The Madding Crowds Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Cactus hauled away. New carport put in place. Medical procedures passed with flying colors. The time had come to have some fun, so Denis and I headed to the Desert Botanical Garden on a gorgeous spring day. Problem is... it seemed as though everyone else in the Phoenix metro area had the same idea.

For the first couple of hours, the garden was heaving with people, and at first I thought that there weren't any children attending school until I took a closer look at what they were wearing. The snowbirds were out in force. How did I know? Because they were dressed the way we natives do when it's June here in the Sonoran Desert. (Denis and I were wearing light jackets and long pants.)

Trying to get to the Patio Cafe

In the photo you can see one of the guaranteed spots for a traffic jam in the garden. It's a good thing that Denis and I weren't in a hurry because all we could do was sit and wait it out.

I did manage to take some special photos, and I'll share some of them with you in a week or two. Until then, enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• You've probably already heard, but Monk is coming back.
• Little House of Propaganda: Homesteading myths and the sentimentality of self-reliance.
• How BookTok makes money.
• Is 1973 actually crime film's greatest year?
• In praise of the cross genre novel.
• Two sides to a story: why feminist retellings are filling bookshelves.
• Agatha Christie is the latest author to get a major sensitivity edit.
• How one author used her characters to travel during lockdown.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• 100-year-old Grace Linn's speech against book bans in a Florida school district goes viral.
• Beaufort County (South Carolina) students lost access to nearly 100 books. They want them back. 
• Citizens fire back on book removal from the Siloam Springs (Arkansas) library. 
• A petition is circulating calling for the removal of a councilman from the library board in a California town. (He wants to dictate what everyone is allowed to read.)
• The Campbell County (Wyoming) library board vets policy changes proposed by a Florida nonprofit. (One of those nonprofits that tout family values and the sanctity of life.)
• The State of Illinois has gotten one step closer to passing a law that would prohibit book bans. 
• The Telford (Pennsylvania) community continues its debate on library content.
• Because there are no other pressing issues in the state, Texas lawmakers are debating school library rules and the availability of "sexually explicit books". 
• The Central Bucks (Pennsylvania) school district has already spent more than $250,000 in taxpayers' money on attorneys' fees and public relations services. The full amount is likely much higher-- and this district isn't the only one doing this. 

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Action-packed cremation urn carvings reveal that gladiators fought in Roman Britain.
• The remains of an ancient temple with hieroglyphic inscriptions has been discovered in Sudan.
• The earliest mention of Odin, "king of the gods", has been found in a treasure hoard from Denmark.
• A 129-year-old vessel still tethered to a lifeboat has been found on the floor of Lake Huron.
• An 1,800-year-old Roman bathhouse has been found near a French village.
• Scientists found a mind-blowing Mayan civilization buried in plain sight.
• Photos show students on a field trip stumbling upon a 1,400-year-old lion statue in Israel.
• Take a look at the ruins of a 900-year-old castle unearthed in a courtyard in Spain.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• This juvenile bald eagle heard that the pizza in Wethersfield, Connecticut was good, so it decided to check out the pie for itself.
• In Florida, an invasive snail is helping save an endangered bird. 
• Take a look at some of the winners of the British Wildlife Photography Awards. 
• See 15 amazing wildlife images from the Sony World Photography Awards. 
• Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog. 
• This moose briefly interrupted recess at Jefferson Elementary School in Spokane, Washington. 
• The last days of the Bahama nuthatch. 
• Which animals have the strongest bite? 

 

►The Wanderer◄

• New York's Metropolitan Museum is the latest to reclassify Russian art as Ukrainian.
• Mexico's Chichén Itzá is getting a new museum.
• Ski resorts in the western U.S. will stay open into the spring and summer.
• You'll probably never get to see, let alone touch, sea silk.
• Beginning this summer, Portsmouth (UK) library patrons will have their books delivered by tuk-tuk.
• Crime & the City: Cyprus.
• How a war over eggs marked the early history of San Francisco.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The "Rocking Chair Rebellion" of senior citizens has joined the climate protest.
• The tenacious women reporters who helped expose the Boston Strangler. 
• Alba Céspedes, Resistance fighter, novelist, and Sartre's favorite agony aunt.
• The forgotten women aquanauts of the 1970s. 
• 14 fascinating facts about Phillis Wheatley. 

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Ten historical novels illuminating women in 20th century America.
• Nine Irish mystery writers who capture the spirit of Ireland.
• 16 hotsy-totsy slang terms from the 1920s.
• Crime novels set against the backdrop of reality TV shows.
• Thirteen adaptations better than the books they're based on. (Yes, it can happen.)
• Eleven books with estate-driven feuds like The Inheritance Games.
• Eleven books about women on the brink.
• The 25 best high school movies.

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.

No matter how busy you are, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!