A Fodder and Celebration Weekly Link Round-Up

 

"Revolving Door" Week was last week at Casa Kittling. This week, there are most of the usual chores, but Denis and I are looking to do something a bit different since it's my birthday and our twenty-second anniversary Wednesday. (As you can see, I'm getting this week's posts done ahead of time.)

We were looking forward to going to the Desert Botanical Garden, but the weather forecast calls for wet, chilly, and overcast for most of the week, so we've decided to do something indoors. Our plans are to visit the Phoenix Art Museum. Denis has never been there, and I haven't visited since the 1980s when a visiting exhibition of Impressionist art was in town. (I stood in front of one of Monet's Water Lily paintings and wished I could sneak it off the museum wall and onto one of my own.) In checking the museum's website, I can see that it's undergone many changes in almost forty years. There are several collections that I want to see, and I certainly want to see the Thorne Rooms again. We're looking forward to a celebratory stroll through the place.

Last week, I mentioned that I was waiting for some yarn to be delivered-- fodder for future projects. It did get here, although I do wonder if the packer of the second delivery couldn't've found a bigger box to put the three skeins of yarn in!

 

I hope you're all staying warm and dry. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• How Christmas murder mysteries became a U.K. holiday tradition.
• According to the American Library Association, Gen Z and Millennials are visiting the library and prefer print books.
• The rise of "Mom-Noir."
• How "that octopus book" won over more than a million readers. (And I'm one of them.)
• The Taylor Swift Little Golden Book becomes the series' biggest seller.
• How literature enables us to inhabit new worlds.
• How the Amish community stays knit together, and why it makes for the perfect setting for a mystery.
• What booksellers can teach us about reading, writing, and publishing.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Proposed anti-book ban bills have been presented in Massachusetts.
• An anti-book ban bill has also been introduced in New Mexico.
• An Idaho committee passed an LGBTQ+ book ban on MLK Day.
• An Idaho Republican wants to allow damage claims for "harmful" materials in libraries. 
• South Carolina lawmakers target books in public school libraries with a proposed ratings system.
• A Clay County (Florida) school board meeting talked finance and plans for an open forum on book bans. 
• Despite being found in violation of Illinois's Open Meetings Act, the Yorkville school district is holding fast to its decision to remove a book from its curriculum.
• Danville and West Burlington (Iowa) school districts say they will continue following the state's school book ban and instruction law despite the court injunction.
• An Arizona school district is considering a policy that would allow the public to "challenge" books. 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• An "unsolvable" code hidden in an antique dress pocket has finally been cracked.
• The medieval grave of a "very, very powerful" man and his 4-foot-long sword has been unearthed in Sweden. 
• A Roman imperial cult temple was unearthed beneath a parking lot in Italy.
• Ancient Egyptian mummy masks, tombs, and a "god of silence" statue have been discovered at Saqqara. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
  
• How archaeologists are unearthing the secrets of the Bahamas' first inhabitants.
• An Iron Age moat was discovered in a Jerusalem parking lot.
• Miners discovered a seven-foot mammoth tusk in North Dakota.
• The surprising roots of ancient Rome's gladiator fights.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• A new drug that could extend dogs' lives inches closer to approval.
• Traumatized elephants saved from poaching learn to trust their instincts again.
• Dominica's sperm whales have a surprising superpower: poop.
• Wolverines receive federal protection as a threatened species in the lower 48 states.
• A study has found that bottlenose dolphins may have an electric sense.
• Studying the extraordinary evolution of dragonflies.
• A South American bird called the cattle tyrant makes a rare appearance in Texas, thousands of miles from home.
• The adventures and trials of Jack, the scat-sniffing superdog.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• These satellite maps reveal rampant fishing by untracked "dark vessels" in the world's oceans.
• Crime fiction in the Pacific Northwest.
• Immerse yourself in the unexpected art scene in downtown L.A.
• You can now walk down "Rue David Bowie" in Paris.
• The hidden dangers of road salt.
• When hitchhiking was wholesome.
• A website where you can virtually drive in cities all over the world while listening to local radio stations.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Ada Blackjack's secret weapon.
• Madame Restell, the abortion provider who became the most hated woman in New York.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Here are the ten books that have sold the most copies in the UK in 2023 according to Amazon.
• The New Yorker's Best Books of 2023.
• A reading list of novels set in hotels.
• The best bookstores and libraries to follow on TikTok.
• Sixteen uplifting books coming out in 2024.
• The best historical mysteries of 2024.
• Fifteen books set in California.
• Twelve tips for how to read as many books as possible.

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!