Colorado Wilderness, Foodie Books, Iranian Poetry, Automats & More: Endnotes 27 November

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 starry sky is floating above the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness (‘Blood of Christ’) in south-central Colorado. Long and narrow, the wilderness area surrounds the Sangre de Cristo Range with several fourteeners (mountains at least 14,000 feet above sea level). The forests are primarily spruce and aspen and are home to cougars, elk, bighorn sheep, and black bears. This time-lapse photo was taken by photographer Andrew Gloor and is one of 400 taken while he was asleep in his tent. The brightest’ star’ in the sky is the planet Jupiter. {more}

• The Recommend Me a Book website is super-fun and kind of genius. It displays only the text of a book’s first page, then you can click to have the title and author revealed to you. You can save books to a bookshelf, add titles that are missing from the database, and adjust the settings to display a particular genre. Warning: May be hazardous to your TBR.

• This piece from Condé Nast Traveler Why Lagos, Nigeria, Is the Cultural Capital We’re Heading to Next was penned by Noo Saro-Wiwa, author of the brilliant memoir Looking for Transwonderland which Dave recommended in our Nigeria podcast episode. ’ Even against a backdrop of seemingly intractable challenges, frenetic Lagos has emerged as a powerhouse of fashion, art, and culture.’

• This isn’t new, but it’s great: Five books filled with food, recommended by author Ann Hood.

• To go along with our podcast episode about Iran, we shared works from Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad. I was so happy to see an article in the Paris Review about this remarkable woman and her enduring writing. The first paragraph is pure gold, and it just keeps going awesomely on from there.

• This is so cool! Tracing the depictions of Mary Wollstonecraft — and how they align with her writing — through time. ’ As the debate around Maggi Hambling’s monument to Mary Wollstonecraft’s legacy reaches its second week, there has been little scrutiny so far of other artworks that commemorate the writer, philosopher and women’s rights advocate, who was famously described as “that hyena in petticoats” by Horace Walpole.’

• In a letter to his editor at The New Yorker, Updike wrote, ‘I’ve bought a word processor, and we’re slowly coming to an understanding. It ‘’s quick as the devil, but has very little imagination, and no small talk.’ Read on about the psychological benefits of writing by hand.

• The story and photos in this New York Times piece about Russia’s ‘Road of Bones’ are absolutely stunning.

• Love this so much! Libraries use board games to encourage critical thinking in young people.

• Another reason to get curious about Lagos and Nigeria: vibrant fashion. From Tom and Lorenzo, International Fashion Spotlight: Nigerian Label Andrea Iyamah

• Collectors’ Weekly explores the history of the ‘coin-op cuisine’ found in automat restaurants. (So many wonderful photos and illustrations!)

• This story about the Cakes and Ale Club is a testament to bonding over books, beers, and yes, cake.

• Let’s embrace the snow! From CN Traveler, 35 winter wonderlands around the world and 21 European cities that are even better in winter.

• Bookish podcast of the week: The Myths and Legends podcast is all about stories from mythology and folklore. In this episode, you’ll hear two tales from the Brothers Grimm.

• Travel podcast of the week: The ‘Virtual Worlds’ episode of the Pindrop podcast explores how the rich online worlds of videogames offer virtual travel opportunities in these challenging times.

May your imagination take you fun places this week.

Top image courtesy of Andrew Gloor/Unsplash.