Everything is going well here at Casa Kittling. Denis can even feel that he's improving; he just wishes it would go faster. (I certainly can't blame him for feeling that way. I think I would've gone bananas long ago if I had to deal with what he's had to.) The monsoon, which was a flop early on in the season has finally decided to give us some rain, and everything on the property is lush and green-- and I'm loving that.
If she'd lived, today would have been my grandmother's 105th birthday. She was a complex woman who was difficult to get to know. She was shy, and most people misinterpreted that, thinking that she was stuck-up. She was a wizard with a sewing machine, and her flower garden was so beautiful strangers would stop and knock on her door to ask if they could come in and look at it all. She became interested in photography and made herself a little dark room where she would work diligently at copying old family photos. She fell in love with my grandfather when she was a teenager and never ever looked at another man. My mother and the teenage me had to tell her that the man she thought was "acting funny" was really flirting with her. Her response? "But... I'm married!"
Growing up, my grandfather and my mother were larger than life. People were drawn to them like magnets. Shy, awkward me was so busy wanting to be like them that I completely missed something that was staring me right in the face. To my shame, I never realized what it was until after my grandmother died.
I am more like my grandmother than any other family member. I inherited my premature grey hair from Irene Brookshier and so many other things. How could I have been so blind? So this link round-up is for you, Butch. It makes me smile that you loved the nickname I gave you so many years ago. How many other kids had a grandmother they called Butch?
My grandmother, Irene Brookshier, doing something she loved in Kentucky in 1991. She died two years later. |
Enjoy the links!
►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
- What happened to newspaper book reviewing?
- Book Soup, West Hollywood's storied bookstore, unionizes amid a larger organizing wave.
- Are eBooks on the decline again?
- How do algorithms help (and hinder) book sales?
- Fifty years of Half Price Books.
- Should we still study Shakespeare?
- Less credit, longer hours: illustrators' roles in graphic novels.
- This new survey shows how Americans' reading habits have changed from childhood.
- Just as important as a vacation destination: the books you read there.
- Why is World War II such a popular subject for historical fiction right now?
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
- A Granbury (Texas) mom's campaign to ban library books divided her town-- and her family.
- A district attorney in Tennessee now denies that she would prosecute librarians for keeping LGBTQ books.
- Meet the teens fighting book bans with banned book clubs.
- How to find and develop a local anti-censorship group.
- Ten-year-old Lafayette (Louisiana) resident Cora Newton installed her own Little Queer Library stocked with free LGBTQ+ and other banned books.
- A Texas school district is removing and reviewing dozens of challenged books, including the Bible and an Anne Frank adaptation.
►A Little Night Viewing◄
- Nine British books with upcoming TV adaptations.
- Fifteen must-watch British TV hidden gems on Freevee (US).
- Upcoming thriller The Killing Kind will begin filming in Bristol (UK).
- 23 of the best 3D virtual tours of British castles, museums, churches, and stately homes.
- The best underrated mystery series streaming right now.
- Keanu Reeves will star in Devil in the White City. Hulu has given a limited series order to an adaptation of the Erik Larson bestseller.
- The secretive, extravagant, bighearted world of The Rings of Power, the most expensive show ever made.
- Rediscovering a vanished species: the half-hour TV mystery.
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
- New finds in Pompeii highlight middle-class life in the doomed city.
- In Italy this summer, University of Cincinnati students uncovered an ancient city on an archaeological dig.
- Mammoth bones and "ghost" footprints add to the heated debate about the first humans in North America.
- A treasure trove of gold and jewels have been recovered from a 366-year-old shipwreck in the Bahamas.
- Archaeologists have reburied a "first-of-its-kind" Roman villa in Scarborough, England.
- Crypts and a tunnel have been discovered beneath a Knights Templar chapel in Poland.
- Twin "grumpy mouth" reliefs of Olmec contortionists have been uncovered in Mexico.
- Did a seventh-century warrior queen build the Maya's longest road?
►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄
- What's the biggest group of animals ever recorded on Earth?
- Watch a clever Guinea pig named Coco perform nineteen tricks in one minute.
- The remarkable symbiotic ecosystem that exists within the fur of the Gorgona Snake Island sloth.
- Tagged turtles are helping scientists predict cyclones.
- Meet Emmanuel, the quirky and curious emu who's taken over TikTok.
- Stingrays have been recorded making sounds for the first time, but why is still a mystery.
