An Arizona Autumn Weekly Link Round-Up

A lot of folks don't like southern Arizona because they think there aren't four distinct seasons. There are; you just have to know where to look. When you're in the southern part of this state, you usually have to be at elevation to find the distinct signs of season change. There's nothing like a thousand feet here and there to bring about the changes most people are used to.

I remember the first time I traveled through Cochise County in the southeastern corner of Arizona (a county that's larger than some states). It was autumn. The spine of the Dragoon Mountains was jagged and sharp in the clear air, and I was looking out over tall spires of yucca plants, huge agaves, and more mesquite and creosote bushes than I'd ever know what to do with... until I came up over a rise.

Now... it's usually easy to tell where there's water in this state because all of a sudden a brilliant green ribbon will appear seemingly out of nowhere. But at this time of year, I saw gold. When I drove up over that rise, the winding ribbon of the San Pedro River was laid out in bold strokes of gold. Much like the photo above, only all the trees had turned, not just most of them. I rank it as one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen, and when I think of autumn, that's usually what pops into my mind's eye first. I may not care much for autumn, but it can be beautiful.

Now it's time to head on out to the corral to get those links ready for you all. Head 'em up! Moooooooooove 'em out!

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Danielle Steel's desk is unlike anything you've ever seen. 
• #ProjectLiteracy's bedtime story with Idris Elba. Love his voice! 
• Amazon defends deleting one-star reviews of Hillary Clinton's new book. (#1-- read the book first!) 
• Why books and reading are more important than ever. 
• "Spinster" and "Bachelor" were, until 2005, official terms for single people. 
• A Spanish crime novelist who killed two people and cut up one of the bodies "was acting out his own novel's plot." Yes, truth is stranger than fiction....
• And it gets stranger: There was a real-life drama recently as police found an actual dead body on the set of the new BBC serial killer thriller Rellik.
• When Chicago was the real literary capital of the United States. 
• Accessing Africa through science fiction.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• The royal tomb of an ancient Mayan ruler has been found in Guatemala. 
• A colossal dinosaur-eating crocodile has been discovered in Texas.
• A canoe unearthed by Hurrican Irma could be hundreds of years old. 
• Rare Roman cavalry swords and toys have been unearthed along Hadrian's Wall. 
• At an army base in Kansas, there's a secret collection of incredible finds. 
• A mass grave filled with ancient Roman skeletons has archaeologists baffled in Turkey.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Dian Fossey's life with gorillas is revealed in a rarely seen film.
• Summer in the Heartsick Mountains when talk turns to fireflies. 
• The stunning underwater picture this photographer wishes "didn't exist." (I agree with him.) .
• This tiny transparent fish could possibly save your life.
• Long thought extinct, the Javan tiger may have been spotted in Indonesia.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The National Parks face a looming existential crisis. 
• The top ten places to see autumn leaves. 
• The best bars in New York City where you can read in peace. 
• A photographer has reconstructed a 1,400-mile route along the Underground Railroad.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Three things to know about Francesca Caccini, the Renaissance musical genius you've never heard of. 
• Hans Christian Andersen was a terrible houseguest, according to letters written by Charles Dickens. 
• Stanislav Petrov, the "man who saved the world," has died at the age of 77.

►I ♥ Lists◄

•  Top ten contemporary short stories.
•  Seven writers who were also editors (and the books they edited).
• In honor of the book's thirtieth birthday, here are 75 covers of Toni Morrison's Beloved from around the world. 
• A video showing literary home decor ideas from eight famous writers’ bedrooms. 
• Found: thirty lost English words that may deserve a comeback.

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!

The Western Star by Craig Johnson

First Line: I pressed in on the knurled end of my Colt 1911A1 with my thumb at the same time rotating the barrel bushing a quarter turn clockwise to free the plug and recoil assembly, my hands working from rote.

Sheriff Walt Longmire is in Cheyenne, Wyoming ostensibly for his weapons recertification, but the real reason why he's there is for the upcoming parole board hearing for a man Walt put in prison many years ago. When he goes out for a beer, a younger sheriff asks him about a picture hanging on the wall. A photograph of twenty-four veteran sheriffs and brand-new deputy Walt Longmire, all armed and standing in front of a Challenger steam locomotive.

