Vintage Egypt, Agatha Christie Locations, Literary Destinations & More: Endnotes 12 June

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 gorgeous green vista above is part of Queen Elizabeth National Park in the Kasese District of Uganda. It’s located in the western part of the country, along the equator. I was sent a-Googling about Uganda by a fascination with the shoebill stork that lives in the Ugandan wetlands. (Do you know about this bird?!) But then I was distracted by this striking photo and the animals that live in the park: African buffalo, hippos, giant forest hogs, and warthogs! Nile crocodiles! African bush elephants! African leopards and lions! {more on the park}

• If you haven’t yet, please read our statement of support for protesters and the Black Lives Matter movement. There are more links at the bottom of this post to continue learning and protesting during this vital time.

• How well do you know these famous literary destinations? (Can you beat my score? I got 13 right.)

• Rick Steves continues to be an excellent human. When a small number of his followers criticized him for supporting Black Lives Matter, he responded: ‘Travel and politics are related. And I’ve been mixing travel and politics for years.’ And then went on in Stevian fashion to lay out a beautiful explanation of what he means by that.

• The Sirens Conference recommended 50 sci-fi/fantasy works by Black women, nonbinary, and trans folks. I added so many to my TBR that also have a strong sense of place.

• I’d love to visit Egypt, and/but more specifically, I’ve love to visit Egypt some time between the Victorian era and 1930. These snaps, taken by pioneering photographer Francis Bedford, are about as close as we can get without inventing a time machine. (Corollary: Is someone working on a time machine?) Bedford accompanied the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) and Queen Victoria on a four-month trek through Egypt, the Holy Land, and Greece in 1862. His photos are accompanied in the online exhibit by excerpts from the prince’s journal, newspaper clippings, and drawings.

• Let yourself be transported to an Uzbek wedding. That gown!

• Great minds think alike — or maybe we were both just really hungry. This week we posted about street food around the world, and Modern Mrs. Darcy shared a super-tasty list of 20 food memoirs. Related: Feast your eyes on these pics of food markets in Bangkok, Thailand.

• Wouldn’t this old-timey butcher shop be a magical setting for a fantasy-adjacent historical novel?!

• Pack your poison antidote and pearl-handled pistol! Here are the real-life places behind Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries. The esteemed author wrote,’If detective stories are “escape literature” (and why shouldn’t they be!) the reader can escape to sunny skies and blue water as well as to crime in the confines of an armchair.’

• Dave made his case for why you should read Moby Dick in our podcast episode about the sea. This TEDEd talk makes a pretty good argument, too.

• Bookish podcast of the week: Mr. B’s Emporium is a delightful-looking bookshop in Bath, England. I can’t wait until we can travel again so David and I can visit the shop in person. Until then, we can all enjoy this episode of the podcast that’s all about fictional houses with big personalities.

• Travel podcast of the week: Chronicles Abroad is hosted by Nubia and Frantzces — two ‘middle-aged, single, empty nesters’ — and it’s all about living, working, and traveling abroad. In this episode, they talk to Karen Ricks, a nomadic chef and world-schooling mom. Originally from the U.S., she spent 10 years in Japan running a Montessori school and is now in Albania. She’s a proponent of the Slow Food Lifestyle and really digging into local cuisine.

Protest-Related and Anti-Racism Resources

• This poem is sharp and brilliant and joyous and angry and everything good.

I've never been prouder to be Bristol City Poet & to offer a poem to my adopted city than I am today. This piece is called Hollow and I hope you like it. I've captioned it and everything!

Rust in shame, Eddie. pic.twitter.com/LtoyXVmi99

— Vanessa Kisuule (@Vanessa_Kisuule) June 8, 2020

• Sign your name to these petitions for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.

• Tell Minneapolis to defund the police. This is an excellent explanation if you’re having trouble wrapping your head around that phrase.

• Tell the Senate we need legislation that prohibits officers from shooting unarmed citizens.

• Here are 10 Black-Owned Online Bookstores you can shop from home — and another 50 or so across the U.S..

• Fulton Street Books & Coffee in Tulsa, OK, is now selling an Ally Box, a 3-month limited book subscription for allies (and those who seek to be allies). Each box includes two books, curated resources, and suggested action steps; the subscription also includes access to an online learning collaborative. The first box ships on 1 July, and you can preorder now.

Let’s transform our anger and frustration into love and action.

Top image courtesy of Keith Kasaija/Unsplash.