It's Raining, It's Pouring Weekly Link Round-up

Last round-up, I told you that the washing machine had given up the ghost. This week, I get to tell you about the heat pump.

Many of you may not be familiar with heat pumps because they only work well in climates like the one here in the Sonoran Desert. Well, our heat pump's demise occurred five days after it was given a glowing clean bill of health by the company that's maintained it ever since we bought it. This led to a lot of research, phone calls, and tech visits. 

Naturally when the heat pump is installed, the cool nights we're experiencing will go away for good. Until then I'm glad I have my own personal furnace named Denis!

Washing machine. Heat pump. Denis and I sat in the family room and started making mental lists of everything else in the house that could go belly up-- several of which are even older than the now defunct washer and heat pump. We now have an insurance policy that-- once the thirty days are up-- will cover any other similar calamity. Ah, the life of a homeowner! 

On that note, I think I'll head on out to the link corral....

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Bookstores stoke Trump resistance with action, not just words.
• The most expensive library in the world? Book Capella has opened for the Russian elite. 
• Two of my favorite people-- Jenn McKinlay and Barbara Peters-- in one Jungle Red Writers post. 
• Science fiction can always be counted on for predictions.
• If you love comparing book covers, take a look at Fictionophile's Cover Love series. 
• When Hollywood glamor was sold at the local department store.
• What a classic 1950s Western can teach us about the Hollywood blacklist.
• A graduate student has discovered a lost novel written by Walt Whitman. 
• The cast of Jurassic World 2: Who's signed on and who's coming back. 
• Thieves have stolen £2 million of rare books by abseiling into a warehouse. 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A $100 million mystery: a Russian, his art, and his big losses. 
• Archaeologists have discovered what may be the oldest known image on Earth.
• A trove of dazzling Bronze Age weapons has been unearthed.
• George Washington didn't have wooden teeth. 
• A British police officer has lost his job because of £15,000 of gold coins he found with his metal detector.
• Iron Age potters carefully recorded the Earth's magnetic field...by accident. 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• A Siberian resort has built an "ice library of dreams." 
• Surprising levels of pollution have been found in the most remote location on the planet. 
• Twenty incredible landmarks you've never heard of. 
• Astronomers have discovered sixty new worlds...and a "super Earth." 
• Thirty vintage photos of grocery stores that are fascinating. 
• We thought New Zealand was an island nation. Scientists say it's the tip of a hidden continent. 
• Behold a vintage map of Yosemite National Park.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Eleven things the Game of Thrones books can teach us about politics. 
• Medieval shelfies. 
• Thirteen movie sets that were actually miniature models.  
• The top 200 most influential authors in 2017. 
• Strand Magazine's top ten breakout crime novels of the last thirty years. 
• Twenty-four pieces of bookshelf porn.
• Ten libraries with gardens. 

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!