That photograph-- and that parole board hearing-- are the catalysts for Walt's past and present to collide head-on. This is a trip that has only one stop: Revenge.

Before I wax poetic about the latest mystery from my favorite writer, I want to warn you about two things. One, if you hate cliffhangers, you're going to hate the fact that The Western Star has one that's going to make your jaw drop. Even I wanted to shake my fist in Johnson's face just a little bit. Fortunately, I tend to be even-tempered about dangling storylines. 

What's the second thing I want to warn you about? If you happen to be readers who judge each Longmire novel on how often your favorite characters appear, you may-- or may not-- be happy with The Western Star. This book is 95% Walt and Lucian and 5% Cady, Henry, and Vic. Me? I go where the writer takes me and see how I feel about it when that last page is turned.

His previous novel, An Obvious Fact, had large stretches of humor that kept me laughing, but The Western Star is quite somber. This fits the tone of both storylines. Yes, there are two storylines in this book, and readers travel between fresh-from-Vietnam, brand-new deputy Walt Longmire on the train with Lucian and all those other sheriffs and the Walt Longmire of the present day. Don't worry, it's not confusing; the chapters are clearly marked so we can all keep track of what year we're in. (Sometimes I need all the help I can get.)

Craig Johnson always seems to be able to surprise me. Yes, Walt is Walt, and a character tells him one of the things that makes him so special: [With all you've done], "you've preserved your humanity."  But there are the other surprises, like that cliffhanger, and my being blindsided by whodunit when Johnson gives us clues all along the way. And what about all those scenes where Walt is simply being Grandpa to Lola. Watching this big man feed his tiny granddaughter, talk to her, and just sit quietly with her asleep on his chest can melt your heart.

The Western Star is tricky and action-packed, and it does have homages to both Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express) and John Wayne (Big Jake), but one of the sobering thoughts brought up in its pages is one we long-time Longmire lovers don't want to think about. Walt is, though-- retirement. He's been putting away bad guys for a long, long time, he's tired, and when he holds Lola, the end of the trail is looking mighty fine. This next book is shaping up to be very interesting indeed, and I'm going to be among the first to grab a copy.  
 

The Western Star by Craig Johnson

ISBN: 9780525426950

Viking © 2017

Hardcover, 304 pages

Police Procedural, #13 Walt Longmire mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.


 

They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush by JoAnn Levy

First Line: In 1849 some 25,000 people crossed half a continent to look for gold.

For the 49ers who feverishly crossed land and sea to make their way to the California gold fields, "seeing the elephant" symbolized the exotic, the mythical, the once-in-a-lifetime adventure. In They Saw the Elephant, JoAnn Levy tells us about the women who made this incredible journey.

When Levy first began to do research, some numbers just didn't add up. Men who wrote about the California Gold Rush of 1849 were quick to say that those racing to the gold fields were almost all exclusively male, but statistics and the historical record do not bear that out. Levy kept looking, thinking that someone, somewhere, had to have written a history of the women of the Gold Rush, and although she found books about Australians, Chileans, blacks, Irish, French, and other national and ethnic groups represented among the 49ers, there was not a single book about the women. 

In They Saw the Elephant, Levy tells us how the women traveled to California, what they did when they got there, and for several of them, their stories are told all the way to the ends of their lives. I have read a few books about women in the Old West (including the period and setting of the Gold Rush), and I'm happy to say that Levy doesn't travel over old ground; Lotta Crabtree and Lola Montez are the only "repeats" in the long and varied list of women she tells readers about. That was much appreciated.

I am fortunate to live in a time when so many women's stories are finally being told. Many of the female 49ers were every bit as strong, inventive, and colorful as their male counterparts, and thanks to JoAnn Levy, I now know more about them and will continue to learn with the bibliography she provides in her book. 
 

They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush by JoAnn Levy

ISBN: 9780806124735

University of Oklahoma Press © 1992

Paperback, 288 pages

Non-Fiction

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap

October 2017 New Mystery Releases!

