Happy Friday Links

11-1-24

The view from Harbor Springs looking across Little Traverse Bay to Petoskey

Hi readers,

Tell me, how is it November already? I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. Maybe time just seems to go faster as one gets older. As a child, I remember it took forever to get to Christmas, and now, it comes way too fast for me each year.

Next week is moving week—to another apartment in the same town, just a couple of miles away. I’m hoping this new apartment will be a better fit for me than the one I moved into after I retired last year. The packing is going much smoother this time since I got rid of so much stuff last time. I still seem to collect things, somewhat useless things, but I’ve tried to keep it to a minimum since I’ve retired. I guess that is just life! I do have lots of links for you this week, so let’s get started.

• In May this year, I shared a link to a video about Grizzly399 and the smiles she and her cubs have put on people’s faces for years. Unfortunately, she was hit by a car and died. In this WyoFile article, the long-term photographer of the grizzly, Tom Mangelsen, shares his love and grief for her.

• Many small towns without a bookstore would welcome one wholeheartedly. This small town of 400 residents hit the jackpot with seven bookstores, and they all seem to specialize in something different for the reader.

• I love the Currently Reading Podcast, and if you like listening to bookish podcasts, this is one of the best. In a recent episode, the hosts provided links to two websites to learn more about books and determine if the content is appropriate for a reader. One is about “book resumes,” and the other is about “ratings and reviews that parents trust” for books, movies, TV shows, games, and more. I had heard of the rating website before, but the resume website was new to me.

• Author

  Brooke Lea Foster
  is no stranger to SoNovelicious—I’ve mentioned her many times; she writes the newsletter
  Brooke Lea Foster's Dear Fiction
  . In September, she shared this post about a book club, a traveling ARC, and the special surprise she received in the mail. Yes, publishing will break your heart, but she says things like this make it all worthwhile.

• If you are like me and have problems decorating or styling bookshelves, this is the article for you. It has many pictures and ideas to help you make your bookshelves work for you.

• Last year, NY City cut funding for the NY Public Libraries (even though usage was surging), forcing the libraries to close on Sundays. In her newsletter Link in Bio, author

  Rachel Karten
  writes about how the “NYPL Meme’d Their Way Out of Budget Cuts” and funding was restored.

• What do you use for a bookmark? An old receipt, a napkin, a love letter, or how about a slice of sausage? The librarians at the Vienna Central Library have collected over 8,000 items used as bookmarks and have a new exhibition showing off some of the best.

• One of the fun posts that the Cup of Jo blog does is “home tours,” and the most recent home tour focuses on the bookshelves and reading nooks of J. Courtney Sullivan’s home. Along with lots of pictures, Courtney shares about her life and includes links to many of the items pictured.

• I read an article the other day about the New Orleans Book Festival. I started researching it for a trip next year and found all the recordings online from this year’s festival. What a great list of authors and presenters they had in 2024; I hope they are just as good in 2025.

• Roadside motels are making a comeback along Route 66 and other roadways. This Thrillist article looks at the history of lodging, the differences between a motel and a hotel, and what to expect from each.

• I’m a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS)—well, except for the few years I wasn’t a fan when it wasn’t very good. If you are a fan, you can probably figure out which years those were. I really enjoyed this Parade article about the music director and how the songs are picked and produced for each week’s show.

• BREAKING NEWS! If you are an e-book reader and use Everand (Scribd) for e-books, you will want to know more about this. BookRiot has a great article about the change to the subscription in both content and price and what it means to the reader.

I joined a local chapter of the non-partisan League of Women Voters earlier this year when I learned that Texas allows people to register voters by becoming a certified VDR (volunteer deputy registrar). I, along with other members of the League, worked to register hundreds of new voters all across the county I live in. Registering all these new voters led me to want to see what the process of being an “election clerk” looks like, so I signed up to work several days of early voting and on election day, too.

I’m amazed at all the checks and cross-checks put in place to ensure that voting is secure—I don’t see how the individual votes or machines could be tampered with and the tampering not be discovered. I’m even more amazed at the hours the clerks and election judges put in day after day. I don’t know how they do it as I’ve been exhausted from working five hours a day, just three days a week. It’s so fun to see the excitement of people voting for the very first time (age 18 or naturalization). We celebrate them by calling out “first time voter” and everyone claps, even those in the middle of voting. Many voters have thanked us for working at an early voting location so they can exercise their right to vote. If you haven’t already done so, please exercise your right to vote! It’s a right that we can’t take for granted.

Have a great weekend, don’t eat all the Halloween candy, and happy reading!