An All Shook Up Weekly Link Round-Up

 

This is a late round-up because I needed time to recuperate from my trek to Scottsdale to consult with Kathy the Toe Wrapper. I learned yet another (and better) way to wrap my toes, and it just occurred to me that I could probably qualify as a bandaging expert by this time. But why did I have to recuperate?

 

My view from the Dial-a-Ride bus.

Dial-a-Ride. I spent two and a half hours on a scenic tour of North Phoenix. (It only takes 30 minutes to get to Kathy's office in Scottsdale.) I was the first person on the bus and then watched person after person being picked up and dropped off until, as the last passenger, I finally reached my destination just in time for my appointment. What made it worse is the fact that the driver was an aggressive one-- going fast, sharp turns, liberal and abrupt use of the brakes. The return trip home was more of the same, its saving graces being that only one person was picked up and dropped off besides me, and it only took 45 minutes for me to get home instead of two and a half hours. Although I'm sitting on my scooter, the scooter is strapped down, and I have  seat belt on, aggressive driving on rough roads means that I'm constantly being thrown from side to side. By the time I made it to my appointment, I was so sore that I could've cried (and I'm not a crier). By the time I got home, I could've kissed the ground. I took a couple of aspirin, went to bed, and woke up feeling much better after a nap.

I am now of the opinion that all Dial-a-Ride drivers should experience being strapped down in the back of the bus and experience what it's like to be thrown around... and I want to be the one doing the driving. Mwahahaha...

 

On a brighter note, I got these cool magnets from a friend the other day. Thank you!

Also, it's raining, so I'm going to go back to bed with my book so I can read and listen to it rain.

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Finding good advice in World War II-era women's magazines.
• Are libraries the future of media?
• The authors helping "sad girl lit" grow up.
• Why we need Indigenous languages in children's books.
• Why readers should care about the writers strike.
• Barbie makes history, becoming the first billion-dollar movie directed solely by a woman.
• School librarian memoirs may just be the next big thing.
• How the booksellers of Paris are preparing for next summer's Olympics.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• In a small town in Kentucky, the librarian now carries a gun.
• An anti-"smut" board member was caught illegally sneaking around a high school library.
• All Fort Worth (Texas) independent school district libraries are closed while the district reexamines the books on the shelves.
• A Catholic school in Missouri expelled a student over an LGBTQ book ban.
• Calls for an LGBTQ book ban in Rio Rancho (New Mexico) have seemingly backfired.
• A Michigan civil rights panel is asking once again if LGBTQ book banning is discriminatory.
• A conservative parents group in Utah that pushes for book bans is sharing videos on how to pressure your child's teachers.
• Who or what is fueling conflict at the public school board level?
• A library board in Arkansas is examining book consideration policies.
• The Botetourt (Virginia) library board voted to continue to allow teenagers to visit the library unsupervised.
• A judge has set a second hearing on the motion to block the Texas book rating law.
• How a Florida county became the book ban heartland of the U.S.
• Allen Ginsberg poems, Anne Frank's diary, and more of the 400+ books banners are eager to pull in Texas.
• Why this school district in Iowa used A.I. to help determine which books to ban.
• A new PEN America report documents the surge in "educational intimidation" bills.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A richly decorated synagogue-- one of the oldest-- has been unearthed.
• Iron window bars have been unearthed at a Roman public bath in Spain.
• According to archaeologists, plantation slavery was invented on this tiny African island.
• Scientists were left "flabbergasted" by the detailed dinosaur footprints covering a cliff in Alaska.
• Who was the enslaved child painted out of this 1837 portrait?
• Europe's oldest known village teetered on stilts over a Balkan lake 8,000 years ago.
• Rare gold coins and cremated infants were possible sacrificial gifts to the ancient gods of Carthage.
• A trove of rare Renaissance books could fetch $25 million at auction.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• How do birds handle the heat?
• Exceptional winners of the 2023 Nature inFocus Photography awards.
• A new pack of endangered gray wolves has been discovered in California.
• Great white sharks are washing up on Canadian beaches, but experts claim this could be a good thing.
• Lolita the orca has died after more than fifty years in captivity.
• Sixteen animals with delightfully obvious names.
• This man is teaching endangered birds a new migration path through the Alps to halt their extinction.
• Cleo the rescued tripod dog got a custom 3D printed leg.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• As the world gets hotter, Arizona books offer lessons for the future.
• Ten of the best seaside towns in Scotland.
• Wisconsin's long and winding road has a secret past.
• When the government tried to flood the Grand Canyon.
• The country's newest marine sanctuary could be co-managed by the Chumash people.
• When he could book a men-only flight on United Airlines.
• Crime and the City: Penang and George Town in the Straits of Malacca.
• Ecuadorean voters have rejected oil drilling in the Amazon's Yasuní National Park.
• This resort is offering free spa treatments to guests who clean up trash in Yosemite National Park.
  

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The surprising contents of American POW Ed Carter's journal.
• Women, Partition, and violence.
• What do King Charles III, the Pope, and the Canadian Inuit have in common?
• Margaret Hamilton, the computer scientist who saved the moon landing.
• Mary Golda Ross, the first Native American aerospace engineer and Space Race pioneer.
• The life and times of Lange Lewis.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Seventeen famous knitters who might surprise you.
• The best historical fiction of 2023 (so far).
• Five memorable mysteries for performing arts lovers.
• Influencer noir.
• Ten books you didn't know were getting adapted.
• The ten most popular wedding songs.
• The twenty most influential picture books of all time.
• Fun and inexpensive gifts to send to your bookish pen pals.

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 may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!