For the month of October, my eyes were almost bigger than my stomach, at least when it comes to reading. So many good new books. So many available advance reading copies. Yikes! But I remember the year in which I burned out on those advance reading copies. I promise publishers and authors to have my reviews of their particular books up either on the day of their release or within the following two days.  If I accept too many of these, it's like having a tall pile of assigned reading, and that can make me grumpy. Reading isn't nearly as much fun when you have to do it in a certain order and with deadlines.

No grumps are allowed here, so I'm going to get right down to it. The following books are my picks of the new crime fiction being released throughout the month of October. They are grouped according to their release dates, and I hope that you'll be able to find a title or two (or three) that tickle your fancy. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Now-- let's get this show on the road!

=== October 3 ===

Title: Old Scores

Author: Will Thomas

Series: #9 in the Barker& Llewelyn historical series set in 1890 London.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "In 1890, the first Japanese diplomatic delegation arrives in London to open an embassy. Cyrus Barker, private enquiry agent and occasional agent for the Foreign Service Office, is enlisted to display his personal Japanese garden to the visiting dignitaries.

Later that night, Ambassador Toda is shot and killed in his office and Cyrus Barker is discovered across the street, watching the very same office, in possession of a revolver with one spent cartridge.

Arrested by the Special Branch for the crime, Barker is vigorously interrogated and finally released due to the intervention of his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, and his solicitor. With the London constabulary still convinced of his guilt, Barker is hired by the new Japanese ambassador to find the real murderer.

In a case that takes leads Barker and Llewelyn deep into parts of London's underworld, on paths that lead deep into Barker's own mysterious personal history, Old Scores is the finest yet in Will Thomas's critically acclaimed series."

Title: The Deep Dark Descending

Author: Allen Eskens

Series: #4 in the Max Rupert police procedural series set in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

285 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife’s death, even when he believed that a reckless hit-and-run driver was to blame. Haunted by memories both beautiful and painful, he is plagued by feelings of unfinished business. When Max learns that, in fact, Jenni was murdered, he must come to terms with this new information—and determine what to do with it.

Struggling to balance his impulses as a vengeful husband with his obligations as a law enforcement officer, Max devotes himself to relentlessly hunting down those responsible. For most of his life, he has thought of himself as a decent man. But now he’s so consumed with anguish and thoughts of retribution that he finds himself on the edge, questioning who he is and what he stands for.

On a frozen lake at the US–Canadian border, he wrestles with decisions that could change his life forever, as his rage threatens to turn him into the kind of person he has spent his entire career bringing to justice." 

Title: Hidden Scars

Author: Mark de Castrique

Series: #6 in the Sam Blackman private investigator series set in Asheville, North Carolina.

256 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "When Asheville, NC, private eyes Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson are asked by an eighty-year-old client to investigate the suspicious death of her brother, they warn her there is little chance of success. Paul Weaver died nearly seventy years earlier. The only documentation she has is the sole surviving copy of a coroner's report stating his death was caused by an accidental fall while hiking.

There's a red flag: local son Weaver knew every inch of the mountain trails. The returning World War II veteran had enrolled at Black Mountain College, a liberal local school with an international reputation for innovation, thanks to its stellar faculty and advisers like Buckminster Fuller and Albert Einstein. The college of the 1940s is currently being portrayed in a film being shot on the site of its former location. The plot is based on a book by a local author. The research behind both may provide a lead in the Weaver case.

One is drawn from movie crew member Harlan Beale, an octogenarian mountaineer who knew Weaver. In a late-night voice message, Beale tells Sam he's found something to show him. Then Beale is discovered dead in the Black Mountain College Museum. His murder turns the cold case white hot. When a second killing follows, the question becomes how to separate dark doings in the present from dark days and hidden scars of the post-war past. In typical de Castrique fashion, the answers aren't what you expect.

