The Reopening of the Barlow B&B Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Several years ago, Casa Kittling used to be called the Barlow B&B because of all the house guests who came to visit. Denis and I loved it, but the B&B gradually closed down when life seemed to get in everyone's way (including ours).

Now, it looks as though we're going to have two visitors at the end of March for a week or two, and we're as tickled as can be. It does mean that I have some work ahead of me, since I'm the one responsible for paring things down to the bone here in the house to accommodate our mobility issues. I think my brain mistakenly thought no one was going to come visit again. Anyway, I have to get myself in gear, so this intro is a short one. I'll just take the time to share something from what I call my virtual t-shirt collection.

 

Good one, isn't it?  Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• "Bookshelf wealth" is the latest way to show people you're genuine.
• Why non-fiction writers should try writing fiction (and vice versa).
• How radio brought the world into American homes.
• Why did Atria Books send a TikTok influencer on a cruise to Antarctica?
• The British Library has begun restoring digital services after a cyber-attack.
• How the deaf created their own system of communication.
• The Avengers reboot is in the works at StudioCanal. (Anyone else think that there's no way they can top Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg?)
• Has TikTok ruined reading?

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• A secret shelf of banned books thrives in a Texas school, under the nose of censors. (I hope it still does after this article...)
• A brief history of the grand old American tradition of banning books.
• Publishing giant Penguin Random House's risky fight against book bans.
• Washington State introduces and advances a school anti-book ban bill.
• The State of Alabama has pulled out of the American Library Association.
• The Freedom to Read Act has been reintroduced in New Jersey.
• Utah teachers could be criminally responsible if banned books are found in their classrooms if a new bill is passed.
• Need help finding a good book? Try one your ninth-grader isn't allowed to read.

 ►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A slave was crucified in Roman Britain 1,700 years ago. Now his face has been brought back to life.
• The first known piece of mail sent using a stamp was sent to auction.
• Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient Roman cemetery full of jewelry, coins, and clothing.
• Picasso and Chagall paintings were found in an Antwerp basement-- fourteen years after they vanished.
• Another mysterious Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England.
• Grave robbers looted a 2,400-year-old tomb in China-- but left these treasures behind.
• The remains of an ancient Roman triumphal arch have been unearthed in Serbia.
• An inscribed blade was hidden under a grave for almost 1,900 years until now. What does it say?

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Cats prey on more than 2,000 different species.
• How seabirds can help us predict the size of fish stocks.
• Chimpanzees and bonobos may remember faces for more than twenty years.
• Humans may have driven twice as many bird species to extinction as previously thought.
• Here's why most dogs have brown eyes.
• Reindeer sleep and eat simultaneously, saving precious time in the short Arctic summer.
• A mysterious jaguar roamed southern Arizona. Here's what to know about "El Jefe."
• A man hangs excess cat hair for birds to use for nests.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• A brief history of the United States' accents and dialects.
• Strange tales that complicate the picture of Texas.
• Could the sinking of tons of seaweed to the ocean floor help combat climate change?
• The USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg is now one of the largest artificial reefs in the world.
• Ten unique beaches from around the world.
• The underwater Santorini volcano eruption 520,000 years ago was fifteen times bigger than the record-breaking Tonga eruption.
• Have researchers found Amelia Earhart's long-lost plane?
• Galveston, where Gulf Coast stormy noirs abound.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• How Nellie Bly and other trailblazing women wrote creative non-fiction before it was a thing.
• Fifty years of high seas adventures with Dirk Pitt.
• Crime Fiction Lover's interview with Elly Griffiths.
• How Betty Smith helped her fellow writers.
• Wilkie Collins, the sensation novelist who exposed the plight of Victorian women.
• N. Scott Momaday built the foundations of Native American literature.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Nine things that were invented by accident.
• The most anticipated mystery and suspense novels of 2024.
• The twenty-nine best Scandinavian crime and thriller shows on Netflix in 2024.
• Five of the best postcolonial novels.
• Eleven crime novels with LGBTQIA+ themes to check out this winter.
• Bookish planner supplies to help you meet your reading resolutions.
• The worst dead-end questions to ask in book club.
• The ten books a bride gave as favors at her wedding.

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!