Links I love

 

I received some good news this week - my oral surgeon has cleared me to go back to regular activities! I've restarted running with a couch to 5K program and am going to the gym today to lift as well.  I'm so happy!  I hope that everyone is doing well!

• A different type of summer camp.
• Which American Girl Doll had the best clothing?
• John Grisham movie adaptations, ranked.
• The top risk factors for dementia.
• Costco's 8 best snacks to put in the airfryer.
• Is there anything else annoying about Whole Foods grocery shopping?
• Women are under muscled according to NPR.  i've been trying to increase protein and lift - I'm perimenopausal so this was timely!
• What makes a cabinet shaker style?
• Top ten scariest villains in science fiction.
• Top fantasy books for people who don't like fantasy.
• MMD's Part I of best books of summer (so far)
• NPR's publishing this week article - the Baldwin book looks good.
• 5 dark academia books that came before The Secret History.
• States with the highest and lowest literacy rates. 
• Historical novels set in Asia.
• There is a possibility that Queen Victoria had an affair.
• Interesting list.

Links I love

 

I'm sorry about being MIA - we were away last week.  We went here for the week and I didn't have my computer with me.  I like having a break but I definitely miss the routine. I also love that I cleaned my fridge -helpful when it's empty. So that's why I missed the last links I love!  I'm 

1. Will Little Free Library be impacted by online reading?
2. Celebrity book club picks for August, 2025.
3. These coffee companies grow their beans in the United States.
4. How do you know if ice cream has gone bad.
5. I may have to read this.
6. Gas stations and classical music.
7. Boston Public Library is using AI in a new way.
8. Why so many grocery store eggs are white.
9. How the new Aliens Franchise series fits into the timeline.
10. Bring It On is 25?!
11. Best coffee for longevity.
12. When was your State founded?
13. 11 most famous people of 1985.
14. Books about the American South that will change how you feel about the South
15. Interesting article on NPR book stories.

Enjoy!

REVIEW: The Barn by Wright Thompson

 

I was a history major in college, with a focus on the South.  When I travelled to Alabama (twice!) for training, I made sure to visit places, like the 16th Street Baptist Church.  So when I saw this book, I was intrigued. 

In this book, Thompson, a son of Mississippi, looks at the history of the land and the structure (which still stands) where Emmett Till was lynched. Thompson, in fact, grew up in the town where Till was killed, so this was a reckoning for him as well. I think that this gave him access that most people wouldn't have.  That being said, his research was masterful. He was able to go back in history and show how different points in history, things could have gone ever so slightly differently, which could have changed what happened to Till, a child, in th3 South of the 50's. Till's murder mattered to Thompson not only because it happened in his hometown, but because so many facts have been seemingly buried even though this artifact is in plain sight.

I learned that the barn currently is on a property owned by a dentist and it houses ornaments and the like.  The dentist had no idea what he had acquired. In 1955 the barn belonged to Leslie Milam, who took part in the slaying. No one knew that Milam played a role because the two killers protected him after their acquittal by an all white jury. The barn also signified another type of whitewashing - ludicrous allegations about the NAACP planting a corpse and claiming it was Till, disappearing transcripts of the trial, sightings of Till as a grown man (and those stories appearing in Southern history textbooks).

This powerful book is a must read for any person and will haunt you.  It's important simply because it unearths a part of the history that most of us don't know and because it keeps Till's memory and story alive. 

Links I love

 

Our trip last week was good!  This week we're in NY! I owe you a few reviews but they will have to wait until I get back!

• Millenials are changing what 40 looks like.
• Why buildings in Iceland are so colorful
• Booker Prize list is out.
• Best book club books for July.
• Going to try to make this.
• Ten most dangerous states for hikers.
• The best dystopian novels of all time.
• The best historical novels about real people.
• These look good too.
• Is there a short story that you still think about?
• This looks too pretty to eat.

Links I love

 

Last week, we (my daughter, son and I) went to see Brad Paisley up at Meadowbrook in Gilford, NH. I've seen him before and he sounded great, but he seemed to just be going through the motions. I'm not sure what was going on.  I hope that you enjoy the following links!

1. How long do you need to walk to feel better.
2. Take action regarding banned books.
3. 15 popular chocolate bars from around the world.
4. The Steamy subversive rise of the summer novel.
5. 5 books about toxic friendships.
6. I need to try these.
7. 4 abandoned places in Magic Kingdom that need some attention
8. These civil war books look good.
9. 12 novels set during weddings.
10. I love cookies.
11. 15 best storage containers from Walmart

REVIEW: Sisterhod of Ravensbruck by Lynne Olson

 

This book focuses on a group of Frenchwomen that were in the resistance during WW2 and who were imprisoned at Ravensbruck concentration camp during the same war. There were other women of other nationalities there, including a group of Polish women that were the subject of various medical experiments, but the focus was definitely on the French women. The time spent in the camp is only about half of the book with the other half being about the support that the women provided the other prisoners upon their release. What I really liked was how Olson managed to convey the community that these women created that saved their lives.  It was a tough book to read but the sense of community managed to get me through. I loved learning about this more obscure prison.  

Definitely a must read but on to something lighter. 

Links I love

 

I can't believe it's been a month since my last concert here, but t his weekend, we had another one going to see Brad Paisley, this time with my kids.  I think that they liked it, but it was a long day! On Monday, my daughter's room is being re-floored and I have gotten rid of a lot of her stuff.  Next up is the bathroom.

I hope that you enjoy the following links!

1. The Best Books on the Salem Witch Trials.
2. Does listening to an audiobook count as "reading?"
3. Here's how to tell if you have a Type B personality.
4. Top psychopaths in fiction.
5. Why is it called Pickleball?
6. Can you match the Disney Princess to their country?
7. Ten Saddest fantasy books of all time.
8. Why it's hard to read.
9.   This might be worth it.
10. Why marriage is gr eat for crime fiction.
11. 9 overlooked signs of dementia
12. Each state's most searched book genre of the summer. 
13. These are on the best of 2025 lists so far.
14. Notable new releases of summer 2025.
15. On its 100th birthday, a documentary grapples with its terrible legacy
16. 10 books on time travel that you may not have heard of.

Please check out BOTM club when you have a moment!  I do get a credit if you sign up.