- Meet Kilo, the dog with a nose for keeping British Columbia free of invasive mussels.
- A member of a "monkey gang" has been executed in Japan as marauding macaques run amok.
►Fascinating Folk◄
- Researcher Maggie Hirschauer talks about her quest to learn more about Monarch butterflies in western Montana.
- Colleen Hoover, the unlikely author who's dominating the bestseller lists.
- How Smithsonian zoologist Gary Graves spent the pandemic tracking nectar-robbing orioles.
- When silence is heard: telling the stories of women during the Partition of India.
- Ten books about women written out of history.
- Seventeen-year-old Robert Sansone has designed a motor that could potentially transform the electric car industry.
- Meet Lauren Tischendorf, the first woman to make a historic swim in shark-infested waters.
- Ada Blackjack, the forgotten sole survivor of an odd Arctic expedition.
►The Wanderer◄
- Make My Drive Fun: an interactive map that plots interesting sites to see while on a road trip.
- The power of "Bears Ears" and Indigeous place names.
- Nature can affect human well-being in many more ways than you think. (Nature is in the top two of my favorite and most powerful "drugs".)
- Low water levels at Lake Mead reveal much more than human remains.
- The 25 sunniest cities in the U.S.-- and guess which one is #1!
►I ♥ Lists◄
- A list of nautical mysteries.
- Eleven time travel novels.
- Ten modern animal bookends.
- Twenty of the best book series of all time.
- Eight courtroom dramas for readers.
- Ten books about cybercrime.
- Eight cruise ship mysteries.
- Ten books set in Paris.
- Bookish backpacks for book lovers.
- Five favorite books-within-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.
Stay cool. Stay safe. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!
Happy 105th to your grandmother, Cathy. She sounds like a powerful influence on you, and I think it's interesting that she's the one you're most like as an adult. It's very good to hear Denis is continuing to make progress. It may be slow, but I'm glad it's happening. I'm off to check out that ancient Italian city, and then Pompeii - hope you have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteI hope you do, too, Margot!
DeleteCathy, I loved the story about your grandmother! And I also love that you called her 'Butch'! I called my maternal grandmother 'Candymama' because she sent me 2 cherry lifesavers in each of her letters to my mother. Don't ask me how they almost always arrived whole and not smashed to bits. Anyway, happy 105th to her and glad to hear that Denis is doing well. Take care!
ReplyDeleteNow you've got me wondering how on earth those Lifesavers arrived intact!
DeleteBoth of my grandmothers were dead before I was born and I have always felt their absence. You are lucky to have known yours.
ReplyDelete(1.) Of course we should still study Shakespeare! He's one of the founders of the English language as we know it today. (2.) In my opinion, book banners should themselves be banned. (3.) Hubby and I watch a lot of mystery series on television including most of those on the underrated list. (4.) I've been fascinated by the Maya civilization since high school and I am delighted to learn about that warrior queen. (5.) I've read eleven of those "20 best book series" and have some of the others on my TBR list. Thanks for a fascinating set of links this week.
Yes, I am very lucky to have known my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents.
DeleteI agree that banners should be banned... but doesn't that make us banners?
I've been fascinated by the Maya since I was in high school, too. I'm glad you enjoyed the links, Dorothy!
Your grandmother sounds like an amazing lady. I can relate to being shy and thought to be stuck up.
ReplyDeleteI love the nautical mysteries lists this week! Enjoy your weekend!
Hope you have a good weekend, too, Gretchen!
DeleteWhat wonderful memories! My grandmother on my father's side is the only grandparent that lived long enough for all of us to know, and I miss her still. She taught me to play rummy, and to do the NY Times crossword puzzle - in pen.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree with Dorothy that the book banners deserve to be banned themselves!
As for the links, you know I went to Paris before commenting :) Now I'm going to check out those nautical mysteries.
I thought of you when I posted that link to the nautical mysteries. :-)
DeleteI learned how to play cards from my mother and my grandfather. They're the reason why I always used to win at strip poker when I was a teenager... but don't tell anyone!
I liked this story. My two grandmothers were very nice women and I was too young and impatient to get to know them better. It is sad and something I think of often.
ReplyDeleteYes, I would imagine that we both think of the opportunities we missed with these special women.
DeleteNice story and special memories.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julia.
DeleteAmazingly, I just got my ability to post here back, no hexes or yelling at Google. Suddenly, it reappeared. I'll have to read these links.
ReplyDelete