A Staying Cool Weekly Link Round-up

 

With temperatures consistently in the 110°F/44°C range, I'm being sensible. I get my outside chores done quickly and get myself back inside in the air conditioning. I have noticed, however, that my outside chores have given me an interesting "farmer's tan." In looking up that phrase, I see that few mention a true farmer's tan. There's not only forearms darkly tanned from wearing short-sleeved shirts, but there's also the white forehead from wearing some sort of hat. How do I know this? I grew up in farm country, that's how!

Now my own version is a bit more esoteric. I'm developing a bit of a white mask from wearing sunglasses, and my forearms are nicely tanned down to two inches above my hand. Those tan lines are due to the gloves I always wear. The garden hose I use is metal, and I touch other metal objects in doing those outside chores, so I don't want severe burns on my hands and fingers. (My mama didn't raise an idiot.) So far, the only person who's noticed my tan lines is my home health nurse, but I don't care if everyone sees them. (And take into consideration that those outside chores only take an average of ten minutes a day. Never underestimate the desert sun!)

Other than that, inside chores, reading, watching television, and doing needlepoint, all done in the comfort of air conditioning, is the order of the day. That, and watching hummingbirds making good use of the hanging solar fountain, and two huge dragonflies chasing each other back and forth above the pool. It's too hot for the starlings, so I'm enjoying their absence. 

Want to see the wall of tissue box covers I'm building?

Five are for one friend, and I'll bet you can guess which one's Daisy's. I'm working on one for my niece, Karen, right now. The wall isn't going to get much higher-- I think-- because I don't have much canvas left. Once it's gone, I'll switch back to knitting.

I hope you're all staying cool and reading some good books. Virtual hugs to you all, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The rise of the "hot literati"-- how reading became sexy.
• How the role of book cover design has changed in the age of social media.
• How owning books became everybody's business.
• The open-source software saving the internet from AI bot scrapers.
• Barbie vs. Barbie: Inside the legal battle over the world's most famous doll.
• Jeopardy!'s most controversial moment was years in the making. It took many more for the fallout to come into full view.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Mummy mask with wig: A 1,000-year-old "false head" found in Peru that was crafted with real human hair and toxic red cinnabar.
• This ship sank in the Baltic Sea with presents bound for a Romanov czar. Its cargo included champagne, luxury mineral water, and rare meteorites.
• Stone Age tombs in Scotland reveal "webs of descent" among male relatives.
• The millennium-old sacrificial altar in Mexico belonged to a civilization that thrived before the Aztecs.
• Massive Iron Age hoards discovered in England may be from the funeral of a powerful Celtic queen.
• If Mount Vesuvius erupted in August, why were Pompeii victims wearing heavy wool garments?

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Why are these whales floating upside-down? They might just be moms who need a break from feeding their babies. (Can you blame them?)
• "A forest with bonobos has never been so quiet": The most extreme case of violence in the "hippie" species recorded, with females ganging up on a male in an unprecedented attack.
• This massive web-- home to more than 100,000 spiders-- found in a cave in Europe could be the world's largest.
• Watch a wolf cleverly raid a crab trap for a snack. It might be the first evidence of a wild canid using a tool.
• Newly discovered toads skip the tadpole stage and give birth to live "toadlets."
• A closer look at the kestrels, hedgehogs, and other wild animals that inhabit Rome.

►The Wanderer◄

• This 1863 massacre was the deadliest slaughter of Native Americans in U.S. history. Now, the Shoshone are restoring the site of the attack. 
• This alligator-rich swamp in the American South just joined the UNESCO World Heritage list, along with the home of the Greek gods.
• Kale Island disappeared under rising seas in the Pacific. A new sculpture marking the spot will morph into a home for seabirds, coral, and marine life.
• Months after burglars stole crown jewels from the Louvre, the Apollo Gallery reopens, highlighting its origins as a royal reception hall.
• Hollywood's iconic Cinerama Dome, one of the world's most famous movie theaters, is set to reopen in early 2028.
• Jane Austen never loved Bath, but Bath loves Jane Austen. Now, the city is exploring why the novelist was so unhappy there.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Meet archaeobotanist Kevin Wann who's studying how ancient human migrations shaped a hotbed of avocado diversity in Central America.
• Art sleuths discovered a lost and "enormously important" portrait of an elite Indian woman by pioneering Scottish painter Katherine Read.
• Did these ancient Egyptian princesses wield weapons and train in martial arts, just like the men of their time?
• Country music legend Dolly Parton's autobiographical musical exploring her journey from East Tennessee will hit Broadway this winter.
• A scholar recognized the inscriptions in the margins of this manuscript. The scribbles turned out to be Galileo's handwritten notes.
• James Sallis: What this crime fiction master leaves behind.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Kirkus' 20 best books to read in August.
• 7 household items every British Regency family owned.
• BookBub's most anticipated historical fiction of the second half of 2026.
• Visit 24 islands in these summery novels.
• 7 of the best mysteries set in British villages.
• 5 mysteries set at literary events, conferences, and retreats.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!