Kittling: Books
Birds fly. Dogs bark. Fire burns. I read. (Mostly mysteries.)
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
While Miz Kittling Knits: I, Claudius
Monday, March 11, 2024
Dark Dive by Andrew Mayne
Sunday, March 10, 2024
On My Radar: Michael Bennett's Return to Blood!
Available May 21, 2024! |
When her daughter finds another young woman’s skeleton in the sands, Hana soon finds herself awkwardly involved. Investigators suspect that this is Kiri Thomas, a young Māori woman who disappeared four years earlier, after battling years of drug addiction. Hana and her daughter Addison are increasingly captivated by the story behind this unsolved crime, but without the official police force behind her, Hana must risk compromising her own peace and relationships if justice is to be served.
Expanding the range of vivid characters who made Michael Bennett’s first book, Better the Blood, so appealing, and offering a shocking twist at the end, Return to Blood takes readers further into Māori culture and traditions as it engages us more deeply into the story of Hana Westerman."
Thursday, March 07, 2024
The Best Kind of Luck Weekly Link Round-Up
- Inside the biggest art fraud in history.
- To make Tiffany & Co. a household name, the luxury brand's founder cashed in on the trans-Atlantic telegraph craze.
- What one reader discovered when she cleared her Goodreads TBR.
- When Goodreads reviews go bad.
- How the pandemic ruined our understanding of "free" time.
- Bring back the big, comfortable bookstore reading chair.
- When Ian Fleming got sick of James Bond.
- Why are we all so obsessed with book clubs now?
- New Mexico's anti-book ban bill is dead.
- The Georgia GOP senators seek to ban sexually explicit books from school libraries and reduce sex education.
- The Utah House gives finally passage to legislation that clarifies school library book challenges.
- Ron DeSantis wants to rebrand the book banning mess he created.
- Moms for Liberty takes aim at Howard County (Maryland) school library books.
- Calgary (Canada) police are investigating after LGBTQ+-themed library books are returned damaged.
- Newfane Public Library (New York) board president and other trustees have resigned.
- Spring Branch (Texas) Independent School District confirms imminent elimination of all school librarian positions.
- The Kenosha County (Wisconsin) Board votes 16-5 against a plan calling for adult-only sections in libraries.
- Citizens speak out against censorship in Metropolis (Illinois) Public Library.
- A Georgia school board upheld the firing of a teacher for reading a book about gender identity to fifth graders.
- Book ban wars expand in deep-red Texas county.
- A bill to end book bans is on the table in Minnesota.
- This Bronze Age treasure was crafted with extraterrestrial metal.
- Archaeologists discover a rare Roman funerary bed buried beneath London.
- Was this villa Pliny the Elder's front-row seat to Mount Vesuvius' eruption?
- A new discovery has revealed that Romans kept poisonous, narcotic seeds concealed in bone vials.
- An 11,000-year-old submerged stone wall discovered off the coast of Germany was once used to trap reindeer.
- A metal detectorist found a rare 3,000-year-old dress fastener.
- Ancient rock art in an Argentinian cave may have transmitted information across 100 generations.
- An 1,800-year-old "Iron Legion" Roman base discovered near "Armageddon" is the largest in Israel.
- Dolphins are "literally acting like jerks" by beating up baby manatees.
- Camouflaged animals are hiding in every one of these photos. Can you spot them all?
- Officials now have a theory as to why animals are acting strange at an Arizona national park.
- Alligators survived a cold snap by becoming "frozen solid" in North Carolina and Texas ponds.
- Scientists announced that they're changing the names of birds named after people. Things are about to get complicated.
- Why NASA is watching where Idaho's parachuting beavers landed.
- These parrots won't stop swearing. Will they learn to behave-- or corrupt the entire flock?
- Flaco, the famous owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo, dies after hitting a building.
- Experts are shocked by the record-breaking longevity of Death Valley's phantom lake.
- This app lets Inuit combine traditional knowledge with scientific data.
- 38,000 sandhill cranes flock to Nebraska in a record-breaking start to spring migration. Seeing thousands of these birds at one of their winter homes is a favorite memory of mine.
- Nuremberg: city of dreams and nightmares.
- Sixteen places every cheese lover should visit.
- The real-world locations of fourteen Sci-Fi dystopias.
- The Highlands noir of Inverness.
- Mexico City could be just months away from running out of drinking water.
- Tom Baragwanath on becoming an accidental crime novelist.
- The true story of Pocahontas is more complicated than you might think.
- James Cook has been using only a typewriter to create drawings for the last ten years.
- Jon Foreman turns found stones and shells into beautiful beach installations.
- Paul McCartney was reunited with his bass guitar that disappeared 50 years ago-- with a little help from his fans.
- Meet Smithsonian scientist Dr. Dave Pawson who has spent decades exploring the ocean depths.
- Anaxagoras and the eclipse: the first to get it right.
- Mary Jackson: Black women were also lynched.
- Seven noir books set in Hollywood.
- Twelve discontinued breakfast cereals.
- Six friends-to-frenemies thrillers.
- Nine historical mysteries that have been adapted to film.
- Fifteen new historical mysteries and thrillers to read in 2024.
- Nine of the most thought-provoking mysteries ever written.
- Five of the best books about grief.
- Twelve of the best accessories to personalize your Kindle.
Wednesday, March 06, 2024
The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn
Tuesday, March 05, 2024
A Visit to the Phoenix Art Museum, Part Four
As you can see, some of the paintings are quite striking. That's Denis taking a photo. |
"Processing Sheep" (1976, oil on linen) by Willard Franklin Midgette. |
"Desert Rain God" (2009, oil on canvas) by Louisa McElwain. |
"Nuestro Señor el Desollado" (2004, acrylic on canvas) by Paul Pletka. |
Detail. |
"The FLamingo Gate" (1924, oil on canvas) by Theodore Van Soelen. |
"Margo Phillips Beutler" (1914-1915, oil on board) by W. Herbert Dunton. One of my favorites. |
"Out of the Mist" (1988, watercolor and gouache on paper) by James Boren. With unfortunate but stubborn reflection... |
Detail with stubborn reflection... |
Striking statue that I somehow managed not to get the name of or the artist's name. |
View of Western American art gallery. |
View of Western American art gallery. |