An Always a Nice Surprise Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Monday, it felt as though Casa Kittling had a revolving door. We contacted our old lawn maintenance folks to come care for our neglected trees and shrubs (and to do a lot of raking). The brutal temperatures we had for so long last summer didn't make either one of us want to call in people to work out in the searing sun and heat, so everything had gotten a bit raggedy.

While they were here (for over four hours!), the home health nurse came to bandage my leg, and the woman who cuts our hair came to "shear" us. I swear it had been so long since our last haircuts that Denis was going to be forced to braid his hair. (A bald Brit with pigtails?) Then it was the turn of the "bug guy" who checked to make sure no nasties were trying to take residence. Thankfully, there were no signs of scorpions, black widow spiders, roof rats, or any other undesirables on the premises.

I've been anticipating UPS trucks arriving at Casa Kittling with bandaging supplies and yarn, but so far, all I've received is a book from a dear friend. Receiving a book is always cause for a celebration, right?

 

Hey! UPS just delivered something. Maybe it's my yarn. While I go check, enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• What job would you have in a cozy mystery novel? (Me? A wedding photographer? I don't think so!)
• Remember what Spotify did to the music industry? Books are next.
• How Schindler's List transformed Americans' understanding of the Holocaust.
• How World War II kept Dumbo from becoming TIME Magazine's "Mammal of the Year."
• How to lose a library.
• Researchers say reading print improves comprehension far more than looking at digital text.
• How do you even sell a book anymore?
• What are the mental health benefits-- and drawbacks-- of reading goals and challenges?

 

►Goodreads in the News◄

• Goodreads needs to do better by marginalized authors.
• Is the book world turning against Goodreads?
• Goodreads has a "review bombing" problem-- and wants its users to help solve it.
• The most popular books on Goodreads in the last decade.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• When the world is dark, how do you rekindle your light?
• Lauren Groff on opening a bookstore in Florida.
• Florida's book-banning crusade has found its next target: dictionaries.
• Rockingham County (Virginia) School Board voted to "temporarily remove" a list of 57 books.
• Two Kansas substitute teachers spoke out at school board meetings and got fired. Now they're suing.
• An Oklahoma lawmaker seeks an annual state review of school library materials. 
• How a drag queen event that never happened forced a library to shut down.
• Due to a federal judge temporarily blocking a new Iowa law, Iowa City schools has paused the removal of 68 books.
• Plattsmouth (Nebraska) voters have recalled a school board member who crafted a book removal policy.
• A Gillette (Wyoming) family asks the court to dismiss a librarian's defamation suit. Because whatever they say is protected under the First Amendment...
• The Brainerd (Minnesota) school board is debating whether a book should be read in its entirety before challenging it.
• Victory! The Fifth Circuit Court in Texas calls the Texas READER Act unconstitutional. What is so thrilling is the fact that the Fifth Circuit Court is very conservative.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Archeologists uncovered an "exceptional" ancient mural near the Colosseum.
• See a 17th-century portrait restored to its original appearance, minus lip fillers and other touch-ups.
• Archaeologists criticize the alleged discovery of the "oldest pyramid in the world."
• 1,500-year-old gold buckles depicting a ruler "majestically sitting on a throne have been discovered in Kazakhstan.
• This 1,200-year-old artifact is stunning-- but nobody knows what it is.
• A medieval belt buckle of a "dragon" eating a frog that was discovered in the Czech Republic may be from an unknown pagan cult.
• A mummy revealed that an ancient Egyptian teenager died while giving birth to twins.
• Purchased for $25, this bargain brooch could sell for $19,000, thanks to The Antiques Roadshow.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• The Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park, Arizona, shared a video of a baby white rhino running and playing with her mother. She's the first rhino born in Arizona in decades.
• Mark Rober built an underwater maze to test the inventive intelligence of an octopus. More from Upworthy.
  
• These brainy falcons are smarter than you might think.
• Pablo Escobar's multiplying "cocaine hippos" will be sterilized in Colombia.
• An invasive tick that can clone itself is spreading across the U.S., threatening livestock.
• Irrawaddy dolphins get help from an ancient Cambodian folktale.
• Meet Ferrisburgh, a rescued kestrel who started painting after a wing injury.
• African penguins tell each other apart by their polka dot patterns.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Shopping carts and culture.
• New bookshops in Europe give voice to female authors.
• The fight to save Faux Library, Hollywood's top destination for fake books.
• Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren asked for a delay of a moon mission carrying human remains. It seems someone or something was listening:  the Peregrine moon lander carrying human remains is doomed after a "critical loss" of propellant. It will fall to Earth shortly.
• The life and death of the American mall.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• "All feminists are under attack": the ultra-right threat in new President Milei's Argentina is forcing female journalists and writers like Luciana Peker into exile.
• Christina, Duchess of Milan, used an unusual tool to avoid becoming one of Henry VIII's unfortunate wives.
• Benjamin Banneker's almanac of strange dreams.
• Keanu and co.-- how celebrities became bestselling novelists.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Entertainment Weekly's 38 books they're excited to read in 2024.
• Variety's top ten TV shows of all time.
• Favorite books featuring librarians.
• Cozy mysteries with crafty components.
• Wildlife and wonderlands in mysteries.
• The best historical fiction of 2024.
• Eleven books to cure your wanderlust.
• The Great Winter 2024 Book Preview.

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!