No-nonsense Nakayla and veteran Sam with his prosthetic leg love their investigations which always carry a thread from the past, and love each other. An interracial couple in the South, even the new South around Asheville, they've surrounded themselves with a terrific support team including an unorthodox lawyer and a veteran cop, and use humor both to bind them all together and to deflect insults. Plus, it helps deal with the tragedies their work uncovers."

=== October 8 ===

Title: Weycombe

Author: G.M. Malliet

Literary Mystery, Standalone, set in the county of Surrey, England in the present day.

360 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Living in the gated, wealthy village of Weycombe with her titled English husband is a fantasy come true for American Jillian White. But the murder of a local estate agent mars the so-pretty surface of her life and home. Worried about a killer on the loose, Jill tries to piece together clues hidden in the many versions of truth she hears from her suspicious neighbors. As Jill plunges deep into the investigation, her own suspicions grow into a warped web of lies and treachery.

From award-winning author G.M. Malliet comes a gripping psychological tale of murder and deception in which few can be trusted and nothing is as perfect as it seems."

Title: The Question of the Absentee Father

Author: Jeff Cohen AKA E.J. Copperman

Series: #4 in the Asperger's Mystery cozy series set in New Jersey and California.

288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Samuel Hoenig, proprietor of a business called Questions Answered, doesn't have strong feelings about his estranged father. After all, you can't miss what you never had. But when Samuel's mother receives an enigmatic letter and asks him where his father lives, Samuel is duty bound to provide an answer.

Unfortunately, answering this question means taking a trip to Los Angeles with his associate, Ms. Washburn. The personality traits of Asperger's Syndrome make flying across the country a major challenge for Samuel. Little does he know that as troubling as flying is, it's nothing compared to the danger they'll face when they land."

Title: Hunting the Five Point Killer

Author: C.M. Wendelboe

Series: #1 in the Bitter Wind mysteries featuring former Denver homicide detective Arn Anderson and set in Wyoming in the present day.

432 pages

Synopsis: "Retired detective Arn Anderson never thought he’d be broke enough to take on a cold murder case. Or desperate enough to team up with a TV reporter. Or pathetic enough to go back to his rundown childhood home after he swore he’d left Cheyenne for good. But here he is, hunting a serial killer who also appears to have come out of retirement. On the anniversary of the Five Point Killer’s crimes, Arn’s only option is to survive the carnage of a murderer who may be too twisted―and too brilliant―to catch."

=== October 10 ===

Title: Nail's Crossing

Author: Kris Lackey

Series: #1 in the Maytubby/Bond police procedural series set in Oklahoma.

185 pages

Synopsis: "This debut mystery from a fresh voice in Southwestern fiction stakes out the common ground between Tony Hillerman, Elmore Leonard, and Cormac McCarthy.

In a remote corner of the Chickasaw Nation, tribal Lighthorse policeman Bill Maytubby and county deputy Hannah Bond discover the buzzard-ravaged body of Majesty Tate, a young drifter with a blank past. They comb Oklahoma's rock prairie, river bottoms, and hard-bitten small towns for traces of her last days.

Tate was seen dancing with Austin Love, a violent local meth dealer fresh out of prison. An Oklahoma City motel clerk connects her with an aspiring politician. An oil-patch roustabout and a shady itinerant preacher provide dubious leads. Ne'er-do-wells start dying off.

A fluke lead propels Maytubby deep into Louisiana's bayou country, where a Cajun shrimper puts him on the scent of a bizarre conspiracy. He and Bond reunite in the Chickasaw Nation for the eventual face-off at Nail's Crossing."

=== October 17 ===

Title: Righteous

Author: Joe Ide

Series: #2 in the Isaiah Quintabe private investigator series set in Los Angeles.

336 pages

Synopsis: "For ten years, something has gnawed at Isaiah Quintabe's gut and kept him up nights, boiling with anger and thoughts of revenge. Ten years ago, when Isaiah was just a boy, his brother was killed by an unknown assailant. The search for the killer sent Isaiah plunging into despair and nearly destroyed his life. Even with a flourishing career, a new dog, and near-iconic status as a PI in his hometown, East Long Beach, he has to begin the hunt again-or lose his mind.

