Eat Like a Popeiian, How to Read a Novel, Railway Dining Cars & More: Endnotes 03 January

Every Friday, we celebrate the weekend — and all the reading and relaxing and daydreaming time ahead — with Melissa's favorite book- and travel-related links of the week. Why work when you can read fun stuff?!

This post is part of our Endnotes series.

That stunning view of the Caucasus mountains includes the Trinity Gergeti Church in Kazbegi, Georgia. The main church and the separate bell tower were both built in the 14th century. In addition to being used for religious services, the country’s national treasures were socked away there for safekeeping during times of strife. Today, the church is a popular destination for trekkers — although the trip was made a bit easier in 2018 with the construction of a paved road to the top.

• We’re hooked on the Dickinson series starring Hailee Steinfeld as the teenaged poet. Sadly, there was an Emily Dickinson-sized hole in my literary education, so I’m playing catch-up. This PBS crash course is entertaining and educational. As an m-dash devotee, I’m quite taken with her habit of ending lines with a dash.

• Get your bacchanal on like a Pompeiian with this historical dinner in London that recreates a menu from the ancient Roman city.

• Watch every episode of Samantha Brown’s travel show Places to Love online for free.

• I signed up for the free FutureLearn class ‘How to Read a Novel’, starting 20 January. Want to join me?

• This is an older link, but still great: Erik Larson, author of Dead Wake and Devil in the White City, answers the Times’ By the Book questions.

• Do you want to work at a Scottish castle?!

• Ah, the romance of a railroad dining car.

• Lynda Barry is a wonderful cartoonist, and these pages from her book Making Comics are like rocket fuel for your imagination.

• Tipping makes the world go ‘round! Take this quiz to test your knowledge of tipping etiquette.

• Clues That You Are the Unorthodox Detective in a Murder Mystery (!!!)

• Bookish podcast of the week: The funny and insightful Overdue is a podcast about ‘the books you’ve been meaning to read.’ In this episode, the hosts dive into The Eyre Affair by Jaspar Fforde. It’s a fantasy set in an alternative 1985 with a literary detective who enters books to solve crimes, and in this case, the book is Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

• Travel podcast of the week: On the Sidedoor podcast from the Smithsonian, host Lizzie Peabody talks to experts to get the behind-the-scenes story on artifacts. This episode introduces us to Edmonia Lewis, the first American woman of color to achieve international fame as a sculptor. Her masterwork was a 3000-pound sculpture called The Death of Cleopatra — and then it disappeared.

Welcome to 2020. Wishing you great books and the best adventures.

Top image courtesy of Iman Gozal.