Shiver Me Timbers, A Weekly Link Round-Up!

I've entitled this week's link round-up "shiver me timbers" because Canada or Siberia or someplace I would never choose to live decided to bring in the new year by sharing its snow and cold. Children on the outskirts of the Phoenix metropolitan area made snowmen, and the mountains and cacti had rare mantles of the white stuff. 

Here at Casa Kittling, we merely got extremely cold rain. Perfect weather for curling up next to a fire with a good book-- except these frigid days (okay, I know, frigid for here) were declared No Burn days, which meant no one was supposed to touch match to log. Never fear! Those afghans my mother knitted for me are just the ticket for iceberg days! The Englishman I imported thirteen years ago has finally acclimated, and the only thing that's kept me from complaining about the cold is listening to him gripe about it!

In the mean time, I have some links that need to be shared before they freeze to the ground. Head 'em up! Move 'em out!

Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits

• Everything Back to the Future II got right and wrong about 2015.
• It looks like eBooks took another hit in sales the last part of 2014. 
• Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall is coming to the BBC. Here's the trailer for the upcoming series. I can't wait!
• Elvis Presley's airplanes are up for auction. 
• The women of Bletchley Park tell their story.
• The Guardian has published Books in 2015: The Essential Literary Calendar. 
• See the massive, stunning collection of art the Smithsonian just put online for free.
• Mae Keane, the last Radium Girl, has died at the age of 107.
• Monarch butterflies are being considered for endangered species status. I wonder how I can get them to my patch of milkweed that I've been leaving alone because I know it's the only food they'll eat?
• Facebook is launching a new book club, and it's already had an effect on book sales.
• Digital library trends for 2015.

Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones

• Bones recently found on a Canadian beach may be from people on board a ship fleeing the 1840s Potato Famine in Ireland.
• I think I'll rent a metal detector the next time I'm in the UK. Amateurs have found a £1 million hoard of 1,000-year-old Anglo Saxon coins.
• Archaeologists in Egypt have found an unknown queen's tomb. 
• A World War I soldier's bedroom has remained frozen in time for almost a century.
• A man discovered the passage to Egypt's Great Pyramid under his house.  
• I know I've included links about this before, but scientists keep figuring out more and more about the Antikythera Mechanism (and including photos, too). 
• How researchers uncovered a 2,500-year-old mystery behind some ancient Greek coins.
• This study suggest that the history of Rapa Nui on Easter Island is far more complex than originally thought.

The Happy Wanderer

• 32 beautiful tiny villages around the world. 
• Top travel bloggers name the places you need to see in 2015.
• "Downton Abbey" estate opens up for overnight guest stays. Sign me up!
• Seeing the Northern Lights is tops for most bucket listers. (I've accomplished two on the list.)
• 34 photos that reveal a glimpse of what lies beneath the water's surface.

I  ♥  Lists

• 9 famous authors' favorite workday snacks.
• The top ten winters in literature. (May I throw in Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter? It may not be "literature," but the depiction of winter in that book has certainly stayed with me!)
• Ten unique and funky literary magazines to check out in 2015. 
• 23 words for book lovers that really should exist.

Book Candy

• Have you ever seen a Japanese flip book?
• 18 libraries every book lover should visit in his or her lifetime.

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

Have a wonderful weekend!