more concerned with the loopholes in Audible.
• There is a literacy crisis in the UK (and I would imagine that it's not the only country affected).
• A pirate's life has always had an allure for me, but not this kind: pirated Kindle books may hijack your Amazon account.
• There's a city in China in which phone addicts get their own sidewalk lane. (But are they going to look up from their phones to see if they're in the proper lane?) 
• A British politician is claiming that prisoners have better libraries than the public. 
• James Patterson and his publisher are donating books to the troops.
• Stephen King has been in the news, probably due to the announcement of a book tour. He's also sounded off on his most hated expressions.

Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones

• Media attention is driving archaeologists crazy at the excavation in Greece. Articles are popping up faster than crabgrass: "a remarkable find" followed by "marble female statues" (check out the slideshow), and then "Is this Alexander the Great's tomb?" (Now you see why the media frenzy.)
• A 115-year-old shipwreck has finally been located along Lake Superior's "Shipwreck Coast." (Why is it whenever I hear "shipwreck" and the name of one of the Great Lakes, I start hearing Gordon Lightfoot singing in my head? Where's that tinfoil?)
• New species of dinosaurs are also spouting up thick and fast. First a giant water-living dinosaur, and then an ancient "dragon beast" that looks as though it flew right out of "Avatar." (How many of you already know that the wonders of Pandora were all inspired by wonders right here on Earth?)
• A diver in Bulgaria inadvertently discovered the world's oldest gold coin. (Wish Denis would discover one while cleaning the sludge out of the pool.)
• Archaeologists are discovering that raping and pillaging doesn't necessarily exclude one from being a good architect. 
• A massive 5,000-year-old stone monument has been revealed in Israel. 
• A long lost Roman fort has been discovered in Germany.
• Divers are sure they'll find new treasures from the "ancient computer" shipwreck.
• They're exploring the "graveyard of ships" near San Francisco. 
• The story of 160 people illegally enslaved and then marooned on a remote island. The only thing that could tell these people's story was archaeology.

I  ♥  Lists & Quizzes

• 8 authors whose biggest successes came after the age of 50.
• How well do you know Dickens?
• The top 12 authors' beards. (See how trivial my mind is?)
• 10 must-read books about the Old West.
• 10 literary canines. 
• 10 great books based on other great books.

Book Candy

• 35 things to do with all those books.
• 14 secret bookcase doors. I'd love to have one-- how about you? 

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