Père Lachaise, the Real Manderley, Mary Shelley, Postcard Art & More: Endnotes 23 October

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 cobbled, misty alley above is found in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Built in 1804, it was the first garden cemetery and the first municipal cemetery in the city. It’s probably best known as the final resting place for notable people including musicians Jim Morrison, Frederik Chopin, and Édith Piaf; writers Oscar Wilde, Molière, and Marcel Proust; dancer Isadora Duncan; and the star-crossed lovers Abelard and Heloise. But the park is also beloved for its ever-changing foliage, 100-year-old maple tree, and stunning examples of funereal art. {more}

• In praise of writing manuscripts by hand. ‘Writing by hand, among other things, is onerous and painful. One has to go slowly, to hesitate. The wrist aches. The mind freezes. Pausing to shake the crimps out of the muscles buys the writer a few extra moments to consider the best way to sidle into the next sentence, lasso the next image.’

• Who wouldn’t want to sleep inside a giant potato?!

• If you’re gearing up to watch the new film version of Rebecca, you might want to read all about the real Manderley that inspired Daphne du Maurier.

• Literary armchair travel! 10 authors share the destinations that inspire them.

• Proud to be a librocubiculorist.

• Great! Now I’m craving a room-service club sandwich.

• As Halloween draws near, we must ask the question: Did Mary Shelley actually lose her virginity to Percy on top of her mother’s grave?

• Tim Parks is a writer and a translator. In this essay, he explores the relationship between the two. ’ When I translate, I am laboring primarily over expression, style. The content is already there. When I write, I am thinking what to write, and it comes out in the style it does.’

• This postcard art by artist and photographer Vik Muniz is so charming and wistful.

• From Mental Floss: 10 blood-curdling facts about Dracula

• If you enjoyed the historical novel The Colour that was featured in the New Zealand episode of our podcast, you might want to check out this review of Rose Tremain’s new novel Islands of Mercy.

• Neat! You can download dozens of free horror audio short stories from authors including Silvia Moreno-Garcia (author of Mexican Gothic), Carmen Maria Machado (author of Her Body and Other Parties), Catherynne M. Valente (author of Deathless), Joe R. Lansdale (author of Hap & Leonard mysteries), Chuck Wendig (author of Wanderers), Richard Kadrey (author of the Sandman Slim series), and more.

• Would you go on this ride in China?! (I must admit I would be too chicken.)

• Bookish podcast of the week: The Biblio File podcast features conversations with authors, booksellers, editors, and other bookish folks. In this episode, host Nigel Beale talks to Andy Hunter, the founder and CEO of bookshop.org about how to support indie bookshops. (Reminder: We’re affiliates with bookshop.org.)

• Travel podcast of the week: If you’ve already listened to our Halloween episode, maybe you’d like a little bit more? This episode of the Explore the World podcast investigates the history of Halloween around the world.

Your assignment: Get lost in an excellent book this weekend.

Top image courtesy of Viatcheslav Grabchak/Shutterstock.