Kittling: Books

A Where Did It Go?!? Weekly Link Round-Up

2026-11-05T13:10:51.891-07:00

Arizona got walloped with rain over the weekend, and I've been enjoying watching all the videos taken of lakes filling with badly needed water. Usually a dry riverbed through the valley, the Salt River is running with a vengeance as dams have to release water to make room for more. My heart goes out to flood victims; I've had my own problems with flooding here, but Mother Nature treated Casa Kittling kindly this time. Just a modicum of flooding in the yard, and no mud and debris in the pool. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mother Nature!

Enough of the weather-- I have a conundrum! A few decades ago, I was in Costco and fell in love with a set of four dark blue soup mugs. They came home with me and have been used hundreds, if not thousands, of times since.

A week ago, I unloaded the dishwasher and put all its contents away. It wasn't until I noticed an empty soup mug hook on the rack that I found out one of the mugs was missing. Somehow, it disappeared from the dishwasher because I know it was in there when I turned it on. Now... I've heard of socks disappearing from the dryer, but... soup mugs from the dishwasher? I still haven't found the thing!

Where did you go?

Virtual hugs to you all, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

The olfactory history of book collecting.
As budgets tighten, people are breaking out their library cards.
Gulliver's Travels turns 300. Jonathan Swift's "profound satire of human nature" is still just as bitingly relevant.
It's glitchy. It's mean. It's a mess. It's Angelina Mazza's favorite website on the internet (Goodreads).
Why is a V-shaped hairline called a "widow's peak"?
On the art (and artifice) of the miniature.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

Greece has its own Pompeii, and the ruins tell a captivating story of a sophisticated, seafaring Bronze Age society.
Faded over millennia, the intricately carved sandstone walls of this ancient Egyptian shrine will see color once again.
A new contender for the world's oldest shipwreck has been discovered off the coast of Turkey. Its ancient cargo is a "time capsule" from 4,700 years ago.
A community-led archaeology dig on a tiny Scottish isle has unearthed a medieval monastery of "international importance."
A new exhibition reveals how hot pink togas and floral perfumes conveyed power in the Roman Empire.
A landlord found a peculiar print hanging in a vacant apartment. It turned out to be an original Picasso that had been missing for eight years.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

From hunting hounds to modernist muses, dachshunds have done it all. See the world's first art exhibition dedicated exclusively to the sausage dog.
The amazing cuttlefish-- the expert of disguise.
Oil paintings of animals doing human things add a hilarious twist to a classic medium.
How an ancestral Peruvian ceremony is saving the once-endangered vicuña.
Orcas are bringing humans gifts of food-- but why?
Video reveals an unlikely bond between ocelots and opossums in the Amazon, walking together like "old friends."

►The Wanderer◄

24 of America's best-preserved ghost towns.
The most-viewed place in all 50 states (and Washington, D.C.).
How an Irish backroad tradition is rolling into small-town America.
London's railway for the dead.
Traveling Route 66 in the age of data centers.
Île Sainte-Marguerite in Cannes, France, once housed the mysterious prisoner known as the "Man in the Iron Mask."

►Fascinating Folk◄

A secret Dolly Parton memoir recently sold for $13 million.
Inside Eudora Welty's home in Jackson, Mississippi.
20 movie stars of the '90s who disappeared from Hollywood.
The writing habits that helped Sylvia Plath create her most famous work.
Remembering Mark Pryor, beloved crime novelist and iconic Austinite.
Finding Krao Farini.

►I ♥ Lists◄

20 books that are a feast for the eyes.
20 everyday things from the '80s and '90s that are now worth money.
6 slang words from the 1950s we still use today.
New historical fiction titles.
14 of the best crime novels about deadly secrets.
These disaster thrillers will keep you turning pages.

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!

Have Courage by Craig Johnson

2026-11-03T10:43:40.383-07:00

First Line from Introduction: The man is medicine.

A few years back, Craig Johnson began what was to become a favored tradition for his readers: a short story delivered to their inboxes on Christmas Eve. He didn't have a clue that the first story was the beginning of that tradition, but all the requests for more made it so.

This is a collection of a baker's dozen Christmas-themed short stories for anyone who likes to smile while they read. Whether it's a twist you didn't see coming, an astute observation of human nature, or laugh-out-loud humor, this collection is good for what ails you.

With lines like "They stole the baby Jesus again," you'll find yourself in Absaroka County spending some quality time with Sheriff Walt Longmire. Just thinking about Have Courage makes me smile all over again.

Even if you don't care for short stories, I don't think you should miss this one.

Have Courage by Craig Johnson

eISBN: 9798217379491

eBook, 256 pages

Short Stories, Walt Longmire

Rating: A

Source: NetGalley

A More Treats Than Tricks Weekly Link Round-Up

2026-10-29T13:23:09.092-07:00

I've been enjoying these quiet weeks so much here at Casa Kittling that I've been putting off things that need to be done. Of course, there's another reason why I've been putting them off: money. The house needs to be painted, but before that's done, I have to make sure all the trees and shrubbery are trimmed so the painters can do their work. I've got the money; I just don't want to turn loose of it.

And while I'm on the subject of money, I'm very close to putting a reward out for anyone who kills the mosquito that lurks here in the office, waiting to belly up to the bar (me). I'm wearing my sandalwood-scented lotion, which helps a great deal, but there's still that high-pitched whine around my ears that drives me nuts. Now... I'm the patient sort. I've been known to sit still, watching a mosquito feed on my arm, until the time is right to smear that little so-and-so into eternity. But this little devil's too smart for that.

Looking on the bright side, at least it only lurks in here in the office!

I'm continuing to knock the rust off my French by watching as many Alain Delon movies as I can. Not only was the man insanely handsome, but he starred in some excellent films.

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate. I'm more of a Día de los Muertos girl myself, as you can see by the greeting card I received above. I've got to get these links sorted so I can go back to the book I've just started: Elly Griffiths' The Killing Time. Virtual hugs to you all. Enjoy the links!