You Have Now Crossed Over into the Weekly Link Round-Up

The mind is a strange and wonderful thing. Capable of whirring away on many different levels simultaneously: composing a grocery list, conducting a conversation, casting a cleaner's eye over the kitchen floor, watching a television program, knitting-- all without losing track of any single one of the threads. It's a wonder we all don't have headaches more often, isn't it?

I can compare sale prices on yarn to get the most bang for my gift card buck. I can remember to get out the stretchers for that new pair of shoes. I can think up menus for several days at once. Everything's hunky dory.

Until I go to bed and my brain supposedly rests.

Lately, it hasn't been resting very much. Instead, it's coming up with a lot of dreams that are-- most definitely-- lulus. (Definition of "lulu": an outstanding example of a particular type of person or thing.) In one dream, I was traveling the world. I would've been having a wonderful time if not for the fact that the owner of The Poisoned Pen was chasing me everywhere I went-- including the streets of Paris during the wee hours of the morning and a motor boat race somewhere in the Aegean. Now why on earth would I dream that?!? In another lulu, John Lennon married me instead of Yoko Ono. Wait just one cotton-pickin' minute! Denis is the John Lennon fan; I like George Harrison! 

The dream list could go on for several more paragraphs, but I don't want to convince you that I need to get my strait jacket from the dry cleaners. Instead, I'll head on out to the corral. Yep, that's what I'll do.... These links I've been saving for you are getting restless.  Head 'em up! Moooove 'em out!

 

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Indie authors are ruining the eBook discovery process on Amazon.
• An artist has created a tank that delivers free books (a weapon of mass instruction). 
• Hugh Jackman has joined the cast of Fox 2000's adaptation of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
• The secret life of a librarian. 
• Are small UK publishers doing all the hard work for the big ones? 
• An incomplete guide to proper literary name-dropping.
• J.K. Rowling found out her books helped save this baby's life. Her response was magic.
• Growing up in a library is as magical as you'd imagine.
• Ginger Rogers and the case of the authorized editions.
• Fake or real? How to self-check the news and get the facts. 
• Celebrities are narrating their own audiobooks. 
• While we're on the topic, did you know that Amazon Prime Reading now includes audiobooks? 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• This fossil octopus is a Jurassic jewel. 
• Scottish fossils tell the story of the first life on land. 
• Archaeologists are uncovering clues to the life of Iron Age man on Orkney. 
• The reconstructed face of Robert the Bruce has been unveiled. 
• Archaeologists have discovered a mysterious 2,500-year-old lost city in Greece.
• A previously unknown Leonardo da Vinci sketch has been valued at $15.8 million. 
• Finding Cahokia, North America's lost medieval city. (I've been there, and it's awe-inspiring.) 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Whenever his favorite human rubs his face, this giant lynx makes an adorable sound. 
• A possible second jaguar in Arizona has been photographed.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• Sweden's recycling is so revolutionary, the country has run out of rubbish.
• How about visiting a place where you can never set foot? (Tip: It's in France.)
• An American tourist's twenty-five observations of Scotland. 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician who advanced human rights with a slide rule and pencil.
• E. R. Braithwaite, author of To Sir With Love, has died at the age of 104. (His book was turned into one of my favorite movies.) 

►I ♥ Lists & Quizzes◄

• National Geographic's best photos of 2016.
• Ten Pinterest boards for book lovers. 
• Ten great science fiction mysteries you may never have heard of. 
• Ten things you didn't know about how the New York Times Book Review works. 
• World Literature Today's 75 notable translations of 2016.
• YouTuber, Bama, and Brexit are among the new words in the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Do you read like everyone else? 
• Fictional characters who deserve a cup of hot cocoa. 

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!