Bibliothèque, Treehouses, Gothic Library, Great Vacation Reads & More: Endnotes 17 June

Bibliothèque, Treehouses, Gothic Library, Great Vacation Reads & More: Endnotes 17 June

Friday, 17 June, 2022

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.

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That soothing space above is a working room in the French National Library, a.k.a., Bibliothèque Nationale de France. I feel like I could get so much excellent work done in that inviting space. The library was originally founded at the Louvre by Charles V in 1369. Now, it’s the national repository of all books and periodicals published in France. To date, the free online collection includes more than 6 million (!) digitized books, magazines, newspapers, photographs, cartoons, drawings, prints, posters, maps, manuscripts, antique coins, scores, theater costumes, stage sets, audio, and video. The library has multiple branches around Paris with evocative names like Opera, Richelieu, and Arsenal. Each location offers stunning reading and lecture halls — like this one and this one. For those of us who can’t get to Paris right now — quel dommage! — there is a slew of online exhibits (available in English) featuring architecture, maps and globes, storytelling, photography, and more.

 
 
  • Now you can enjoy the Edinburgh Book Festival without an airline ticket! The director of the world-renowned festival says they learned lessons during the pandemic about how to make their sessions more accessible, so half of this year’s festival will be available online. I love the respect and care shown for people with illnesses or anxiety: ‘With the accessibility of the online offering, people have been in contact with me who have chronic illnesses or anxieties, or long Covid, saying that it was possible for them to attend the festival events even though they couldn’t come in person… Literary festivals are among the most local festivals, but we reached all over the world to hundreds of thousands of viewers last year, and we do not want to lose that.’

  • You will probably be inspired by this love letter to the experience of doing research at the Library of Congress.

  • Or perhaps this online Gothic Library is more your thing. Hooray for a world with both.

  • This examination of food in the play Cyrano de Bergerac is very tasty. (Sorry.) ‘Food… plays a major role in the play—one that culminates in act 4, when Roxane, the woman both Christian and Cyrano love, arrives at the Arras front in a carriage stuffed with a feast for the starving soldiers: truffled peacock, a haunch of venison, ortolans, copious desserts, ruby-red and topaz-yellow wine.’

  • If you’re too hot to cook, why not celebrate Pride Month with these Taiwanese-style Big Queer Cold Noodles!

  • A few weeks ago, we featured the Country Life Vlog in an episode of The Library of Lost Time. We continue to be somewhat obsessed with Aziza and her beautiful farm in Azerbaijan. Now a friend-of-Strong-Sense-of-Place (thanks, Trine!) has introduced us to Apricot Lane Farms and the award-winning documentary about it: The Biggest Little Farm. So soothing! So inspiring!

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New Episode of The Library of Lost Time

In each 5-minute show, we talk about two new book releases at the top of our TBR, then share a fun book- or travel-related distraction. Get all the episodes and books galore here.

In this episode, we get excited about two new book releases: Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman and Downton Shabby: One American’s Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family’s English Castle by Hopwood DePree. Then we share details about the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromsø, Norway, where 6000 runners hit the course under a bright sun that never sets.

Books
Distraction of the Week
 

May the sun shine on you literally and metaphorically.

Top image courtesy of Alexandra Lande/Shutterstock.

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Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got a Duolingo taco bar, posh int'l hotels, gorgeous drop caps, The Essex Serpent, the French Riviera, a bookstore cat, and more.
Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got Summer Reading Bingo, miniature globes, the world's longest suspension bridge, moody period dramas, magazine shops, and more.
Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got magical novels by women, indulgent breakfasts, the glory of Taschen books, Harlem Renaissance, confusing words quiz, and more.

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