An It's Going to Be Different Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I'm weird. I've never denied it. "Organized" is probably the most common word that's been used to describe me. I don't think it's in my DNA unless it skipped several generations because I've had to go through deceased loved ones' belongings. I mean, once you find 107 single socks stuffed in all sorts of nooks and crannies, you get the impression that the person who did it wasn't particularly organized... But I'm beginning to digress. I stumbled across a series called The Home Edit on Netflix, and it's almost perfect for me. Lots of purging and categorizing and containing and labeling... *sigh* Nirvana! The two organizing gurus have me changing my terminology, too. I've always called 'em "lazy Susans" even though I wondered who on earth the original Susan was and-- just how lazy was she? On The Home Edit, they're called "turntables"-- and they even have divided ones. Be still, my heart! I now have a divided turntable in the main bathroom and made my own dividers for the one I have by my chair in the family room. Now I'm fighting the urge to buy more, more, more. Get hold of yourself, Cathy!

Now... you may have noticed that I said that this program was almost perfect for me. Why isn't it? Because if I had a dollar for every time those two gurus used the word "like," I'd be able to buy up the world's supply of divided turntables. It's gotten so bad a couple of times that I watched with the sound turned off. Have any of you ever done that? It just, like, hurts my brain! Ow!

Before I mosey out to the link corral, I just wanted to mention that the upcoming holiday season is going to be so much different from what most of us are used to, and we should start planning accordingly. That especially goes for gifting. I came across something on Facebook that I will share with you here. Some of the things on the list may not apply depending on lockdown guidelines, but many of them do. Think outside the box this year. It could really make a difference in people's lives.

Enjoy the links!

 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Explore the Roman cookbook, De Re Coquinaria, the oldest known cookbook in existence.
• The reason it's so hard to spot your own typos.
• Author Don DeLillo cut the mention of COVID-19 from his new novel, but who added it?
• What happens when literary events move online?
• Why Latino history is American history.
• Justice for the invisibles, by the invisibles: a brief history of nontraditional voices in crime fiction.
• The ancient art of harvesting fruit in the desert.
• A Johnstown, New Jersey, based literacy bank is nourishing minds worldwide through magazines.
• What Stephanie Kent learned from interviewing Indie booksellers in every state. 
• Skyhorse Publishing's house of horrors.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Found: A 1,500-year-old tomb of a Germanic lord within a circle of six women.
• Fossilized footprints found in New Mexico track a traveler with a toddler in tow.
• Thamugadi, the Roman ghost city buried in the sands for a thousand years.
• This ancient Egyptian coffin was opened for the first time in 2,600 years.
• Is this mysterious Viking Gerdrup grave the burial place of the sorceress Katla and her son Odd who are mentioined in the Icelandic Sagas? (Thanks, Margot!)
• How drones help archaeologists peer into the earth.
• This incredible 17th-century lock counted how many times it was used.
• An ancient Roman villa was discovered beneath an Italian apartment complex.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Scientists cloned an endangered wild horse using the decades-old frozen cells of a stallion.
• How humans benefit from a highway of trails created by African forest elephants.
• Two new species of semi-aquatic mice have been identified in East African rainforests.
• Blue whales sing all day when they migrate and all night when they don't.
• Wildlife suffers as Brazil's Pantanal wetland burns.
• Why it takes a DNA test to determine a panda cub's sex.
• 500,000 sharks could be killed in the race to produce a COVID-19 vaccine.
• Togo the Wonder Dog.
• Watch an orphaned baby otter chomp on ice cubes.

 

►Crafty Little Gems◄

• Guorui Chen sculpts animals and flowers from grains of rice.
• Stunning traditional double-sided, hand-embroidered Chinese silk fans with nature-inspired designs.
  

 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The romantic story of Menabilly, the real life inspiration for Manderley in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.
• You could own the house of horrors from Silence of the Lambs. Here's another article from Deadline Hollywood.
• The grave of Thomas Fletcher inspired a movement that has spanned generations and saved countless lives.
• 23 of the best 3D virtual tours of British museums, castles, churches, and stately homes.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• How Dr. Emma Brainerd-Ryder set up India's first literary society for women.
• James Richard Shinn, the rare-book thief who looted college libraries in the 1980s.
• American poet Louise Glück wins the Nobel Prize.
• Tana French has written an Irish Western.
• Betty Reid Soskin is 99... and the oldest park ranger in America.
• Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Queen Victoria's Black goddaughter.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Time Magazine's list of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time.
• Kids and thrillers and their freaky powers.
• Seven great heist novels recommended by an art dealer.
• Ten underrated Agatha Christie novels.
• Seventeen crime fiction series that use real historical figures as sleuths.
• Eight thrillers that bring an uncanny slant to the natural world.
• Six book-to-movie adaptations Book Bub contributors can't wait to watch.
• Words with lost meanings.
• Six punctuation marks hated by famous authors.
• Seven audiobooks by Indigenous authors.

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.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! And don't forget to curl up with a good book!