A Kindle Callus Weekly Link Round-Up

Another series of storms have worked their way through the Phoenix area this week, and I'm grateful for every drop of rain the state has gotten. Of course, some plants have gone overboard with their celebrations. The sumac trees, for instance, are so burdened with pollen that it's a miracle they can stand upright. I'll be thrilled when they stop trying to reproduce because each time I go outside, I inhale enough to make my face swell, my scalp itch, and my breathing begin to labor. Allergy tablets are taking care of the worst of it, and I figure it's just a matter of waiting out Mother Nature. I do get tired of feeling as though I'm trying to communicate with the rest of the world through a tin can and a piece of string, though. Ah well.

I've been wavering over treating myself to a piece of artwork. So far I've exercised restraint. I haven't purchased anything to hang on the walls full-time since the 1980s. Decisions, decisions.

And while I've been wavering about that, I started doing some prep work for a future blog post that involved taking photos of my beat-up hands. They weren't pretty to begin with, and I've been very unkind to them ever since. Anyway, I looked at my right hand and noticed a shiny new callus that's formed on the first knuckle of my right index finger. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I was getting a callus there until I stretched out to read a book that afternoon.

In the photo, you can see how I normally hold my Kindle while I'm reading. (Yes, I've got a lovely cover for it in a filled bookshelves pattern.) For me, this is a secure grip that I can keep even when I nod off-- not that I ever do much of that, ahem-- and my thumb is right there to tap the edge of the screen to advance to the next page. The first knuckle of my right index finger rubs against the Kindle cover exactly where the callus is forming. It's a Kindle Callus. Whatever next? *rolling eyes*

Time for me to stop tapping the keyboard and mosey on out to the corral. I hope you enjoy this week's links. Head 'em up! Moooove 'em out!

 ►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Meet the book club that's helping to quickly vaccinate its town.
• The spellbinding history of cheese and witchcraft.
• Why do books have prices printed on them?
• Budweiser cancelled its Super Bowl ad and donated the money to fight COVID anti-vaxxers.
• Why the names of British locations often sound different from the way they are spelled.
• How the internet is transforming the novel.
• The closure of an iconic Paris bookshop alarms French bibliophiles.
• Arsène Lupin: Everything you need to know about turn-of-the-century-France's beloved, detection-prone gentleman thief. (I've got to get back to watching the series on Netflix...)
• A geologist found a rare formation inside rock that looks exactly like the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street.  
• A boy who bonded with Biden over stuttering will write a children's book.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Medieval Britons' remains record the "skeletal trauma" inflicted by inequality.
• A massive Anglo-Saxon cemetery and treasure unearthed in England.
• A trove of "ancient treasures" has been found in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece.
• Ten archaeological mysteries of the United States.
• Treasure hunters in the UK and France are preparing to seek the key to the $900,000 golden casket of the Entente Cordiale.
• The greatest archaeological looter has finally been caught.
• In Mexico, archaeologists reveal a story of cannibalism and conquest.
• Archaeologists unearth an Egyptian queen's tomb and a 13-foot Book of the Dead scroll.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• The pandemic reveals the ecological benefits of tourists in one seaside town.
• Watch a puppy ride a Roomba back to its base.
• First Dogs Champ and Major have officially moved into the White House.
• Salmon are spawning for the first time in eighty years in the Upper Columbia River.
• A loyal dog waited for six days outside the hospital for her sick owner.
• Spotted and oddly striped zebras may be a warning for the species' future.
• A Rwandan genocide survivor finds peace in taking humorous photos of squirrels and other small wildlife.
• The reason your cat loves to sit on your computer keyboard.

 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The world's last Blockbuster Video.
• Warsaw: Eastern Europe's capital of crime fiction.
• A beautiful 18th-century boathouse goes up for sale on the Isle of Skye. I've seen it and wished we could have afforded to stay there on one of our trips to Scotland.
• 16th-century Coupland Castle is for sale in Northumberland England.
• Jane Austen's Chawton home wins a $120,000 grant for "urgent repairs."
• Led Zeppelin wrote some of their most iconic songs in Bron-Yr-Aur in Wales. 
• There's a website that lets you add Bernie Sanders sitting at the inauguration to any location on Google Maps. (And I love what Bernie did with his internet fame.)
• The house where Lizzie Borden's family was murdered is up for sale.
  

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Eugene Bullard, the world's first Black fighter pilot.
• Quinto Tiberio Angelerio, the 16th-century doctor who mandated 6-foot social distancing.
• An all-female team delivers COVID-19 vaccines by snowmobile in the harshest of conditions in rural Alaska.
• Maya Angelou is the latest addition to Barbie's "Inspiring Women" line. 
• 800 California inmates gave their prison wages to send a kid they'd never met to college.
  
• Wild Women of the West: the Harvey Girls.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Eight of history's strangest taxes.
• Millennial cozies: a new generation discovers the joys of the cozy mystery.
• Eight historical methods of detecting pregnancy.
• Love Bridgerton? The best historical novels to escape into another world.
• Ten dual timeline novels with plots you'll be desperate to unravel.
• Five World War II-Era novels featuring brave women who persevere.
• Ten books about iconic women to celebrate the first female vice president.
• Six perfectly alluring academic mysteries.

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!