The Art of the Handsell Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Last week, I told you that Denis and I had gone to an event at The Poisoned Pen with authors Paige Shelton and Jenn McKinlay. I've had the pleasure of lunching with these two women a few times, and I can testify to their sterling characters and senses of humor. It's always fun to go to one of their events.

They were asked for book recommendations by the audience, and I had to chime in with my two cents' worth for one of them (Remarkably Bright Creatures). I noticed some of the folks turning around in their seats to look at me in a "Who are you?" way-- especially when it became obvious that Paige and Jenn knew me, but I didn't think much more about it until Denis and I went down to the bookstore.

While Denis did whatever it was that he did, I was browsing. Of course, I did find a couple of books to buy, but I wound up selling more than I bought. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to be in a bookstore and handsell books.

I sold books by Michael Stanley and T.E. Kinsey and Betty Webb and others-- a dozen books all told-- and several of my recommendations were scribbled down for future reference. Owner Barbara Peters once offered me a job, and how I wish my health had permitted me to take her up on her offer! 

I hope your holiday season is a good one. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Why Christmas trees don't belong in libraries.
• From the Irish Times: How to create your own book nook.
• This 1903 spy novel became the blueprint for espionage fiction.
• U.S. booksellers embrace books in Spanish.
• Do authors use autopen?
• Texas bookstores are writing their own stories.
• The joy of seeing yourself in literature.
• Why are paper cuts so painful?
• The wild and weird history of eggnog. 
• The history of the Christmas card.
• Easy bookish traditions to start this holiday season.
  

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Students advocate for free speech in a youth-led author panel.
• Llano County, Texas has paid thousands of taxpayer dollars to defend its book removal policies. 
• The network behind the books pulled from Beaufort County (South Carolina) schools, and the one fighting back. 
• Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has an online snitch line to use for reporting librarians and teachers. 
• How expanded parental access to learning materials is impacting schools and libraries. 
• The Donegal school district (Pennsylvania) librarian has quit over guidelines limiting student access to library books. 
• An Orem (Utah) library has been accused of censorship over removal of celebratory displays. 
• Warwick (Pennsylvania) Parents for Change criticize a school district over library books and gender definition. 
• A radical parent activist in Illinois has ties to hate groups and a history of racist posts... and he wants to decide what children can and cannot read. 
• We Need Diverse Books has launched a #BooksSaveLives initiative against censorship.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Archaeologists say that packs of sausage dogs (dachshunds) could have been made to fight bears in the Colosseum of ancient Rome.
• A tomb aligned with the winter solstice sunrise is being excavated in Egypt.
• A metal detectorist found a medieval wedding ring in near perfect condition.
• How did a World War II boat end up at the bottom of a California lake?
• Sacred owl carvings from the Copper Age may actually be children's toys.
• Doodles by a woman named Eadburg have been found in a medieval manuscript. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
  
• A medieval necklace found in Northampton, England is internationally important.
• A mystery object unearthed by hurricanes in Florida could be an 1800s cargo ship.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Watch these rats "dance" to the rhythms of Mozart, Lady Gaga, and Queen.
• You should keep your cats inside for the sake of their health and the environment. (YES!!!) 
• Ten species driven toward extinction by cats.
  
• Back to the drawing board: dolphins shrug off hot sauce-laced fishing nets. 
• Raccoon was once a Thanksgiving feast fit for a president. (Fortunately, my family of farmers and hunters never followed that trend.)
• A hawk is making a stunning recovery after flying into the grill of a truck. 
• How the Budweiser Clydesdales became a commercial success. (A man from my little farm town was a farrier for one of the teams, and I had the privilege of seeing those magnificent horses.) 
• I wouldn't mind visiting Arkansas's Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. 
• More than 52 million birds in the U.S. are dead because of avian flu. 

 

►The Wanderer◄

• England's oldest continuously inhabited house just listed for $13.5 million, and it has a moat.
• This Guatemalan village is becoming a work of art.
• Dirty snow and dark secrets in Midwestern noir.
  

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Bob Jackson, the man who's read every book ever shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
• From a White House wedding to a pet snake, Alice Roosevelt's escapades captivated America. 
• Carol Burnett reveals how she came to create the charwoman. 
• Hopwood DePree, the American who moved to England to save his ancestral home. 
• Jane Smiley explains her process of writing an historical mystery. 
• The mesmeric Dr. James Esdaile. 
• Merle Oberon was an Indian actress playing the biggest role of her life in Hollywood. 

 

►Best of 2022 Book Lists◄

• The Guardian: Best Books of 2022.
• Publishers Weekly: Best Books of 2022. (I have it set to start with mysteries, but all the other categories are listed at the top of the page.)
  
• Goodreads: Most Read Books of 2022.
• Buzzfeed: Best Books of 2022.
• LibraryReads: Ten Best Books of 2022.
• Aunt Agatha: Best Historical Mysteries of 2022.
• Aunt Agatha: Best Cozy Mysteries of 2022.
• The Guardian: Best Crime and Thriller Books of 2022.
• Literary Hub: 38 Favorite Books of 2022.
• The Sun Sentinel: Best Mysteries of 2022.
• Wall Street Journal: The Ten Best Books of 2022.
• Goodreads: Goodreads Choice Award winners of 2022.
• CrimeReads: Best Crime Novels of 2022.
• New York Times: Best Audiobooks of 2022.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Eight mysteries involving cheese.
• More books about coffee. 
• Twenty must-read audiobooks with Indigenous narrators. 
• Love Little Women? Read one of these books. 
• Twelve action-packed non-fiction books that read like fiction. 
• 25+ of the best craft books. 
• Top Ten best online bookstores. 
• The best bookish gifts under $30. 
• eReader accessories. 

 

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.

 

Don't forget: One of the best ways to celebrate this holiday season is by curling up with a good book!