A Coming and Going Weekly Link Round-Up

 

This week is one of people beating paths to our door, and the two of us beating paths to various doctors' appointments, so I'm getting this post done early. 

Denis finally got the latest news on his back. Surgery isn't necessarily required, but may have to be done in the future. If so, it won't be nearly as invasive as his first back surgery, so that's good news. (By the way, he has TWO loose screws, not just one.) Most of his pain stems from the narrowing of the channel that his spinal cord runs through, and that narrowing is due to arthritis. Denis is going to check with his pain doctors to see if he's eligible for an epidural. I hope he is because I don't like to see this darlin' man in pain.

A friend sent me this New Yorker cover in the mail, saying "That's me. You, too?" 

We've been breaking all sorts of heat records here in Phoenix, but I can't say that I've ever been tempted to do what the man on the New Yorker cover is doing. For one thing, our refrigerator is old and doing something like that would guarantee its death. Nope, air conditioning, a helpful fan or two, and plenty of cold drinks does me just fine.

Here's hoping you're all cool and healthy wherever you are, and that you have plenty of good books to read. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Why humor is one of the sharpest tools in a writer's arsenal.
• The mystery of a medieval blue ink has been solved.
• The perils of writing dogs in fiction.
• Quiz: Can you identify these opening lines of classic mystery and crime novels?
• How the world's largest book sorter at the New York Public Library processes 5,000 books per hour.
• 60% of Netflix's most popular shows are based on comics or books.
• Silent book clubs are here and introvert-friendly.
• They're finally here: The new bounty of fat kids in picture books.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Here is the Authors Against Book Bans website.
• The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America.
• Why a 1936 children's book about a flower-smelling bull was banned for having a political agenda.
• The owner says the suspect broke a window and burned the Pride display at a Portland bookstore.
• A small-town Texas librarian's big stand against book bans.
• A North Dakota book review law for "explicit sexual material" cost a library $54,500. 
• A recall petition advances against a Seaside (Oregon) city councilor over potential book restrictions.
• A Moms for Liberty ally in South Carolina is ready to launch the biggest censorship campaign yet.
• Book banners bring storytime to the Washoe County (Nevada) School Board and read American Psycho to the trustees.
• A library board chair in Washoe County, Nevada is working against the library from the inside.
• Months and months of Sunol (California) school board drama is coming to a head with a recall election.
• Censored back home, Hong Kong authors are publishing in Taiwan.
  

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A woman thrifted this ancient Maya vase for $3.99-- and then gave it back to Mexico.
• See the stunning shrine with rare blue-painted walls that was unearthed at Pompeii.
• Hundreds of centuries-old coins unearthed in Germany likely belonged to a wealthy 17th-century mayor.
• A trove of rare artifacts were unearthed beneath an ancient Roman well.
• An archaeologist has suggested that the 4,000-year-old "Seahenge" in the UK was built to "extend summer."
• Catapult shots fired during a 13th-century siege have been unearthed at a British castle.
• The discovery of a 4,000-year-old structure in Greece stumps archaeologists and threatens major airport construction. More from Live Science.
• A mass grave of Maya boys may shed light on human sacrifice in Chichén Itzá.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• A Bornean clouded leopard family was filmed in the wild for the first time ever. 
• Working rats wear tiny backpacks to train in search and rescue operations.
• Pink dolphins have been spotted with a baby from a completely different species in a "mystery" encounter.
• African elephants may call each other by name. (And I don't think they're the only species to do so.)
• Endangered wild horses have returned to Kazakhstan for the first time in at least 200 years.
• A golden retriever has forged a friendship with a wild squirrel and her babies.
• Experts say the Florida shark attacks were caused by heat, not orcas.
• Time is running out for the Hudson Bay polar bears.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• A study suggests that Easter Island did not collapse from overuse of resources after all.
• Another study has found that extreme wildfires became twice as frequent and intense in 20 years. 
• The island nation of Tonga is home to the last Polynesian monarchy.
• The Greek island of Delos, known as the birthplace of Apollo, is sinking.
• What the change of a Disney park ride reflects about how America sees itself.
• Visit Singapore in Ovidia Yu's Singaporean mystery series.
• Dozens of Alaska's rivers are turning an eerie orange.
• Earth from space: The Green River (Utah) winds through a radioactive "labyrinth of shadows."

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Move over, Genghis Khan, many other men left huge genetic legacies.
• How self-taught guitarist Libba Cotten became a music legend.
• Hillary Rodham Clinton is publishing a new memoir in September.
• Fanny Angelina Hesse, the forgotten woman who revolutionized microbiology with a simple kitchen staple.
• The USPS commemorates Alex Trebek with a Forever Stamp in the form of a Jeopardy! question.
• Who was "Lisa Ben," the woman behind the U.S.'s first lesbian magazine?
• Edith Wharton: A Writer's Reflections.
• Pathbreaking South African horseman Enos Mafokate is handing a new generation the reins.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Mysteries and thrillers set in the Southwest.
• Five favorite fictional French flics.
• Eight classic movie props that were tossed in the trash.
• Great novels of subtle espionage.
• The best worst detectives in crime film and TV.
• Five of the best books about Turkey.
• Summer bookmarks for a seasonal vibe.
• Eight weird and wonderful museums in Paris. (Have you been to any of these, FR?)

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!