It Was a Very Long 3½ Days Weekly Link Round-Up

My first superficial keratectomy went well, and my eye doctor was very happy with how things were progressing when I went in for my post-op appointment. I go back in at the end of September to get the final verdict and to schedule the second one. I used to say that I wish I had more eyes so I could read more books simultaneously, but now that I'm facing all these procedures, I'm glad I only have two!

The keratectomy itself was a breeze. The hard part was the three and a half days that followed. No computer. No knitting. NO BOOKS. The last time I didn't read for three days, I had a perfectly legitimate excuse: I didn't know how to read! There were times this past week when I felt as though I were going stir crazy. For those of you who automatically think "audiobooks" in a case like mine, there will be a future post entitled "My Brain on Audiobooks." I also discovered that watching and/or listening to TV for hours on end doesn't do much for my equilibrium either.

I didn't miss the computer a bit, but I knew I wouldn't. This was merely the first time that I didn't burn the candle at both ends in an attempt to have blog posts scheduled every day. In a way, I wish I had because now I have to try to catch up on reviews, and that's never fun (especially when one eye is having trouble focusing). Oh! And I just remembered that Denis and I will be attending The Poisoned Pen's Rebusfest this weekend, so posts won't be back to normal until the following week. But enough of me and my eyeball-- let's get to these links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Ikea is building reading rooms where you can take books home for free.
• The hardboiled crime fiction of Central Asia.
• Borges, Bioy Casares and the dawn of Argentine mystery.
• Mary Higgins Clark warned Becca Schuh to fear men, but she didn't listen.
• Shirley Jackson's classic story The Lottery gets its first feature film treatment.
• Guess the book titles using only emoji.
• Breaking up the boys club: On women in rare books.
• How World War I gave rise to the traditional mystery.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• An ancient lake holds secrets to the Mayan civilization's mysterious collapse.
• A small-town couple left behind a stolen painting worth over $100 million... and a big mystery.
• A new Virginia monument will pay tribute to hundreds of historic women.
• The mysterious bronze objects that have baffled archaeologists for centuries.
• Leonardo da Vinci's only painting in the Americas can be found in D.C.-- and it arrived here in a suitcase.
• The greatest signed baseball ever sold for a record amount.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Fifty collective nouns for your favorite groups of animals. 
• Plains bison are roaming free in Banff National Park for the first time in decades.
• An Australian city beats dengue fever by using special mosquitoes.
• Why island birds have bigger brains than their mainland counterparts.
• Why the ocean needs wilderness.
• Birds can learn "foreign" languages to stay safe.
• Why small dogs go above and beyond to mark their territory.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Thirteen literary writers who have adapted other people's books for the screen.
• Eleven ways to get creative with books on Instagram.
• Eleven tips for dealing with book snobs because no one has time for judgmental people. (Be glad they're reading, for crying out loud!)
• Fictional houses in novels that jump off the page. 
• Female mystery authors who lived interesting lives themselves.
• Five books set in small English villages.
• Eleven new yellow book covers that just might give millennial pink books a run for their money. (Hmmm... I've been told that yellow was one color that should not be the predominant one on covers because it fades.)
• A tour of the grandest buildings in literature.

That's it 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!