A case takes him and his volatile, dubious sidekick, Dodson, to Vegas, where Chinese gangsters and a terrifying seven-foot loan shark are stalking a DJ and her screwball boyfriend. If Isaiah doesn't find the two first, they'll be murdered. Awaiting the outcome is the love of IQ's life: fail, and he'll lose her. Isaiah's quest is fraught with treachery, menace, and startling twists, and it will lead him to the mastermind behind his brother's death, Isaiah's own sinister Moriarty."

=== October 24 ===

Title: Dying to Live

Author: Michael Stanley

Series: #6 in the Detective Kubu police procedural series set in Botswana.

336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Michael Stanley's Dying to Live is the sixth crime novel to feature the humble and endearing Detective Kubu, set against the richly beautiful backdrop of Botswana.

"A fantastic read. Brilliant!" -Louise Penny, New York Times bestselling author of The Long Way Home

A Bushman is discovered dead near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Africa. Although the man looks old enough to have died of natural causes, the police suspect foul play, and the body is sent to Gaborone for an autopsy. Pathologist Ian MacGregor confirms the cause of death as a broken neck, but is greatly puzzled by the man’s physiology. Although he’s obviously very old, his internal organs look remarkably young. He calls in Assistant Superintendent David “Kubu” Bengu. When the Bushman’s corpse is stolen from the morgue, suddenly the case takes on a new dimension."

Title: The Usual Santas

Authors: A wonderful group of writers published by Soho Press

Short Story Collection

416 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Finally: the perfect stocking stuffer for the crime fiction lover in your life! With a foreword by CWA Diamond Award-winner Peter Lovesey, these eighteen delightful holiday stories by your favorite Soho Crime authors contain laughs, murders, and plenty more.

This captivating collection, which features bestselling and award-winning authors, contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season.

Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes’s one-time nemesis Irene Adler finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough’s stolen diamonds. These and other adventures in this delectable volume will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe, from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana.

Includes Stories By (In Order of Appearance):
Helene Tursten, Mick Herron, Martin Limón, Timothy Hallinan, Teresa Dovalpage, Mette Ivie Harrison, Colin Cotterill, Ed Lin, Stuart Neville, Tod Goldberg, Henry Chang, James R. Benn, Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis, Sujata Massey, Gary Corby, Cara Black, Stephanie Barron and a Foreword and story by Peter Lovesey."

=== October 31 ===

Title: The Secret, Book & Scone Society

Author: Ellery Adams

Series: #1 in the Nora Pennington cozy series set in North Carolina.

304 pages

Synopsis: "Miracle Springs, North Carolina, is a place of healing. Strangers flock here hoping the natural hot springs, five-star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills. If none of that works, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked “comfort” scone from the Gingerbread House bakery, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book. That’s Nora’s special talent—prescribing the perfect novel to ease a person’s deepest pain and lighten their heaviest burden.

When a visiting businessman reaches out to Nora for guidance, she knows exactly which novels will help. But before he can keep their appointment at Miracle Books, he’s found dead on the train tracks.

Stunned, Nora forms the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, a group of damaged souls yearning to gain trust and earn redemption by helping others. To join the society, members must divulge their darkest secret—the terrible truth that brought each of them to Miracle Springs in the first place.

Determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman’s demise, the women meet in Nora’s cramped and cozy bookstore to share stories and trade support. And as they untangle a web of corruption, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge—proving it’s never too late to turn the page and start over . . ."

Title: Thread the Halls

Author: Lea Wait

Series: #6 in the Mainely Needlepoint cozy series set in Maine.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "This Yuletide season, there's no time for Angie Curtis and Patrick West to linger under the mistletoe. Patrick's being needled by his mother—movie star Skye West—to set the stage for a perfect white Christmas as she brings her costar, screenwriters, and director home for the holidays. With his mother's long list of wishes, Patrick's becoming unraveled. To help, the Mainely Needlepointers offer to decorate Skye's Victorian mansion and create needlepoint pillows as gifts for the guests.

