An Off the Beaten Path Weekly Link Round-Up

It's difficult to believe that it's already been a week since Denis and I returned from our week down in Cochise County.  Someone has taken a long-term lease on the cottage where we usually stay, so we've been forced to find other accommodation. Last January, we stayed in a house that was for sale across the canyon from our usual place, but that house has finally sold. Fortunately, I found a place on Airbnb that suited us right down to the ground even though it did mean a few extra miles on the odometer. I'll be telling you more about it in a post on Monday.

One night there was an absolutely stunning sunset that brought on a mad dash for our cameras. (No, this is not the best shot!)

The cottage we stayed in was at the end of this dirt track that gets rather greasy and slippery after a rain (and it did rain while we were there). Seeing this particular photo reminded me of posts I've done for this blog that I've titled "Off the Beaten Path." 

Being someplace like London was an absolute thrill, but I tend to prefer being off the beaten path. Somewhere with mountains called sky islands and a horizon filled with colors so intense they hurt your eyes. Somewhere the critters aren't afraid to come up and look you in the eye. Critters? Oh oh. I need to head on out to the link corral!

Head 'em up! Moooooooooooove 'em out!

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Among the last of a dying breed: he fixes the cracked spines of books.
• How "Sherlock of the Library" cracked the case of Shakespeare's identity.  
• It's rather fitting that the bones of Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death," are being used as a teaching tool in Brazil.
• Is this Scotland's oldest recipe book? 
• Someone is strategically placing poems around a British supermarket. 
• When you name your fictional war criminal after a real man by accident... and he emails you. 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Archaeologists have recreated the ancient Plain of Jars burial site in Laos in virtual reality to help them study hard-to-access locations. 
• The $2.6 billion treasure still lost at the bottom of the sea.
• A mysterious tiny mummy has stunned the experts.
• Research suggests that a Byzantine woman died of infection 800 years ago. 
• Amateur archaeologists have stumbled upon an ancient Italian Stonehenge.
• A Swedish archaeological team working in Egypt has reported the discovery of twelve new tombs, and among their finds are two headless crocodiles.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• How the world's smallest birds survive the winter. (A bonus included in this article is a video of a hummingbird snoring!) 
• Bison mania hits 95 miles west of Chicago as the herd continues to grow. This makes me smile because they're coming back where they belong. There is a buffalo wallow a few miles south of the small Illinois farm town I grew up in.  
• Ten close-up shots of dragonflies. 
• Werewolf cats drew crowds at a London cat show.
• Meet the euplerids, the strange carnivores of Madagascar. 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• Get lost among the ancient oaks that inspired William Faulkner's greatest novels. 
• California's historic "drive-through tree" has fallen down. I saw this tree when I was ten years old.
• This camper's interior looks exactly the way it did in 1953, and I had a blast taking a look! 
• The trials and triumphs of Santorini's Atlantis Books-- and the new threat to its existence.
• How Heywood Hill, the most beloved bookshop in London, is surviving in the digital age.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Eight words all bibliophiles need to know.
• Meryl Streep's ten best book-based movie roles. 
• Seven reasons 2017 is going to be an incredible year for book lovers.
• The ultimate book-lover bucket list. 
• Thirty essential crime reads written by women in the last one hundred years.
• The English-language writers who succeed abroad.
• Top ten books about wild women.

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!