We're Having a Heatwave Weekly Link Round-Up

Where was I when it reached 118° (48°C) here in Phoenix? Sitting in the shady end of my pool with plenty of ice cold green tea and some excellent reading, that's where. I was perfectly comfortable, which is a very good thing because daytime temperatures are not supposed to dip below 110° for quite some time. Just to insure that you firmly believe that I'm strange... we're still running our evaporative cooler. Yup. You heard me. 118° and we haven't turned on the air conditioner. Methinks my English husband has finally acclimated!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, anyone?

One of the things Daisy and I did while she was visiting was spend a few hours at the Desert Botanical Garden. There's more going on there during a blast furnace June than you'd think. I'll be sharing more photos from there in the coming weeks. 

Many of the cacti that bloomed so profusely this spring have ripe fruit, and the birds and other critters are gorging themselves silly. When I saw this particular fruit to the left, I couldn't help but run a few Sci Fi movie titles through my head. How about you?

But I cannot dally. I have a corral filled with restless links. Head 'em up! Mooooooooove 'em out!

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Bookish jewelry, library edition.     
• James Patterson's first BookShots titles sell 30,000 copies in a week.
• Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, has donated 300,000 euros to a Dutch library. 
• NASA says that the earth has captured a second moon. 
• Why indie presses are opening  bookstores. 
• This isn't news to many of us, but people who should be in the know are beginning to notice that women are writing the best crime novels. 
• Martin Walker on the origin of the Inspector Bruno series.
• If Barnes & Noble goes out of business, it'll be a disaster for book lovers.
• This might be why handshaking evolved.  
• The woman who makes the Metropolitan Museum's fashion exhibits presentable.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• The secret messages hiding inside 17th century engagement rings.  
• A Wisconsin police officer hits the jackpot with a Ty Cobb poster that hung in a barn for 90 years. 
• The 2,000-year-old Antikythera shipwreck which is famous for an "ancient computer" is still yielding new treasures. 
• Mystery surrounds a rare Mary, Queen of Scots portrait. 
• Scientists have discovered an ancient city that may be a terrible omen for modern civilization.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Rico, a Marine Corps war dog, will be getting a final send-off with military honors.  
• An elephant which was shot in the head walked up to a truck to ask for help. 
• A rare pine martin discovery could stall some housing plans in Scotland. 
• We have the technology to kill all mosquitoes. Should we do it? 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• Gustave Eiffel's secret apartment.
• People in Iran would scoff at Phoenix's recent 118°. I simply cannot wrap my head around the temperatures they've been enduring! 
• The village of Craco, an Italian hillside ghost town. 
• Some beautiful holloways (roads tunneled into the earth by time).
• Some stunning aerial photography.  
• Five of the best beaches for beachcombing in the U.S. 
• The Valley of the Butterflies in Greece. 
• F. Scott Fitzgerald's former home is for sale.
• Cruising through antiquity on the Nile without the crowds.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Ten thoughts all Game of Thrones' TV fans have when they read the books. 
• Fake food bookmarks that look good enough to eat. 
• Nineteen over-the-top literary accessories that you'll secretly love. 
• Ten things you may not know about Harriet Beecher Stowe. 
• The biggest bookworms in the world.

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!