The time is fast approaching when Daisy and Suzanne will be here, and I'm trying to succeed in two totally different objectives: (1) get everything ready for them, and (2) rest up so I have some energy while they're here. The only thing I want to mention is that something weird has been going on around here. For almost a month, I couldn't use the remote to get to the streaming home page on our television. I was doing everything exactly the same as I always had, but I simply could not get on that blasted Roku home page. Denis was not amused every time I asked him to navigate to that page. He was convinced that I'd suddenly lost my mind and had forgotten how to do it. I knew that-- although my grasp on my marbles is loose sometimes, I had not lost them. Something weird was definitely going on! Well, guess what? During this last week-- all of a sudden-- I can use the very same remote, using the very same buttons in the very same order, to get anywhere I want to on that TV. Do you have any idea what happened? Any thoughts would be appreciated because I'm stumped! Have a great weekend, and enjoy the links! ►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄ Writer Tajja Isen tells us how to subtitle your book so people will read it. Drinking with Agatha Christie . Dune and the delicate art of making fictional languages . How a century of Black Westerns shaped movie history. Can song lyrics ever be literature? How Indie publishing meets corporate bookselling. Wander into this miraculous miniature library with thousands of book made entirely by hand. RuPaul's new bookstore dragged for selling controversial books. Mr. Darcy's famous wet shirt sells for $25,000. ►Book Banning & Censorship◄ The West Virginia House Judiciary inserts stalled library obscenity bill into the Senate AI child porn bill. A book pulled from a classroom in West Virginia hints at a larger debate. Book bans? Make that " intellectual freedom challenges ". How the book banning movement is censoring sexual violence . The Chino Valley (California) Unified School District board is considering a new policy that could remove books with "sexually obscene content" from school libraries, classrooms, and all other district facilities. Stratford (Connecticut) public schools may lose all remaining librarian positions . World Book Day finds children are put off reading for pleasure . Why is this in the book banning section? Read it and find out. State legislatures are waging war on public schools . Books on Black history and immigration were found in the trash by a Staten Island (New York) school, sparking an investigation. ►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄ A tube of ancient red lipstick was unearthed in Iran. Words etched into an ancient bronze hand hint at the mysterious origins of the Basque language. A metal detectorist unearthed a 1,500-year-old gold ring in Denmark. More from Smithsonian Magazine . The graves of a Roman family held jewelry, coins, and vials for storing mourners' tears. Divers recovered the bell from the wreck of an American destroyer sunk in World War I. DNA reveals the presence of Down Syndrome in ancient society . 1,000 burials and a medieval village were found in the excavation of an abbey destroyed in the French Revolution. Fourteen wrecks that expose "what life was like on slaver ships" have been identified in the Bahamas. A Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall reveals that bedbugs plagued Britain 1,900 years ago. ►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄ Hidden DNA found in blue whales reveals they've been mating with other species-- and their hybrid offspring. A study suggests that clownfish can "count" stripes on other fish to identify intruders. Smithsonian scientists discover a new species of hedgehogs hiding in plain sight. The dugong , a huggable, seagrass-loving sea cow, has a new best friend: drones. A study suggests that air pollution makes flowers smell less appealing to pollinators . (Makes sense to me.) According to a U.N. report, Earth's migratory animals are in peril. Two squirrels released into the wild come back often to visit their rescuer. Great apes love to tease, poke, and pester, suggesting that the urge to annoy is millions of years old. ►The Wanderer◄ Nassau and the Bahamas : death in paradise. A brief history of organized crime in the Florida Keys . Are the Great Lakes really inland seas? Paris is preparing for the Summer Olympics with a new exhibition at the Louvre. You can spend the night in the secret library tucked inside St. Paul's Cathedral. A Scottish castle with links to Mary, Queen of Scots ' third wedding comes up for auction. Gabriel García Márquez's hometown awaits his last book and more visitors. Point Nemo , the most remote place on Earth, has space junk and a sea monster. ►Fascinating Folk◄ Longmire series author Craig Johnson talks about its development and its future. The forgotten women who shaped the Roman Empire . Mildred and Patty Hill , the forgotten sisters behind "Happy Birthday to You." Before Beyonce and Taylor Swift ran the world, there was Joan Baez . Dolly Parton and sister Rachel Parton George reveal their new cookbook, Good Lookin' Cookin' . Aina Cederblom , the Swedish female adventurer who sailed solo around the world. Selina Zhang , the high schooler who invented an A.I.-powered trap that zaps invasive lanternflies. Mohammed V , the Moroccan sultan who protected his country's Jews during World War II. ►I ♥ Lists◄ Hulu's Shōgun is a hit. Check out author James Clavell's five best movies and shows , ranked. The 2024 Audie Winners for Best Audiobooks . Ten of the best bookish gifts for gardeners . Women behaving badly: a reading list . Thirteen must-read new World War II novels . Seventeen books set on islands . Books that inspired Oscar-nominated films . Saddle up for these Western mysteries . 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! © Cathy G. Cole of Kittling: Books All rights reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Kittling: Books or Cathy's feed , be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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