The Best Kind of Luck Weekly Link Round-Up

 

What's the best kind of luck? For a reader, it could be considered a run of "Best Reads." Four of the last seven books I've read I've rated A+. I don't remember ever having a run of luck this good. Who knows? The run could be over, but it's certainly put a smile on my face!

 

Nothing much is going on around here other than the usual. The doctor's office called to schedule my annual physical, and I'll be glad to get that out of the way before Daisy and Suzanne come for their visit at the end of the month. 

 

I definitely intend to have a talk with my doctor. Something's wrong with me that can be killed by antibiotics, but both my primary care physician and the doctor at the wound care clinic seem to be afraid of keeping me on them long enough for good-old-whatever-it-is to be killed once and for all. I know their worries about antibiotics, but I am sick to death of the merry-go-round that I'm on. It's time to get off, blast it!

 

 

 

Spring is showing itself more and more. I'm looking forward to visits to the Desert Botanical Garden to see all the blooms, and I'm hoping that Denis and I will figure out a way to discourage all these pesky starlings that won't keep all the other birds away. I wish I could train the kestrel that visits for a weekly bath to chase starlings, but I know that's a bit too much to ask!

 

Enjoy the links! 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Inside the biggest art fraud in history.
• To make Tiffany & Co. a household name, the luxury brand's founder cashed in on the trans-Atlantic telegraph craze. 
• What one reader discovered when she cleared her Goodreads TBR.
• When Goodreads reviews go bad.
• How the pandemic ruined our understanding of "free" time.
• Bring back the big, comfortable bookstore reading chair.
• When Ian Fleming got sick of James Bond.
• Why are we all so obsessed with book clubs now? 

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• New Mexico's anti-book ban bill is dead.
• The Georgia GOP senators seek to ban sexually explicit books from school libraries and reduce sex education.
• The Utah House gives finally passage to legislation that clarifies school library book challenges.
• Ron DeSantis wants to rebrand the book banning mess he created.
• Moms for Liberty takes aim at Howard County (Maryland) school library books.
• Calgary (Canada) police are investigating after LGBTQ+-themed library books are returned damaged.
• Newfane Public Library (New York) board president and other trustees have resigned.
• Spring Branch (Texas) Independent School District confirms imminent elimination of all school librarian positions.
• The Kenosha County (Wisconsin) Board votes 16-5 against a plan calling for adult-only sections in libraries.
• Citizens speak out against censorship in Metropolis (Illinois) Public Library.
• A Georgia school board upheld the firing of a teacher for reading a book about gender identity to fifth graders.
• Book ban wars expand in deep-red Texas county.
• A bill to end book bans is on the table in Minnesota.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• This Bronze Age treasure was crafted with extraterrestrial metal.
• Archaeologists discover a rare Roman funerary bed buried beneath London.
• Was this villa Pliny the Elder's front-row seat to Mount Vesuvius' eruption?
• A new discovery has revealed that Romans kept poisonous, narcotic seeds concealed in bone vials.
• An 11,000-year-old submerged stone wall discovered off the coast of Germany was once used to trap reindeer.
• A metal detectorist found a rare 3,000-year-old dress fastener.
• Ancient rock art in an Argentinian cave may have transmitted information across 100 generations.
• An 1,800-year-old "Iron Legion" Roman base discovered near "Armageddon" is the largest in Israel.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Dolphins are "literally acting like jerks" by beating up baby manatees.
• Camouflaged animals are hiding in every one of these photos. Can you spot them all?
• Officials now have a theory as to why animals are acting strange at an Arizona national park.
• Alligators survived a cold snap by becoming "frozen solid" in North Carolina and Texas ponds.
• Scientists announced that they're changing the names of birds named after people. Things are about to get complicated.
• Why NASA is watching where Idaho's parachuting beavers landed.
• These parrots won't stop swearing. Will they learn to behave-- or corrupt the entire flock?
• Flaco, the famous owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo, dies after hitting a building.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Experts are shocked by the record-breaking longevity of Death Valley's phantom lake.
• This app lets Inuit combine traditional knowledge with scientific data.
• 38,000 sandhill cranes flock to Nebraska in a record-breaking start to spring migration. Seeing thousands of these birds at one of their winter homes is a favorite memory of mine.
• Nuremberg: city of dreams and nightmares.
• Sixteen places every cheese lover should visit.
• The real-world locations of fourteen Sci-Fi dystopias.
• The Highlands noir of Inverness.
• Mexico City could be just months away from running out of drinking water.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Tom Baragwanath on becoming an accidental crime novelist.
• The true story of Pocahontas is more complicated than you might think.
• James Cook has been using only a typewriter to create drawings for the last ten years.
• Jon Foreman turns found stones and shells into beautiful beach installations.
• Paul McCartney was reunited with his bass guitar that disappeared 50 years ago-- with a little help from his fans.
• Meet Smithsonian scientist Dr. Dave Pawson who has spent decades exploring the ocean depths.
• Anaxagoras and the eclipse: the first to get it right.
• Mary Jackson: Black women were also lynched.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Seven noir books set in Hollywood.
• Twelve discontinued breakfast cereals.
• Six friends-to-frenemies thrillers.
• Nine historical mysteries that have been adapted to film.
• Fifteen new historical mysteries and thrillers to read in 2024.
• Nine of the most thought-provoking mysteries ever written.
• Five of the best books about grief.
• Twelve of the best accessories to personalize your Kindle.

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!