A Loose Screw Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Nothing much going on around here, so I'm going to make this short and sweet. We're in limbo here at Casa Kittling. At Denis's last appointment with the doctors who performed his back surgery, they took X-rays (as usual) and discovered that one of the screws holding everything together in his spine has come loose. Since then, it's been a series of CT scans and MRIs so the doctors can decide on a course of action. Now we're waiting for Denis to have another MRI with contrast to show if the infection that caused it all is still in his spine. For all intents and purposes, it sounds like Denis may have more surgery in his future.

This, too, shall pass.

I don't know why I was surprised to learn that it is, indeed, possible to have a screw loose.

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The art of Renaissance clothes.
• How to achieve the bookshelf wealth aesthetic.
• 100 years ago, people were eating things that most of us will never taste. So what happened?
• Generative AI's "Snoopy problem" makes avoiding copyright infringement a challenge.
• When public libraries become private, who will support them?
• How a Portuguese-to-English phrasebook became a cult comedy sensation.
• What's new in the world of reading research?
• The Oxford English Dictionary's latest update adds 23 Japanese words.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Amid book bans, DEI cuts, and "Don't Say Gay" laws, seven states will mandate LGBTQ-inclusive curricula.
• The Lancaster Public Library (Pennsylvania) and Lancaster Pride are still processing the events that led to the cancellation of the Drag Queen Story Hour.
• Red, white, and Kryptonite: Christian Nationalists target Metropolis, Illinois.
• A Texas school board received death threats over library books.
• Pastors and others circulate a petition for "age-appropriate" standards at the Alpena (Michigan) County Library.
• South Carolina lawmakers target books in public school libraries with a proposed ratings system.
• An Idaho Republican wants to allow damage claims for "harmful" materials in libraries.
• "It's best to cancel": Resilient listening and our kids today.
• The Vermont Senate advanced a bill to counter "attacks" on libraries.
• Celebrate the Right to Read with stickers and action.
• Book ban attempts in Ohio are on the rise.
• Bills fighting book bans may have unintended consequences-- library penalties.
• Banned books make up the sophomore English curriculum at this NYC high school.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A "strange" new prehistoric bird has been discovered in China and named for David Attenborough.
• Scandinavian bodies reveal that kissing may have been deadly thousands of years ago. 
• Artifacts dating back 2,000 years have been found in the UAE.
• Shells from Captain Cook's final voyage were rescued from a dumpster.
• Behind 10,000 years of artificial cranial modification.
• Ten shipwrecks have been found off the coast of a small Greek island.
• See the portrait that made Henry VIII fall in love with Anne of Cleeves, newly restored to its former glory.
• Lavish 800-year-old tombs in China may hold the remains of Great Jin Dynasty elites.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Ten wild facts about octopuses: they have three hearts, big brains, and blue blood.
• Don't look up: Cicadas produce high-speed jets of urine.
• This made me smile, pesky starlings! Watch a woodpecker evict the starling that stole its nest by yanking it out with its beak. 
• Amy Tan's Backyard Bird Diary.
• Why some whales go through menopause.
• Ten delightfully descriptive Irish animal names.
• A study has found that for most mammal species, males actually aren't larger than females.
• What does python taste like? Because it could be slithering onto our dinner plates.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• A French tourist found a 7.46-carat diamond at an Arkansas State Park.
• I wouldn't mind visiting the Cilwendeg Shell House in Newchapel, Wales.
• On opening a bookstore in Kuwait.
• Teresa Dovalpage on capturing Havana's past and present through fiction.
• There are at least ten cities with their own psychological disorders.
• Incredible footage of the Statue of Liberty shaking during the 4.8 magnitude earthquake in New York City.
• How the Black Death gave rise to British pub culture.
• San Nicolas Island, the island that inspired The Island of the Blue Dolphins.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• I loved (and agreed with) Nora Roberts' reaction to reader demands.
• Writer, woman, playwright, spy: How espionage influenced Aphra Behn's writing.
• Ken Bruen, the dark soul of Irish crime fiction.
• Tarenorerer, the fierce female warrior who fought Tasmania's colonizers.
• Prisoners' pastimes.
• When Amelia Earhart and Mabel Boll, the "Queen of Diamonds", raced to become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
• How women used cars to fuel female empowerment.
• Heterodoxy, the all-woman secret society that paved the way for modern feminism.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Twelve of the best female villains in mystery and thriller movies.
• Seven noir books set in Hollywood.
• Mystery and thriller books featuring planes and pilots.
• Five mysteries and thrillers with a reality TV twist.
• Seven of the best strategies to organize your TBR list.
• Anne of Green Gables covers: the good, the bad, and the inexplicable.
• Novels featuring libraries and bookstores.
• Four books in which children are accused-- and their parents wrestle with the truth.

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!