But not long after the celebrity celebrants invade Haven Harbor, an unscripted tragedy occurs. Then some questionable Christmas cookies make Patrick sick. Before Santa arrives at the town pier on a lobster boat, Angie and the Needlepointers need to trim down the naughty list, catch a cold-hearted killer, and wrap up the case . . ."

A strong batch of new books for the month of October, isn't it? There's even a couple of titles to get us ready for Christmas. Which books did you add to your own wish lists? Inquiring minds would love to know!

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber

First Line: They say when you believe you're about to die your entire life passes before your eyes in a flurry of poignant images, but all I could think of, rather absurdly, was that I should have worn the blue hat.

When Verity Kent receives an invitation to the engagement party of one of her deceased husband's friends, she almost doesn't accept. Only the cryptic letter she receives changes her mind. The writer suggests that Sidney Kent may have committed treason before his death during the final months of World War I, which would be laughable if not for the fact that the person also knows that Verity's war work was for the Secret Service. This engagement party being held on an island off the southern coast of England is gathering together all of her husband Sidney's surviving friends. It's Verity's best chance of learning the truth. She just hopes against hope that the truth she learns isn't that she never really knew her husband at all.

Modeled after Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Anna Lee Huber's This Side of Murder gives a pitch perfect portrayal of life in England immediately following the First World War. Once I began reading and took note of the similarities between the two books, I thought to myself, "If [a certain something] happens, I'm out of here." It didn't because Huber's book is not a slavish copy of Christie's. 

First off, let me just say that I want Verity Kent's Pierce-Arrow. I love those cars! Huber's main character is an interesting one. Like the women of Bletchley Park, Kent had to sign the Official Secrets Act. She cannot speak of what she did during the war. The death of her husband hit her quite hard, and she's felt at loose ends for well over a year. She's tried going to lots of parties, drinking to excess, casual flirtations (antidotes that thousands of others tried throughout the Roaring Twenties), but nothing seems to work. Trying to learn the truth about Sidney seems to be the catalyst that's going to pull her back from the brink. 

I like the fact that Verity isn't the female version of Dudley Do-Right. She knows more than most women about the horrors of war, and she's suffered loss, too. But she hasn't exactly kept a stiff upper lip and become married to her widow's weeds. She wants to feel better. She wants to get on with her life. She's just not quite certain of how to go about it. This frailty bodes well for the series. Speaking of the series, the pace is slow for This Side of Murder, but that's mostly due to Huber's setting up her cast of characters and future books. The plot of this book has quite a few twists and turns-- as it should when one keeps in mind the book it's modeled after-- so it's best not to speak of it to avoid giving anything away. 

All in all, if I can't have Verity's spiffing Pierce-Arrow, I can have the next best thing: the second book in the series, please!
 

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber

eISBN:  9781496713162

Kensington Books © 2017

eBook, 304 pages

Historical Mystery, #1 Verity Kent mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

My List of Favorite Bridges to Cross

You never can tell what will set off a round of Top Ten List making for me, especially since I decided that they didn't all have to be about books. 

This time someone on TV said, "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," and off to the races I went. 

My mother hated bridges, and if she ever made up a list of them, it would be of the ones she most hated to cross. I think I didn't inherit that dislike. Well... if I were ever to get on a bridge that goes on world without end amen with no land in sight, I might start feeling a mite antsy, but I haven't. 

This week, I'm going to share my favorites of the bridges that I have crossed. I'm going to list them in order of when they were crossed, and the captions under most of them will lead you to more information about the bridge if you're interested. Naturally you can click on the photos to see them in more detail. The first bridge on my list has lingered in my mind for a long time. Let's start with it.

A wooden single-lane country bridge, Illinois.

If anyone in my family ever took a photo of the bridge southwest of the little farm town where I grew up, I couldn't find it. This photo comes remarkably close. The bridge back home was old, it was wooden, it was single lane. There were no guard rails. It was narrower than the bridge in the photo, and as Grampa drove his pickup across it, the boards would rumble and pop. The bridge went through some woods and crossed Flat Branch Creek. In summer, it was like going through a humid, green, mosquito-infested tunnel.  

