A Pinteresting Weekly Link Round-Up

A while back I mentioned something to you about volunteering some of my time at my favorite bookstore, The Poisoned Pen. Then I was mean and didn't tell you what I was up to, but there was a reason for that. What with vacations, holiday celebrations, medical issues, and other time-consuming items, I knew it would take me a while to get my show on the road. Well, I'm still working on it, but I'm ready to tell you what's going on.

I'm helping the folks at The Poisoned Pen with their Pinterest account. 

Yes, Pinterest is a bit of social media, and that fact may make you roll your eyes. If it does, skip down to the links. You're not going to hurt my feelings!

Personally I get a lot of use out of Pinterest. I keep track of lots of things on my Pinterest boards: knitting patterns, recipes, places I've been; I don't use it just for books (although books account for about half of what I've pinned). I've made some good friends through Pinterest, so when a couple of staff members at The Poisoned Pen mentioned that they didn't have enough hours in the day to keep all the social media updated, I volunteered.

Keep in mind that it's still (and always will be) a work in progress, but if you have the slightest bit of interest, I'd love for you to take a look at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore's Pinterest boards. If you've never been to Pinterest before, the site may want you to open an account first. (It's free.) You'll find all sorts of book recommendations, photos of authors who have appeared there, nearby places to eat, the bookstore's 25th anniversary celebrations, and photos of parties for authors like Carolyn Hart and Diana Gabaldon. If you have any questions about how Pinterest works, just send me an email at kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot) com.

But from all the noise out in the corral, I'd better shut my trap and round up those links. Head 'em up! Moooooooooove 'em out!
 

 

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• David Denby fears that we are at risk of losing serious readers. 
• The Kindle eBook warning system is now live on Amazon.
• The unstoppable rise of eReaders. 
• There's something wrong with this picture: Saudi Arabia held a women's rights conference without a single woman attendee.
• The art of repairing and digitizing a 400-year-old 3D book.
• Bryan Singer is set to direct a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movie.
• After an eight year slump, bookstore sales finally rose in 2015.
• Author Lee Child on Amazon's real-life bookshops. 
• The private library: what books reveal about their readers. 
• Until 1950, U.S. weathermen were forbidden to talk about tornadoes. 
• The strange and mysterious history of the Ouija board. 
• Darwin's children doodled all over his Origin of Species manuscript. 
• The lasting legacy of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A little experimental archaeology is needed in reproducing the throne of an Egyptian queen. 
• How the Smithsonian Institution is crowdsourcing history. 
• Archaeologists have been learning about the waves of migration that populated Guam. 
• Archaeologists are also learning who walked the roads to Rome. 
• What were thought to be lost Roman roads in the UK have been found with the use of 3D lasers.
• A broken trumpet found on a sunken ship has its share of secrets from World War II. 
• A Spider-Man comic book could fetch over $400,000 when it goes up for auction. 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• You have to smile when you see this tiny weasel spot a new toy to play with.
• A brief history of post office cats.
• It looks as though the Army is not standing by its promise to some of its most dedicated and heroic soldiers: their war dogs. 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• One of my favorite unpaved roads to travel: the Apache Trail as seen by a drone.
• Big empty Italian castles for sale. 
• U.S. national parks are getting the star treatment in a new IMAX film.
• Robinson Crusoe's private island is now available on Airbnb.
• The Cascadia subduction zone is worse than the San Andreas fault. 
• Google has partnered with the National Park Service to bring imagery from 40 parks to Street View.
• Would you board the Titanic II? 
• Rent Vincent Van Gogh's bedroom on Airbnb.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Special agents: the women of the Special Operations Executive.
• How two sisters and one murder inspired five hundred songs. 
• 11 unsung science heroines you really should have heard of. 
• At the age of eleven, Lilianna Zyszkowski designed a life-saving device. 
• How Lincoln and Darwin shaped the modern world. And... did you know that Abraham Lincoln was an inventor?
• The ingenious tricks of 17th century female spies. 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• These are the most checked-out books in UK libraries.
• The 10 best true crime books. 
• 8 things invented by famous writers.
• The world's oddest libraries?
• A few bookish gifts.
• The real-world locations of 14 sci-fi dystopias. 
• How does the education in your state compare to the rest of the world?

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 great weekend, and read something fabulous!