Seven Gothic Signs, Private Libraries, Vintage Suspended Train & More: Endnotes 14 August

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.

The swoon-worthy turquoise water above is found in the Blue Lagoon in Portland, Jamaica. (And yes, children of the ’80s, it was the location for the movie of the same name starring Brooke Shields.) The lagoon was once thought to be bottomless (!), but divers have determined that it’s about 180 feet/55 meters deep. The water is a mix of spring water from the mountains and salt water from the sea, and the shades of blue and green change throughout the day, depending on the angle of the sun. {more}

• This private library is dreamy! And it’s been saving circulation records for ages, so we know, for example, that Roald Dahl visited weekly in 1956 and checked out a few cookbooks. The photos alone are worth a click, and the history of the library is fascinating.

• Get a European vibe without leaving the U.S. with these 10 American towns that feel European. (We can attest that West, Texas, bakes up delicious kolache that are very much like the pastries here in Prague.)

• Accidentally Wes Anderson is one of our favorite Instagram accounts for a daily dose of happiness. Now it’s a book!

• The seven Gothic signs that tell you a piece of writing is, in fact, totally goth.

• Essential related content in this embedded tweet. Click through for the whole thread; it’s a delight.

• Do with this info what you will: I get all the bookish newsletters, and the one from The Washington Post is the best. It has a personal tone that I love, in addition to top-notch book-related news, interviews, and recommendations.

• The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) is hosting an online Chop Suey Supper Club on Thursday 20 August. It’s a Zoom event — as all good things are these days — featuring conversation, a special mixtape, and a cooking demo exploring the crossroads of Black diaspora and Asian diaspora cuisines. Recipes will be mailed to ticket holders in advance so they can cook along at home! (If this event wasn’t happening at 2:00 a.m. Prague time, I would definitely be joining in.)

• These seem like excellent stretches for readers.

• Hold on! I think I just found my dream house. There’s a unicorn! I repeat: There’s a unicorn.

• So cool! The Eiffel Tower was selected from among hundreds of options for a showpiece to adorn the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. This is a very informative look at some of the other designs that were entered in the competition (including a 1,000-foot-tall guillotine).

• This is ‘The Flying Train,’ a suspended railway in Germany, circa 1902:

• Cheerful, colorful fashions from Czech designer Tereza Rosalie Kladošová, who won the Best Fashion Designer prize at the 2018 Czech Grand Design Awards.

• No link for this one; just an awesome photo. It’s the ‘Reading Station,’ circa 1890. It was made by Charles Hindley & Sons, a home furnishing company based in London.

• Escapist reads: five books about the wilderness from Book Marks and Japanese locked-room masterpieces from The Washington Post.

• 40 Hamlets, ranked. (David Tennant! Andrew Scott!)

• We were so happy to be included in this list from Apple Podcasts for Book Lovers Day:

• Bookish podcast of the week: On the Lit Society podcast, hosts (and life-long friends) Kari and Alexis use literature to explore pop culture and drama. We recently watched the 1940 film version of Rebecca, so I was very into their discussion of the Daphne du Maurier novel. (It’s a little chit-chatty at the beginning, but be patient because the book discussion is solid.)

• Travel podcast of the week: The podcast Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet features dramatic readings of one-star reviews written by people who just need to have their voice heard. In this episode, they read reviews of lighthouses that are ‘worthy of Steven King’s editor.’

At this point, I guess we’re all just grateful for our imaginations.

Top image courtesy of ajlatan/Shutterstock.