The 113 Days Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Well, the streak has finally ended. What streak? The 113 consecutive day streak of temperatures over 100°F (38°C) here in Phoenix, that's what streak. I went outside a couple of days ago and didn't feel as though I'd walked into an oven... and it felt strange. And I had almost five minutes of cool water when I took a shower this morning! (Here in Phoenix, if you want cool (never cold) water in the summer when you turn on the tap, turn on the hot water, NOT the cold. The water lines run right under the streets, and all that concrete and asphalt soaks up all that sun all day long.

I'm waiting for the insurance company's ruling on a vein ablation. The ultrasound that the vascular surgeon ordered showed that I have a bad vein, and the ablation procedure may just take care of all the fluid that's been draining from my leg. Fingers crossed!

It was like Christmas when I opened a big mailing envelope and found this book inside by one of my new favorite authors. I immediately dropped everything and read it.

I hope, wherever you are, that you've had some good and/or hopeful news of your own and that you're staying healthy and reading plenty of good books, too. As for me, I'm already thinking of heading to the zoo and the Desert Botanical Garden with this cooler weather. (Hey-- temperatures in the 90s are cool here!)

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The British government has placed an export ban on Alan Turing's World War II-era notebooks.
• English expressions that originated with sailor jargon.
• What lasts and (mostly) doesn't last. On the books that are remembered, repudiated, and rediscovered.
• The new trend in book covers is old-timey animals.
• Quiz: Can you match the disease to its olde-tyme name?
• Can you guess the historical serial killer based on their nickname?
• Moleskine mania: how a notebook conquered the digital era.
• The rise of the WhatsApp novelists.
• How the Civil War spawned the mail-in ballot.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Little Free Library is partnering with the American Library Association and PEN America on a Banned Books Map.
• How one librarian battled the book bans: read an excerpt of That Librarian by Amanda Jones.
• The Pennridge (Pennsylvania) School Board has advanced a revised library book policy.
• A school board member who was recalled over a book ban attempt has been chosen by the governor of Nebraska to be on the state library board.
• This graphic novel tells of a Columbia (South Carolina) couple's Holocaust story. Some local schools won't use it.
• Coronado (California) Unified School Board candidate Fitzhugh Lee talks books and budget.
• The Cobb County (Georgia) superintendent talks safety, technology, and books removed from libraries.
• This is an op-ed letter requesting the reversal of the Tillamook (Oregon) School Board's decision to remove a book.
• Some students in New York are taking the fight over book bans into their own hands.
• A library board in Wyoming has moved Sex Is a Funny Word from the new adult section to the parenting section.
• Bible-inspired lessons in Texas public schools? The state education board will be holding hearings this month.
• The South Carolina mom who challenged 93 books in a single day is now running for the school board.
• Free speech could be curtailed in Lee (Florida) schools. At issue are personalized email signatures.
• Why would a private university be leased public library space? Retaliation.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Ancient prisoners carved graffiti into the floors of a Roman-Era prison.
• These markers of Scandinavia's Bronze Age boatyards were hiding in plain sight.
• The wreck of a torpedoed World War I warship has been found in amazing condition.
• Archaeologists stumbled upon a 2,000-year-old dolphin mosaic in England.
• The rare pre-Inca burials of four people have been found at a "water cult" temple in Peru.
• Two ancient wells discovered in England suggest that even the Romans used trial and error.
• The 1,000-year-old remains of an "elite woman" in a silk cloak have been found in an abandoned fortress in Mongolia.
• A stunning Bronze Age burial chamber has been discovered on the English moor.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Learning to live beside endangered tigers may be the key to saving them.
• A study has found that marmosets use names to communicate with each other.
• The carrot-tailed chuckwalla (lizard) only lives in South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona-- and nowhere else.
• Why you shouldn't stop your dog from sniffing on walks.
• Finalists of the 2024 Ocean Photographer of the Year contest.
• Scientists think that boat-ramming orcas may be using yachts as target practice toys.
• Can you outsmart a raccoon?
• I've been keeping a close eye on Splash. He's an Arizona otter (born in my favorite Wildlife World Zoo here in Phoenix) who's being trained to sniff out evidence and victims underwater, and is already helping solve crimes in Florida.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• I remember reading Anne Rice's Interview With a Vampire. She's buried in the Rice family mausoleum in New Orleans.
• Remarkable documents lay bare New York's history of slavery.
• Experts have discovered 1,700 ancient viruses in a Tibetan glacier.
• Seven drive-ins where you can catch a film in style. (This was my favorite way to see movies in the summer when I was growing up.)
• The Mayor of Paris wants to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower.
• Phoenix has shattered a heat record with 100 consecutive days above 100 degrees. (Last week, we went over 106. I've lost track of what it is now...)
• The curious case of the Colorado River's missing water.
• The Poisoned Pen Bookstore marks 35 years of mysteries and thrillers.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• After Nigerian Independence, artist Bruce Onobrakpeya made Jesus a West African savior in his vibrant work.
• Italian mystery writer Antonio Manzini will captivate you.
• How Black Americans in the South boldly defied Jim Crow to build business empires of their own.
• Historical fiction writer Victoria Thompson has died at the age of 76.
• Lee Child says Jack Reacher would not exist without Birmingham's libraries.
• Pedro Almodóvar believes "Life needs fiction to make it bearable."

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The ten most interesting questions in the world of books and reading.
• Eleven books that are (probably) lost forever.
• Eight things Soylent Green got right (and wrong) about the future.
• The best books about the '80s and '90s.
• Twelve mysteries to read if you love Only Murders in the Building.
• Seven mysteries set in Northumbria, England.
• The best mystery and thriller shows on Hulu.
• Ten infamous films that spelled disaster for their famous directors.

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!