In the mid-late ’90s, I ran a mailing list, “chaingang,” whose sole purpose was to forward links and bits and bobs to interested parties. This is the 21st century version of that mailing list, compiled weekly.
- U.K. Visit History – Verra interesting interactive site by BBC History Magazine, which breaks down by region, category and eras of historical places of interest around the United Kingdom.
- Zero-Packaging Grocery Store to Open in Austin, Texas – Annoyed as balls that Grand Rapids cannot get a Whole Foods OR a Trader Joes, so excuse me while I sit here and stew.
- Pottermore gives away JK Rowling’s marketing genius – Say wht you will about the HP-verse and JK Rowling but this article is spot-on about fandoms, HP-verse and the future of book & eBook publishing.
- Death in a Pot – Story on the use of poisons in early 20th century as preservatives for food
- Unknown Caravaggio painting unearthed in Britain – I’m still a bit skeptical on this discovery, despite its supposed provenance
- British Library and Google bring 18th-century hippos to the web – BL & Google is digitizing all out of copyright works from 1700 to 1870
- Put a thousand books from the British Library on your iPad for free< – Available in the US as well
- Three Cups of Tea Author Greg Mortenson Sued for Fraud, Deceit, Breach of Contract – Fairly old news (from May), but we sold hundreds of copies of his book when I worked as a bookseller. Interesting opening to the idea of fake memoirs and what value, if any, they have. Remember James Frey?
- MGM Television Partners With The Team Behind “The Tudors” For Viking Series – With my passion for period dramas, medieval history AND mythologies coupled with an awesome production team, this is going to rock socks.