2024 Posts / Top Ten Tuesday

#Top Ten Tuesday – Weird / Funny things I’ve Googled Thanks to a Book

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Hey Bibliofriends,

Happy Tuesday! How is your week going so far? This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is the Top Ten Weird / Funny things I’ve googled thanks to a book. This was submitted by Astilbe @ Long and Short Reviews and I’m not going to lie – this was a seriously difficult post to write. I’m pretty sure I’ve done this more times than I think I have, however I just can’t remember them so apologies if you don’t get a full 10 things from me this week. If you don’t already know, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly, list-themed book prompt hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

  1. How did Virginia Woolf die? I was reading The Hours by Michael Cunningham which is based on author Virginia Woolf and some of her most popular characters. The opening scene retells the story of Virginia Woolf’s suicide, and some weird part of me just had to google if that was actually how/what had happened. It was a brilliant story though, incredibly moving!
  2. The Silver Swan Automaton – Several years ago, I became captivated by the story of a bird automaton which was a central plot device in Peter Carey’s novel The Chemistry of Tears. I was so intrigued by this object that when googling it, I found out that it was actually based upon a real automaton of a silver swan which eats fish from a glass pool. It’s such a remarkable creation and can be found at The Bowes Museum which is near Durham in the North of England. It’s a little too far away for a day trip but I’m certainly hoping I’ll be able to see it one day.
Image from The Bowes Museum Website
  1. Willie Lincoln’s death and the bardo – This one came when I was reading the book Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. I had no idea that a bardo is a buddhist or tibetan reference to the state of purgatory between death and rebirth. I was also intrigued to see how much of the references to Willie Lincoln’s death were also true.
  2. Who has died on a toilet? A particular character’s death at the end of George R. R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords had me wickedly chuckling to myself; it reminded me that I had heard about Elvis Presley dying whilst on/in the toilet – so of course, I had to google it and find out the internet’s version of the truth!
  3. Passetto di Borgo – I love a good conspiracy theory so I could probably have filled up this list with those kinds of things, however I remember reading one of the Robert Langdon adventures in Dan’s Brown’s books and having to investigate whether there was definitely a pentagram at Castel Sant’angelo and a secret passageway linking to the Vatican. Whilst the pentagram was added for the effects of the books and movies, the passageway is real. Known as the Passetto di Borgo, it was used as an evacuation / escape route for Pope Clement VII in 1527.
  4. Mother, Maiden and Crone – I tried to find out more about the history / symbology of these when reading The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow.
  5. Las Ramblas & The Cemetery of Forgotten Books – I’m a huge fan of Carlos Ruiz Zafôn’s work so upon discovering the fictional Cemetery of Forgotten Books, I had to google Barcelona’s Las Ramblas area to see if such a place did exist. It’s a city that remains high on my travel bucketlist!
  6. Elizabeth de Munck’s Grave – Whilst reading Robert Galbraith’s The Ink Black Heart, I became fixated with the gravestones in Highgate Cemetery (a featured location within the novel), but particularly the grave of Elizabeth de Munck which is notable for its pelican imagery and symbolism. I then went on to visit the graveyard in a later trip to London, just to see it for myself!
Image Credit: The London Dead on Blogspot
  1. Paper Towns – After falling in love with Graham Greene’s novel Paper Towns, I became intrigued with the concept of what a paper town is and did a whole big google search about existing paper towns today – with digital technology it’s becoming a bit of a past-time, however it would still be fun to find one on a map!
  2. The Secret (treasure hunt) – If you’re not new to my blog, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of treasure hunts. A couple of years ago, I became hooked on a mysterious podcast called ‘Rabbits’ which had an accompanying novel linked to the show. In it was referenced a real life treasure hunt hosted by Bryon Preiss called ‘The Secret’ where 12 treasure boxes have been hidden across the US and Canada. Clues to the locations are in a book published The Secret by Preiss and as of yet, only 3 of the 12 boxes have been discovered. If I ended up winning the lottery, cracking these codes and finding these boxes would probably become my new full-time occupation! I’m borderline obsessed! 😂
Image from The Secret (Treasure Hunt) Page on Wikipedia

That’s it! My Top Ten weird / funny things I’ve googled thanks to books – lots of death, gothic, macabre and grave references…?! Have you read any of the books these selections have come from? What are some of your own weird and wonderful bookish google confessions? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

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