I've got to get myself in gear and finish putting up my Christmas decorations. I've gone from Christmas Max to Christmas Lite, but in a way, I'm preferring this Lite version. In the Max edition, I pretty much put up the same things in the same way from year to year, but in the Lite version, I'm really enjoying changing things up. Even though I've downsized a great deal on how much Christmas stuff I have, I've still got plenty to "rotate stock" and to use old standbys in new ways. The only thing is... once I start thinking up new ways to decorate, it's almost impossible to shut off my brain. I really think I should have been a year-round Christmas decorator.
In other news, we have our new shower stall in the main bathroom, and every time I look at it, I feel as though it was stolen from some swanky hotel. Let me show you a photo before turning you loose on the links.
As you can tell, Denis took this photo before the shower doors were in place; otherwise, you never would have gotten such a good view of the interior. Ain't it pretty?
Enjoy the links!
►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
- Cain's Jawbone: TikTok helps reissued literary puzzle fly off the shelves.
- The Guardian asks: The first pandemic novels have arrived, but are we ready for them?
- Three authors share a Tucson Festival of Books distinction.
- Andrew Solomon's book was censored in China. Now it's been blacklisted in Texas.
- The Tolkien Estate has blocked "JRR Token" cryptocurrency.
- Here are the books parents want to ban in schools now.
- Why stories are like taking drugs.
- Kristen Radtke on reading as an antidote to loneliness.
- The French murder case that shocked a Francophile family into writing a detective series.
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
- Wow! A New York City woman's coffee table was discovered to be part of a dance floor from ancient Roman emperor Caligula's party yacht.
- A French and Indian war battle inside the walls of an old home.
- Ancient Amazon cliff art shows humans meeting giant Ice Age creatures. The area has been dubbed "the Sistine Chapel of the Ancients."
- For this elite team of British archaeologists, first they found a dead king's body. Now they've found an ancient mosaic.
- Archaeologists have discovered the oldest jewelry on record, and it dates back 150,000 years.
- An Israeli preteen discovered a rare silver coin minted during the Jewish revolt against Rome.
- A sketch bought at an estate sale for $30 may be a Dürer drawing worth $50 million.
- A rare first printing of the U.S. Constitution is the most expensive text ever sold at auction.
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
- Western Monarch butterflies are returning to California for the winter, and there are lots more than last year.
- The celebrity tortoise breakup that rocked the world.
- How one Native American tribe is working to restore Montana's buffalo population.
- Wildlife photographer Simon Needham is raising awareness for lion conservation with his beautiful portraits.
- A Scottish deerhound named Claire made history when she was named Best in Show at the 2021 National Dog Show.
- Bison in Canada discovered ancient petroglyphs, fulfilling an Indigenous prophecy.
- Rwandan mountain gorillas are a rare conservation success. Somewhere, Dian Fossey is smiling.
- Lobsters, crabs, and octopuses will now receive welfare protection as "sentient beings" in the UK.
►The Wanderer◄
- The Torture Orchard is a testing ground for the coming climate crisis.
- Pumpple Cake: the turducken of desserts.
- A 13th-century Scottish castle is available for the first time in 150 years.
- One of the original 2,500 libraries built by Andrew Carnegie in the early 1900s is for sale and could be yours. More photos and information from the Realtor website.
- 43 famous houses from movies and TV shows that you can actually visit.
- The Nancy the Elephant tombstone monument in Georgia.
►Fascinating Folk◄
- The "other" Lost Generation of Black American artists in Paris.
- Eadgyth, the lost Anglo-Saxon princess who was rediscovered over 1,000 years after her death.
- Julia Kabance, the oldest known woman veteran of World War II has died at the age of 111.
►I ♥ Lists◄
- The 15 top authors based on Goodreads statistics.
- Fourteen must-read holiday romance books.
- Fifteen of the best medical thrillers.
- Eight courtroom stories with complicated outcomes.
- Ten complex stories about multi-generational families.
- Eleven of the best science fiction books about first contact.
- These are the books each March sister would have loved.
- Thirteen mysteries about books and bookstores.
- Eight bridges to nowhere.
- What to read if you love Hitchcock films.
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!
Love that shower stall. Am green with envy.
ReplyDeleteAnd you could open up a Christmas shop with all of your decorations. Glad you're enjoying Christmas-lite decorating.
I'm really enjoying it now that I'm done! *laughing*
DeleteMaybe your fan base could all fly in to take a shower in that beautiful room. (Yes, it's like a room.)
DeleteOh, that shower is gorgeous, Cathy! I'm so glad it's done - it must be so nice to have it. And I don't blame you for downsizing the decorating; it allows you more flexibility (which is fun) and you don't have to do as much work. Thanks for the links, too! I have a lot to choose from this time. I want to see that cliff art. But that mosaic sounds irresistible!
ReplyDeleteI spend a lot less time on it, but that still meant six hours and an entire afternoon.
DeleteI have been doing Christmas lite the past 2 years and it has been both bittersweet and freeing. This year, I made sure I found all my favorites first! Snow today, not working--perfect day to read!
ReplyDeleteI've really been having fun playing around with new combinations of decorations.
DeleteThe shower stall looks really nice! What a relief to have it done. Enjoy your Christmas decorating!
ReplyDeleteDenis and I have sworn off any more remodeling projects for the foreseeable future. For one thing... we have to get these paid for first!
DeleteThe new shower looks really nice, Cathy. Congrats. We're done here with the new flooring with the exception of the baseboards replacement and painting...scheduled now for early January.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering where all the "pandemic books" were hiding, but that Guardian link shows that here they come...not sure if I'm ready for them or not. May be a little to close to current reality yet. The only one I've read is Louise Erdrich's The Sentence, and as much as I liked that one, I still found myself wanting to escape from its pages a little more often than normal, I think. But seeing how future readers are going to learn about our pandemic via today's novels is certainly going to be interesting, so bring it on.
The only "pandemic novel" that I've read is Michael Connelly's The Dark Hours, and I really enjoyed how he incorporated it into his story.
DeleteYes, another vote for The Dark Hours and Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch. So glad Connelly is featuring Renee Ballard.
ReplyDelete