An Eat My Dust Weekly Link Round-Up

 

The past week has been nice and quiet, with the type of beautiful weather that makes the snow birds begin to flock to the area. I still have medical appointments three days a week, but my brain has finally begun to spin and whir over how I'm going to reorganize my side of the closet in our bedroom. Boy howdy, does it need it!

As of this writing (on Monday), Denis and I are going to hop on our scooters and trundle over to the CVS pharmacy at Target to get our Covid and RSV vaccines. Something tells me a race between us might ensue, and since Denis is the one who believes I should have an Eat My Dust bumper sticker on the back of my scooter, I think that makes me the favorite to win. I haven't been over there since May, so I'm looking forward to doing a little shopping.

Speaking of shopping, I'm going to share a photo I found of the very first place in which I made a purchase when I spent the day in Hay-on-Wye in England. I still have the plastic carrier bag from there, too!

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The influence of Star Trek and science fiction on real science.
• The Guardian reports that more than half of UK children do not read in their spare time. (I wonder how US children measure up?)
• The revolutionary influence of the first English children's novel.
• How the humble pocket came to signify feminist liberation.
• How to build a book collection.
• Why Agatha Christie's mousetraps still beguile us, even if the films aren't always killer.
• Did New York City forget how to teach children to read?
• Do Goodreads and Storygraph users rate books differently?

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Everything you need to know about the right-wing war on books.
• Here is what parents think of book bans: Everylibrary and Book Riot survey results.
• A new California law bars school book bans based on racial and LGBTQ topics.
• A former Weld County (Colorado) librarian wins her settlement after the district fired her for promoting LGBTQ and anti-racist programs.
• Florida churches and community groups are stepping up to teach Black history and banned books.
• Twenty-eight Harris County (Texas) public libraries have been designated "sanctuaries" for banned books.
• An embattled Washington library won a lawsuit and won't shut down after a book ban fight.
• How America's first banned book survived and became an anti-authoritarian icon.
• Adults have a lot to say about book bans, but what about kids?
• Banned Books Week: A visual dive into an alarming increase in attempts to restrict books.
• Book bans are surging and taking an emotional toll on many authors.
• A brief history of banned books in America.
• Eight banned and challenged reads that unite us.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Animal sacrifices and astral tombs: the mysteries still emerging from the Saudi deserts.
• Twenty-nine incredible treasures discovered in King Tut's tomb.
• Workers uncovered eight mummies ad pre-Inca objects while expanding the gas network in Peru. More from Live Science.
  
• Benedict Arnold's Lake Champlain gunboat is the last shipwreck of its kind.
• The ancient books of Wales.
• A lost Artemisia Gentileschi painting has been discovered in an English palace's storeroom. (Wouldn't you love to be turned loose in the storerooms of some of those places?)
• A water worker stumbled upon 2,500-year-old gold necklaces in Spain. (Why can't I find something like this when I stumble?)
• The Kakhovka Dam disaster revealed an archaeological "goldmine".

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• South Africa's great white sharks are changing locations. They need to be monitored for beach safety and conservation.
• Four amazing impacts of this A.I.-powered bird migration tracker.
• Methuselah, the world's oldest living aquarium fish, could be more than 100 years old.
• Are wild animals really just like us?
• San Diego has closed a popular beach for seven years in order to protect sea lions.
• Speaking of sea lions, watch one that comes out of the ocean daily to visit its dog BFF.
• See ten stunning images from the Bird Photographer of the Year Awards.
• African white rhino numbers see a rise for the first time in a decade thanks to protection efforts.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• The wild, bizarre, sometimes criminal pleasures of London's Bartholomew Fair.
• Eleven of the best travelogues that will whisk you around the world.
• Shrek's swamp house in Scotland is coming to Airbnb, and it's free. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
• I think I'd like to visit Trakai Island Castle in Lithuania.
• In a first, the FCC fines a satellite company for abandoning space debris. (Good!)
• Following Agatha Christie's footsteps in Torquay.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• These compelling biographies flip the script on your favorite mystery writers.
• A huge collection about enslaved poet Phillis Wheatley has been acquired by the Smithsonian.
• Mathilde de Morny, the cross-dressing superstar of the Belle Époque.
• Why Stephen King sells the rights to his work to up-and-coming filmmakers for just $1.
• The United States Postal Service has issued a Forever stamp in honor of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
• Black football player Jack Trice was fatally injured during a game. A century later, a college stadium bears his name. 

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Here are the highest-rated books from every country.
• Crime novels featuring interpreters, transcribers, and other invisible law enforcement professionals.
• Native American literature: Tribes and tribulations.
• The great aunties of mystery.
• Ten books with twists you won't see coming.
• Seventeen books for people born in the '50s, '60s, and '70s.
• Fifteen books about mothers and daughters.
• Books to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

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!