One winter Grampa took me for a ride in his pickup to take a look at how bad the flooding was out in the country. It was bad. So bad that you couldn't see this bridge at all when Grampa drove us over it. I still remember the wrath visited upon his head when we got home and my grandmother found out what he'd done. (My grandmother was doing such a good job that Mom didn't have to contribute a word.) Hopefully that bridge has been replaced by now!

Thompson Mill Covered Bridge, Illinois.

The Thompson Mill Covered Bridge is a few miles from the farm town in which I grew up. It was built in 1868 and crosses the Kaskaskia River. The first time I visited this bridge, I was quite young, and even then it was blocked off so you couldn't drive across it. My grandparents and I walked across it, and it gave me the creeps. I've never really understood how covered bridges came to be thought of as romantic. I know Mom didn't think they were; she stayed by the car the whole time we were there!

Golden Gate Bridge, California.

The first time I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, I was two, so I don't remember it. The next time, I was ten and on our family's great cross-country adventure. I don't know which was cooler: going across the Golden Gate or traversing the roller coaster series of hills in San Francisco to get to the bridge!

Coronado Bridge, California.

The Coronado Bridge in San Diego, California is also one that I've crossed a few times. Crossing #1 was on my first visit, and it was my first experience of a bridge with a very steep approach. On my way back to the hotel, a rather large U.S. Navy ship was going underneath, and that steep approach suddenly made all the sense in the world.

Hampton Roads Bridge and Tunnel, Virginia.

As a "honeymoon trip," Denis and I flew back to Virginia to help one of his friends move to El Paso, Texas, but before Denis and I had to climb aboard the big yellow Penske truck to drive their furniture cross country, we had time to explore. When my father was in the Navy, he was stationed at Norfolk, Virginia, and we headed over there to discover that that was not the day for visitors to be shown around the base. On our way back, we crossed the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, and I felt as though I was on Mr. Toad's wild ride. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a combination bridge and tunnel, but when you've got ships like aircraft carriers going through, engineers knew that tunnel was the only way to go (even though I don't like being underground). This bridge still makes me feel a bit nervy....

Astoria-Megler Bridge, Oregon & Washington.

Denis and I crossed this bridge while exploring the Pacific Northwest. It's another bridge with a very steep approach. In fact, as we passed multi-story apartment buildings, I was trying not to look in people's bedroom windows. Then we crossed the Columbia, one of my three favorite American rivers. All the shipping went under the tall section of the bridge, which soon went back down to a normal type bridge-- only both guardrails were lined with cormorants. I suppose the fishing must have been really good from that section!

Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Washington.

On the same trip, Denis and I also crossed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge which goes through a particularly gorgeous (and windy) part of Washington State. In the photo, you can see Mt. Rainier in the background. Not only did I love the scenery, I was smiling because I knew that we were crossing a bridge known as Galloping Gertie. Ever heard of her? 

The Forth Bridges, Scotland.

In the photo above, you see the Forth Road Bridge to the left and the Forth Rail Bridge to the right. Both cross the Firth of Forth in Edinburgh, Scotland. The rail bridge is one of the engineering wonders of the world. The first time I crossed the Forth Road Bridge, my head was in a whirl because it was a huge bridge with all this traffic going in the wrong direction. I also remember being disappointed because I was hoping to soak up some of the incredible views, but once you start driving over bridges like this one, there is no view. (In other words, Pay Attention to Your Driving!)

Skye Bridge, Scotland.

The Skye Bridge connects the Isle of Skye to the mainland of Scotland at Kyle of Lochalsh. When the wind gets really bad, the bridge is closed to traffic. (Ask me how I know this.) But that first time across, looking down at that lighthouse and out across the incredible view, was sheer magic. I remember that day as being filled with waterfalls and rainbows. A day I shall never forget. 

Tyne Bridge, England.

The Tyne Bridge is one of seven crossing the River Tyne to connect Newcastle upon Tyne to Gateshead in northeast England. On our way back from the Highlands of Scotland northwest of Inverness and on down to visit a dear friend in Durham, our route took us across this bridge, right in the heart of a busy city. It was extremely difficult to gawk at the bridge and all the buildings at the same time, but I tried my best!

