Thursday, December 24, 2015

A Holiday Weekly Link Round-Up




From Denis and me here in Casa Kittling to every single one of you-- Merry Christmas. May each of you celebrate your own special holiday in a way that brings you joy.




►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
  • Lately there have been all sorts of reports coming out about Stonehenge. This latest one says that the stones were moved by glaciers, not men. 
  • It seems like archaeologists in the UK are digging up something new every week.  This time they've found all sorts of exciting things under a bus depot in the center of Leicester. The finds range from medieval outhouses to Roman roads... and more. (A line from a song keeps running through my head whenever I read of these things: "They paved paradise and put in a parking lot.")
  • The Metropolitan Museum is hoarding some seriously good holiday party dresses.
  • Speaking of dresses, I enjoyed this preview/critique of the costumes we'll be seeing on season two of Outlander.
  • Unusual "sail-backed" dinosaurs roamed Spain 125 million years ago. 
  • The latest news on that legendary Nazi gold train isn't very good. 
  • An ancient sword could prove that Romans discovered America before Columbus did. 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

►Fascinating Folk◄
  • Marianne North, the Victorian gentlewoman who documented 900 plant species. 
  • Julian of Norwich, the first woman to publish a book in English, lived in one room, walled off from society. 

►I ♥ Lists◄
  • 14 quotes of wisdom for the holidays from your favorite books. 
  • 23 stocking stuffers some of you book lovers may have received today.
  • 8 incredible homes owned by wealthy authors. My personal favorite? Stephen King's (gate included). 
  • Quirky laws. Every country has them, including Iceland.
  • Harvard linguist Steve Pinker reveals the most misused words in English
  • 18 of the most creative cupcakes you can make at home (unless you're talentless in the kitchen like me). I was pleased to see that in several instances what I thought to be towering piles of icing were in fact not.


That's all for this week! 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, and read something fabulous (and new)!


9 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas to you and Denis!
    In regards to the article about print sales increasing by 6.9% in October, I know I stopped buying E-Books that are the same price as a paperback. Last fall the publishers at least in the books I purchase made the E books the same price as a paperback. I would buy the E books if they were several dollars less than the printed book. I can think of only one author that I would buy immediately the E book if it was the same price as a printed book. I still buy E books when they come up as special deals or are less than the printed price. Now I am using the library more. I have to wait though for the book to become available but I have a large TBR file.

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    1. I've always been a cheapskate when it comes to eBooks. I think most of us do not realize that-- in their very different format-- eBooks are just as complicated to produce as physical books. It's almost impossible to get your head around when it's something that really does have no shape or form. Publishers really shot themselves in the foot when they raised eBook prices.

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    2. I probably should have written too that I wonder if the print sales went up due to people backing away from the increased price of e-books. The timing seems right.

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    3. I read a while back an article in which a man predicted exactly the sort of course that ebooks are following, based on past examples of earlier inovations: that they would get big, fall off for a while, and then come back again. It seems to be all the usual stuff about adopting a new technology, probably including the next generation of users being the ones to cause the rise of the tech again.

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    4. I agree, Pepper. eBooks aren't going away. There were undoubtedly the same sort of birth pangs centuries ago when physical books became available.

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    5. I hope this link works, because this is hilarious and right in line with this discussion:

      http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/2009/08/monday-movie.html

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    6. It did work, and it certainly is in line with this discussion. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  2. I got most of the definitions of the abused English words right. Which I guess (or at least hope) shouldn't be a surprise.

    Lots of interesting links to follow up on. Thanks!

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    1. You're welcome! I got almost all of those right, too, but unfortunately that doesn't mean that I never ever slip up. LOL

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