A Vicarious Vacation Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Denis and I have been waiting around for all our medical appointments to clear up so we get out and have some fun. Denis is doing so well after his TURPS procedure; it's wonderful to see. He's also been navigating under his own steam-- not relying on his scooter to get him from Point A to Point B. I know he's never going to return to the "old Denis", but it's certainly a dream come true to all this improvement. It does miracles for both our states of mind.

 

As for me, I finally had my scheduled breast biopsy. It's nothing to be concerned about-- merely a precaution that's had unexpected (and welcome) side effects. I'll go back in about two weeks to have the stitches removed. 

 

So what have I been doing while waiting for these appointments to be done and dusted? I've been having a bit of a vicarious vacation courtesy of our two nieces on Facebook. Karen and Daisy got the chance to spend a few days on Lanzarote, and I've been immersing myself in the photos and videos they've shared. Here's Karen soaking up a marvelous view...

 

 

 

In a few days, Denis and I will be out and about, so I'd better make sure the camera batteries are charged.

 

Enjoy the links!

 

 

 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Bookish Valentines for all the readers in your life.
• A second library in Colorado was closed after meth was found in the bathrooms. Come on, people-- Get high on BOOKS!
• Karen Pirie is a moody, reflective series about the power of moments in time.
• Does historical accuracy matter in historical fiction?
• The history of "the butler did it" trope.
• Indigenous voices in publishing. A second article on the subject.
  
• What's up with special edition hardcovers?
• Inside the picture perfect-- and highly lucrative-- business of book styling.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Students want new books. Thanks to restrictions, librarians can't buy them.
• Book bans are driving kids away from books and reading. Don't let the bigots win!!! 
• How to fight new obscenity laws targeting librarians.
• Before the book-banning wave, the FBI spied on people's library activity.
• The director of Judy Blume Forever says the beloved author is furious about America's fresh wave of book banning. 
• Book price increases contribute to ongoing censorship. 
• An open letter to Stephen King with some good points made. 
• Following a banned books controversy, the McKinney (Texas) independent school district has changed its library review process.
• How Rockwood (Missouri) parents mounted a campaign that ended three school diversity programs. 
• The Central Bucks (Pennsylvania) school district is working with a "pro-religious" law firm to roll out a new book review policy. 
• Florida teachers have been told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution. 
• Hayden (Idaho) Library community members speak volumes about library books. 
• Utahns gather to Read-In protest against banning books at the Capitol.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Once a floating speakeasy, this shipwreck tells a tale of bullets and booze.
• A gilded warrior's tomb was discovered during the construction of an expressway in Romania.
• The "first shots" fired in the English Civil War have been unearthed by archaeologists on the HS2 rail line.
• An oil painting that was discovered in a shed covered in bird droppings is a rare piece of art that recently sold for $3 million. Now...why can't my two sheds be like that?
• Get out your passport, Margot-- a royal tomb discovered near Luxor dates to the time when a female pharaoh co-ruled Egypt.
• This thirteen-foot-long Munch painting was hidden from the Nazis in a Norwegian forest.
• 3,600-year-old hoards may contain the earliest silver currency in Israel and Gaza.
• Stunning CT scans of the "golden boy" mummy from ancient Egypt reveal forty-nine hidden amulets.
• New evidence suggests that perhaps rats didn't spread the Black Death after all.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• See 25 stunning images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.
• The intrepid, furry explorers who mapped Antarctica. 
• Alaskan sea otters were brought back from the brink of extinction. Now wolves are hunting them. 
• A man photographed a real-life "angry bird" right in his own backyard. 
• An Australian King parrot landed on a Redditor's bird book at the exact moment it's opened to its page. 
• These ants were trained to sniff out cancer. 
• Watch a clever pied crow that thinks it's more human than bird. 
• Meat from threatened sharks is being served as fish and chips in Australia. 

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Watch a man drop a GoPro into the water underneath a Florida fishing pier to see what was going on down there.
• The mystery of the world's oldest billboard.
• The Rachel Carson Memorial in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
• The unique (and surprisingly wet) biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert.
• Why some Western snow is turning pink.
• Twenty bookstores everyone should visit in Florida.
• Crime and the City: Cork, Ireland.
• America's only floating post office delivers more than mail to Detroit's ships.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Baby boomers have dominated America. What happens when they're gone?
• The women warriors who served wine on the battlefield.
• Colette revolutionized French literature with her depictions of female desire.
• Meet Caterina Sforza and other warrior queens history forgot.
• Remembering the remarkable queens who ruled ancient Nubia.
• Josh Nalley posed as a dead body for 321 days, then finally landed a role on CSI.
• Licoricia of Winchester, the "most important" Jewish woman of medieval England.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Seven Canadian crime dramas to binge watch.
• Eleven intriguing mysteries about royalty. 
• Digital swag for literati. 
• Mysteries that bring you inside the workings of fascinating minds. 
• Five mysteries and thrillers about returning to your hometown. 
• For cooks who love books: Bookish kitchen supplies and decorations. 
• Before folding thirty years ago, the Sears Catalog sold some surprising products. 
• The twenty most popular British detective shows. 

 

 

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 to spend some quality Me Time curled up with a good book!