Ice Cream, Murdery Victorians, Garlic Drama, Campfire Stories & More: Endnotes 27 May

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.

Happy just-about summer! When we were in Berlin last week, we stumbled onto Woop Woop Ice Cream. They make each serving to order by combining fresh ingredients with liquid nitrogen at -320F (-196C). We were skeptical that it was just a silly gimmick, but I’m here to tell you: The texture of the ice cream was perfect. And creamy. And rich. We had Vanilla Popcorn & Salty Caramel and Chocolate & Walnut Brownie, and I wish I had some right now. If you’re ready to usher in the warmer months with a frozen treat, here’s some inspiration for you: Taste Atlas lists the 10 Most Popular Ice Creams in the World, National Geographic recommends Top 10 Places to Eat Ice Cream, and Condé Nast Traveler shares The Best Ice Cream Shops in the World, As Chosen By Readers.

• Pea-soup fog, charlatans, death cults, spiritualists, and so much more: 10 Reasons Why Victorian England Is the Perfect Setting for Murder

• Analyzing fairytales is a lot of nerdy fun. This take on the classic story of the Three Bears is really well done. ‘If there is a monster in Goldilocks, it is Goldilocks herself and not the three bears… She is an intruder, an uninvited guest. She is careless. She left the spoons in the bowl. She dislodged the pillow and the bolster and didn’t put them back. She was angry that Baby Bear’s chair bottom broke through. She wasn’t sorry.’

• We were thrilled to join Anne Bogel (and her husband Will!) on her podcast What Should I Read Next? recently. You can listen here or your favorite podcast app for books with a strong sense of summer, tales from our book-centric trip together to Scotland, and Dave’s persuasive argument for why you should make homemade ice cream as soon as possible. This book can help.

• These drop caps are glorious — click through to see all of them.

• Duolingo opened a taco bar in Pittsburgh!

• I’m part Italian, and I was unaware of this garlic drama. ‘[M]any Italians look at garlic — an allium that is cheap, abundant, and thus available to anyone — with suspicion.’

• I’ve neither read The Essex Serpent nor watched the new series, though I eagerly want to do both. In this essay by its author Sarah Perry, she describes what it was like to watch the characters and story she created come to life before her eyes. It’s very moving.

• This seems like a fun summer activity: The Art of Telling Campfire Tales to Kids.

• Four words: Bookstore cat retirement party.

• We talk about colonization a lot on our podcast. Here’s an interesting explainer about why Europeans colonized America before Africa. (After you read that post, you might want to lose yourself in the fantastic novel The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley).

• Have you seen the new Downton Abbey movie yet?! Wanderlust shares some swoon-worthy shooting locations, and Condé Nast Traveler talks to the production designer about the charm of the French Riviera.

• Take this quiz — How well do you know the world’s hotels? — then treat yourself to our new podcast episode Hotels: The Liminal Space with M&Ms in the Mini-Bar.

• How great would it be if all public transport had short story dispensers?! ‘BART riders can use touchless Short Story Dispensers to get 1-, 3-, or 5-minute reads… The kiosks are like vending machines for creative writing, dispensing stories on eco-friendly recyclable, receipt-like paper. They’re touchless; you just hover your finger over the button to get your story.’ And now, BART is hosting a contest for local writers to submit their stories.

• It’s such a treat when readers share what stories and characters mean to them. This essay about the value of comics really packs a (good) punch. ‘Growing up is a kind of exponential change. You bump along for ages, each day a lot like the last, same best friend, same favorite superhero, same bedroom at night, and the sameness gathers like a madness that you can’t shake until one day you notice something tiny, like how silly that Spider-Man poster looks, and so you make a change, just a little; and then something else happens, another change, bigger this time, you’re old enough to drive, you’re old enough to vote, then bang, bang, crash, pow, you’re an adult in New York City, you’re married to a woman you met at work, you’ve got two children, you’re in a vintage comics shop and the kids want funny books.’

• My periodic reminder that the free Book Club newsletter, written by Ron Charles of The Washington Post, is excellent. Book news, reviews, poetry, and social commentary, all delivered in his charming, breezy, super-smart style. You should probably subscribe.

• Calling all introverts! This is the quietest spot in the continental US.

New Episode of The Library of Lost Time

In each 5-minute show, we share two new book releases at the top of our TBR. Then we delve into a book- or travel-related curiosity that’s worth your time. Get all the episodes and books galore here.

In this episode, we get excited about two new book releases: Trust by Hernan Diaz and How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann. Then we get nostalgic for the Opening Day on the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937.

Books

• Trust by Hernan Diaz
• How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann

Distraction of the Week

• Treat yourself to the Official Program for the Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta and read more about the Fiesta.
• Enjoy this video of the opening from British Pathé — and this one from British Movietone.

Dance, eat ice cream, laze around with a book.

Top image courtesy of Krissara Lertnimanorladee/Unsplash.