The Drunk with Spring Weekly Link Round-Up

Spring continues to be absolutely glorious here in Phoenix. 

If you don't believe me, take a look at the bright yellow butterfly enjoying a cactus blossom. One of the best places to see spring is the Desert Botanical Garden, and I've taken to going there every week to see the changes firsthand.

I think this is the first time in a long time that I've seen bees drunk with spring. There are so many flowers to visit that they don't fly as much as tumble from bloom to bloom to bloom. It is a joy to watch them-- and it's a joy to see all the happy faces of visitors.

Will I be sharing my photos? Yes, I will, but since Denis and I took almost four hundred photos in one day alone, it's taking me time to go through them all. Please be patient for a little while longer!

In the mean time, here are the links I've been saving for you all week!

 

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Penguin Random House has reported that 25% of its revenue is from eBooks.
• The Library of Congress will stop using the subject heading "illegal aliens." Guess why. 
• 29 letters written by Harper Lee were put up for auction. 
• A bookstore in Vilnius, Lithuania has a clever advertising campaign. 
• James Patterson has a plan to get non-readers reading. It's called BookShots. He's also renewed his pledge to donate $1.75 million to school libraries. 
• This is not good news coming from the UK: libraries have lost a quarter of their staff as hundreds close. 
• Pardon me while I try to puzzle these two articles out. One tells me not to mourn the loss of libraries because the internet has made them obsolete, while the other tells me how libraries can save the internet. 
• Cars, spaces and places in British police dramas.
• Mysterious stacks of books in New York City are connecting strangers from around the world. 
• To feed hungry minds, Afghans seed a ravaged land with books.
• The secret history of the girl detective. 
• See how thirty years of automation have changed how crayons are made.
• Argentina's national library lay-offs are not being accepted quietly. 
• Shakespeare's 21st-century makeover. 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A letter written by a World War II survivor led a geologist to a secret beneath the city of Naples, Italy. 
• Archaeologists have confirmed the use of non-stick cookware during the Roman Empire.
• The most valuable rare books in existence.
• These voodoo cloaks are amazing. 
• In 1850 a farmer found a secret door in the sand. What he saw on the other side was fascinating. 
• The relic of a beheaded medieval Swedish king might be authentic.
• World War II rockets were found dumped behind a bus stop in England. 
• An ancient site spotted from space could rewrite the history of Vikings in North America. 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• A fossil find suggests that a giant Siberian unicorn may have existed at the same time as humans.
• Rhinos will be airlifted to Australia in an attempt to avoid poachers. Call it a "biological insurance policy."

►Fascinating Folk◄

• You and almost everyone you know owe your lives to Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• If you're in Mystic, Connecticut, check out Bank Square Books. 
• Scotland's best island beaches. 
• The Libreria bookshop in London is just a little bit different. 
• I always knew the water in my hometown was special!
• A new USGS map shows man-made earthquakes are on the rise. 
• The abandoned mansions of billionaires.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 10 reasons why you should eat chocolate while reading. 
• 17 Tumblr posts many book lovers will feel in their souls.
• Depending upon your age, ten book characters who shaped your identity. 
• 17 thrillers set on Scottish islands. 
• From alright to zap: an A to Z of horrible words. 
• The top ten books on 1960s America.
• Six books for everyone threatening to go to Canada.
• All the different Ouija boards you never knew existed. 
• 22 times the dedication page was the best part of the book. 

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!