A Cathedral Library, Modern Anne Brontë, Kinder Travel & More: Endnotes 24 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 cathedral-like space above is the Graduate Reading Room in the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington in Seattle. It’s named for former University president Henry Suzzallo. The grand arches and other flourishes are a nod to the great halls at Oxford and Cambridge University and were inspired by Henry Suzzallo’s belief that universities should be ‘cathedrals of learning.’ Mere mortals like us can visit!

• Shawarma tacos? Yes, please. The food-and-travel show No Passport Required heads to LA for Armenian food.

• Want to win a copy of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s upcoming novel Mexican Gothic? (Trust me; you do.)

• In this essay about whether books can make us better travelers, author Shahnaz Habib says it’s worth wondering ‘if travel is actually essential to being a good traveler.’

• This is very cool: The boat-house from the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier has been located on a beach — and you can walk there. (I mean, if you’re in England, you can walk there.)

• Whoa. These abandoned ‘castles’ in Turkey are strange and sad.

• 65 recommended reads for those traveling to England (or who want to!)

• Of course graphic novels are books. And yes, that includes manga.

• On 17 January, it was the 200th birthday of Anne Brontë, forever relegated to being that ‘other Brontë sister.’ But her novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a groundbreaking powerhouse. This piece makes a strong case for why we should appreciate Anne’s modernity — and Vox says Anne might have been the most radical sister.

• David and I were guests on the What Should I Read Next? podcast this week. In addition to recommending three books with a strong sense of place to Anne Bogel, we also discussed why we never need to re-read Wuthering Heights. As it turns out, we’re not the only ones that feel this way: ‘And of Wuthering Heights I can only say that it is a staggering literary accomplishment that I would be quite happy to never read again.’

• Let’s make a pact to visit all of these Wes Anderson-inspired cafés.

• My travel journal includes scrapbook-style entries with glued-in postcards, cryptic bullet-point lists, and — perhaps most importantly — sketches of slices of cake. Whatever reminds you of your trip is the perfect record.

• Huh. So I guess I’m Benoit Blanc from Knives Out. (Take the quiz and share your results in comments!)

• I love it when Buzzfeed gets a little literary: Pride and Prejudice told in John Mulaney Gifs and 23 Jokes about The Great Gatsby.

• How to be a kinder traveler.

• Why not organize a dozen friends and RENT A CASTLE?!

• Our podcasts: We launched our podcast this week (!) with four episodes to whisper sweet book names in your ears. Listen now: Prague, Restaurants, Japan, Mexico.

• Bookish podcast of the week: On The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan, Erin Morgenstern talks about her new book and how her love of video games inspires her writing. Both David and I include her novel The Night Circus on the list of our all-time favorites, and we both read her latest The Starless Sea in one hazy, magical weekend. It’s a treat to hear Erin talk about her work.

• Travel podcast of the week: Museopunks is a podcast about progressive museums. In this episode, the hosts dive into a new permanent exhibition called Being Human at the Wellcome Collection in the UK. The exhibit explores what it means to be human in the 21st century, and the discussion with the curators is fascinating.

Wishing you a week that makes you feel good about being a human.

Top image courtesy of Dmitry Burlakov.