Istria, Camping Horror Novels, Road Trips, Flash Fiction & More: Endnotes 06 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.

That beautiful sunset above is in Rovinj, a village on the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia. It’s an old fishing port with tightly-packed, pastel-colored houses that hug the waterline, twisting cobblestone alleys, and an elegant church that stands like a sentinel overlooking the rooftops. {more}

• Aw. I also really enjoyed in-flight magazines. ‘Yes, these rags were strange creatures, full of ads for steakhouses and doctors while lacking any real controversy in editorial topics. A third of the magazine was always taken up by airport maps, self-promotion, and a crossword that was always half-filled. But the travel features were great, the featured celebrities usually A-level and the photography highly professional.’

• We’re huge fans of Erik Larson’s narrative nonfiction (like The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake). So we’re super-excited that he’s making a foray into fiction with an audiobook.

• Not gonna lie: I wouldn’t mind this beautiful ring on my finger.

• ‘Grief and love are forever intertwined. Grief is the terrible reminder of the depths of our love and, like love, grief is non-negotiable.’

• This interview with Silvia Moreno-Garcia — author of Mexican Gothic and the upcoming Velvet Was the Night — is great!

• The Library of Congress delves into the history of the American road trip in a poignant, tender essay (with so many delightful links to materials in the Library’s Manuscript Division). ‘A travel journal in the papers of sociologist Rilma Oxley Buckman describes a footloose road trip from Indiana to Alaska, taken in 1950 with a Purdue colleague in a late model Nash. The lady campers had met in Yokohama just after the war, both working with the U.S. military. Adventuring their way north, they socialized and took snapshots. They noted the Huckleberry Finn riverscapes of Illinois and Alaskan roads wobbly as a wagon trail.’

• Just gonna pretend that trains still look like this:

• I was charmed by this imaginary packing list for a woman embarking on travel adventures in the 19th century. ‘1 Reception Gown (if anticipating meeting royalty, very elaborate, heavy fabric, long train designed to be seen standing or walking, but nothing else)’

• What We Talk About When We Talk About Our Favorite Books.

• Prague is beloved for its Renaissance, Gothic, and Baroque architecture, but it’s also home to outstanding examples of Socialist Modernist buildings.

• I absolutely loved this flash fiction from Nardine Taleb. ‘Womanhood is a flimsy thing, thin as dog ears. One day I’m driving, music high, in a tight new top, singing so hard that other drivers turn and smile in my direction. The other day I’m sobbing, unsure how I got between my hangers in the back of the closet.’

• Obvs, this is like catnip to me: The English villages that are hotbeds of murder, intrigue, and endless summer days — at least in the minds of novelists.

• This lace mural in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is based on traditional Bosnian designs. Click through for the full caption; it’s such a good story!

• Handy! How to be a better hotel guest.

• You definitely want to look at these cityscapes created on a typewriter.

• The Pleasures of Tsundoku, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Book Piles. Honestly, a room without (too many) books is like french fries without salt. What’s the point?!

• In 2019, Debbie Harry and Blondie took a long-awaited, much-anticipated trip to Cuba. An upcoming 18-minute documentary captures some of the memories, and Condé Nast Traveler has the scoop from Debbie herself. ‘We were sort of prepared [to witness the hardships], but it was a pleasant surprise. It’s such a beautiful place—and in its crumbling finery, it’s even more beautiful.’

• All the heart-eyes emojis for this collection of literary walking tours around the world.

• Camping is not my thing. But reading about fictional camping trips gone wrong? 100% my thing.

• If you’re a fan of Peter May’s novel The Blackhouse, you might put a stay in a Scottish blackhouse village on your future-travel list.

• We are firmly on Team Bears. (The cute, furry animals, not the American football team.)

• Oh! To be a sea lion playing in the waves.

Wishing you exuberantly, joyously playful moments this week.

Top image courtesy of Dimitry Anikin/Unsplash.