Tower Bridge, England.

So many things to see in London, so many crowds! But even though my head was buzzing with everything I'd seen in the one day of sight-seeing that we had, I couldn't help being impressed by Tower Bridge and the weight of history all around me.


Yes, I did leave some bridges out. I think that's the whole point of these Top Ten lists, don't you? 

What bridges have you crossed that would make your own personal Top Ten lists? Inquiring minds would love to know!

The Rising Cost of Blogging Weekly Link Round-Up

I've been blogging for almost ten years now. I was planning to have some sort of celebration next June. Now I don't know if I will. Back in 2008, blogging was easy. I signed up at Blogger, and away I went. Then I decided that I wanted my own domain name so people could find my blog easier. That was a mere $10 a year. Nowhere close to breaking the bank.

It all started to change this year. If I believed in conspiracy theories, I'd be tempted to think that the money grubbing element in the world has it in for bloggers.

First, it was Photobucket holding large sections of my blog graphics hostage. Instead of doing what they'd been doing for free year after year, they now wanted $400 per year to do it. I tried several free places, but I could not get the coding to work on my blog, so I ponied up the $400 and chalked it up as an early annual Christmas present to myself.

Now Google has informed me that, if I don't have a security certificate, every time someone who uses Chrome as a browser is going to get some sort of "Danger, Will Robinson!" warning when they visit Kittling: Books. Used to be, hardly anyone used Chrome as a browser. Now well over 50% of folks use it. That's a lot of people getting warnings when they land on my blog. Started doing my research, and... cost of a security certificate: $400 per year. (Who decided upon $400 as the go-to gouge figure?)

I'm being held over a barrel again, and I am angry. I'm also heartsick because, if I now have to budget for these two annual fees, I know that there are going to be others. It would be different if I had a hugely popular blog that received tens of thousands of hits per day, but I don't. It would be different if I received some sort of income from Kittling: Books, but I don't. This is a labor of love, plain and simple. I'm being forced to make a decision. Do I want to keep on blogging with the ever-rising costs of it? Yes, I do, but... I'd also like to have money for other things in my life that I enjoy.

I'm going to mosey out to the corral, and get these links ready for you. I need to do some pondering and soul-searching.

Head 'em up! Mooooove 'em out!

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• How French cuisine took over the world (and the early cookbook industry). 
• The art Monet owned. (One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen is one of Monet's water lily paintings.)
• The transformation of the American shopping mall. 
• The damage from Hurricane Irma can be seen from space. 
• The roots of computer code lie in telegraph code. Makes sense when you think about it.
• Before she was an etiquette authority, Emily Post was a road warrior.
• Kayla Rae Whitaker writes about hanging out with Pennywise and her grandmother's ghost.
• Balzac tried to buy a waistcoat for every day of the year (and other revelations of Parisian fashion).

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A massive tomb holding treasure and a mysterious 3,400-year-old body has been uncovered in Greece. 
• A "fake" Tom Roberts painting which was purchased for $10,000 could sell for $400,000 after the BBC's Fake or Fortune program reveals that it's genuine. 
• A 3,500-year-old tomb has been discovered in Egypt. Here's another article about it from the Smithsonian.
• THe DNA test on a Viking skeleton has proven historians wrong. Here's another article on the subject from the Smithsonian. The historians were very wrong!
• An archaeologist says he has found the actual Mountain Meadows Massacre gravesite, and it's not on LDS-owned land.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Oysters can get herpes, and it's killing them. 
• To save Australia's ecosystem, ecologists say eat kangaroos. 
• Hemingway's six-toed cats rode out Hurricane Irma in Key West, Florida. 
• When disaster strikes, the zoo must go on.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The second novels of six great crime writers. 
• Top ten secrets in fiction. 
• Eleven writing lessons from George R.R. Martin.
• Fifteen surprising facts about Outlander. 
• The classes twenty-five famous writers teach. 
• Ten books that were written on a bet. 
• Top ten books about teaching. 
• Ten of the best travel books. 

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!