The Nibbling Ducks Weekly Link Round-Up

The past week has not been fun for Denis. Well, to be honest, it hasn't been a laugh riot for him since we were in the UK. He pulled a muscle in his back at work. My bonny lad also seems to have inherited a bad ear gene, and he always has to be careful of ear infections. He's had one since September. I think I would've gone insane by now! He's had non-stop infections that his doctor finally seems to be putting an end to. He's had one hearing aid after another need repair. And then he decided to go to my dermatologist to have a rough patch of skin on the top of one ear checked. He had non-life-threatening skin cancer removed from it last Thursday and will be going in to have the stitches removed soon.

Heating pads, muscle relaxers, ear drops, antibiotics... all I've had to deal with is getting new medical insurance because the company I retired from after many years' labor decided we old farts were too expensive to provide coverage for. 

I hear those links out in the corral, so I'd better go round 'em up for you. Then it will be time to let those ducks have at us... again. Sheesh!

 

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• A man has stolen $200,000 worth of books from Barnes and Noble. 
• Amazon has launched a pilot program for eBook gift cards.
• Public domain eBooks are all about the cover art. 
• Interview with a bookstore: the Mysterious Bookshop. 
• France's independent bookstores are thriving in the age of Amazon.
• Amazon steps up Australian book sales through The Book Depository. (I just bought three books from The Book Depository!)
• What makes great detective fiction, according to T.S. Eliot. 
• Stephen King on what Hollywood owes authors when their books become films. 
• There are all sorts of rumors bubbling about Amazon's plans to open up to 400 bookstores. If true, can the death of Barnes and Noble be far behind? 
• McDonald's will be serving books in their Happy Meals in 2016. 
• The book most people have lied about reading-- and it's not War and Peace. 
• Writing, traveling, and the creative act. 
• The mystery money keeping St. Mark's Bookshop alive. 
• Is Gone With the Wind America's strangest film? 
• These rebels have amassed a library from Syria's ruins. 
• For fellow fans of British television, how about a TV Map of Britain showing where all our favorite shows are filmed?

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• An ancient Egyptian boat has been discovered near the pyramids. 
• Did ancient Egypt suffer from climate change? 
• Ancient humans ate cantaloupe-sized eggs from 500-pound birds. 
• Vikings may have used a mysterious method of studying sunlight to discover America. 
• Archaeologists discovered a Roman fresco beneath the streets of London. 
• Powerful women were buried at Stonehenge. 
• Last year, I included a link about a girl finding a $20,000 gold bar in a lake in Germany. Guess what happened? 
• Did explorers really eat a mammoth in 1951? 
• Boys' discovery could be an ancient human skull. 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Five ways to fight wildlife crime in the digital age. 
• A video shows the only known US jaguar roaming the mountains outside Tucson, Arizona. 
• You'll never guess who showed up to watch some of the Phoenix Open golf tournament!

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Celebrating Vivian Maier on her 90th birthday. 
• The Library of Congress now has Rosa Parks' personal letters.
• Legendary children's author Beverly Cleary celebrates her 100th birthday in the best way possible.

►Science & Fashion◄

• How one ancestor helped turn our brown eyes blue.  
• The Belle Epoque dress that was too sexy for Paris. 
• Scientists in Glasgow get cancer cells "addicted" to the drugs that will kill them. 
• If male scientists were written about like female scientists (they wouldn't like it). 
• 12 of the most iconic gowns in literature. 
• How ancient Egypt shaped our idea of beauty.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 10 mysterious architectural wonders built by tiny insects. 
• Weird writing habits of famous authors. 
• The 20 oldest houses in the United States. 
• 15 complaints medieval scribes left in the margins.
• Arizona's six most underrated destinations. (Because there's a lot more here than rocks and sand!)

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 great weekend, and read something fabulous!