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.