Happy Friday Links

7-28-23

This is Rexy, the 20” (full-size)T-Rex dinosaur skeleton (artist-created) that now has a home at the new Frisco Library in the town where I live. The kids that visit the library love it!

Happy Friday!

It seems to take forever to get through the week and to the weekend, and then you blink, and it’s already Monday again. Quite unfair if you ask me! Seriously though, how have you been? Have you read any good books lately? Surprisingly, I’ve finished a few since we were together last, and I’m almost finished with a couple more. I’m looking forward to reading this weekend amongst all the packing and getting ready for my move.

I haven’t published Friday links since the beginning of July, and I’ve saved up several that will interest you, inform you, and put a smile on your face. Let’s dive right in.

• I often get distracted by shiny new books and leave the ones I wanted to read to gather dust. Here are a few tips from BiblioLifestyle on how to keep the books you want to read front and center in your reading life.

• Check out this short video from the Cerritos Library, known as one of the world's most unique and immersive libraries. My next trip to Southern California will include a visit, and I can’t wait.

• Many say that Banyon Moon by

  Thao Thai
  is a must-read this summer. The author writes Wallflower Chats on Substack, and in this post, she detailed the whirlwind 48 hours after her debut book was released. It sounds like she had so much fun; I’m happy for her and her success.

• As many people do, I use Goodreads to track my reading. It’s not perfect, but it does what I need it to do, so I’m okay with it. This WaPo article (gift link) details what went wrong after Amazon bought it and why many have switched to other ways to track their reading.

• How a book goes from an idea in an author’s mind to a finished product has always fascinated me. This BookRiot article dives into all the details of book cover design; I may never look at a book cover the same way again.

• As a young adult, I loved reading Jackie Collins novels. The glitz and glam her books provided allowed me to escape into a world I’d never be a part of, but it was fun anyway. Daughter Rory Green tells what it was like growing up with Collins as her mother.

• If you are new to reading e-books or want to understand how to get library e-books on your Kindle, here is one of the best articles I’ve read with step-by-step instructions on beginning your e-reading journey.

• This culinary history tour takes you back one hundred years to where and how the hamburger began. It also links to other great burger joints and provides helpful tips for making your own “great burger” at home.

• Occasionally I sing the praises of the Cup of Jo website, and I’m doing it again this week. In this article, Zibby Owens shares a list of books to read next. The best part of most of the posts on the website is the reader’s comments. They usually number in the hundreds and are so fun to read through for more information related to the post’s topic. If you are looking for things to do with friends besides dinner, this post and the comments are a goldmine of fun things. Thanks to Modern Mrs. Darcy for putting it on my radar last week.

• Here’s another Cup of Jo gem over three hundred comments deep about a dream vacation. Maybe some of these will inspire you to plan your own dream vacation.

• In the past, I wrote this newsletter about author writing duos and featured the writing duo of Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. In this Zibby Mag article, this duo discusses writing books together and their long friendship. They also have a podcast called We Fight So You Don’t Have To about writing together, friendship, interviews with other authors, and a six-episode mini-series on “rejection.” This series details how, in their own words, their previous book, “How to Save a Life,” failed spectacularly, and their publisher dropped them. They get a little saucy in their episodes, so this probably isn’t the podcast to listen to when little ears are around.

• Kalamata’s Kitchen, a website for food-curious teens, younger kids, and their parents, has a great older article about the new Top Chef host, Kristen Kish. I’m excited about her as the new host, and I can’t wait for the Wisconsin season next year. This Midwest Living article tells about the state's many great foods and places the show might and should visit.

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I hope you found something enjoyable and fun to read from the links above. Maybe some of these sources of bookish goodness will find their way into your leisure time this weekend. Let me know which links you enjoyed. You can tell me in the comments below.

I’m down to one month left at work, and I’m busy training my replacement and trying to wrap up my final tax returns and other projects. I’ve got two weeks until I get the keys to my new apartment, and I can’t wait to move into it the last week of August. I’m busy packing and going through things, and I’ve found many Little Free Libraries in my area to drop off a bunch of books I’ve accumulated over the years and don’t need anymore. I hope you have a great weekend of fun, family, and of course, lots of reading. Happy reading!

Some of the links in this newsletter may be affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. This costs you nothing and helps me feed my voracious reading habit, and for that, I thank you.