Eltz Castle, Magpie Murders, Antique Travel Library, Kibbeh & More: Endnotes 11 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.

This seems like the perfect time of year to escape to a Gothic castle like Burg Eltz (Eltz Castle) in Wierschem, Germany. Its hilltop location amid the fragrant forest means it’s hidden from interlopers and surrounded by hiking trails. Even the most devoted reader needs a daily constitutional in the fresh air! The castle was built in the 12th century and has been cared for by the same family for 33 generations. There are eight towers and 100 rooms, one of which is said to be haunted by the lovely and long-departed Agnes. According to lore, shen was brave of heart and impatient with fools — and was promised in marriage to the Knight of Braunsberg… until he accidentally shot her with an arrow from his crossbow in a tragic case of mistaken identity. For more earthly delights, you can tour the living quarters, gawp at gold and silver treasures, and admire centuries-old suits of armor. Feast your eyes on this image gallery and enjoy a short video tour.

• The quasi-biopic Emily, about the most mysterious of the Brontë sisters, won’t be released in the US until next February. For now, you can enjoy Opium, Flirty Curates & The Original Mrs. Robinson: The Surprising True Details In The Emily Brontë Biopic.

• We’re big fans of Robin Sloan’s writing, including Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and his consistently entertaining newsletter. His new short story about an author and a beloved hotel stole our hearts.

• This miniature travel-ready library is beautiful, and now I want one with my favorite books inside.

• Sometimes you just want to look at a magical Italian town. This is Matera:

• Oops! A Mondrian painting has been hanging upside down for 75 years.

• In my family, we make two kinds of kibbeh: Kibbeh Sinayee and Kibbeh Nayeh. Here are 10 kibbeh recipes you can try from Maureen Abood, one of the best Lebanese cooks around.

• Agatha Christie Suspected Everyone. ‘In nearly 70 novels and more than 150 short stories, she imagined a series of claustrophobically cloistered middle-class villages and island-like communities… in which almost everybody is up to no good and almost any prominent person appears capable of plotting devious assassinations of their neighbors and relatives for the pettiest of reasons — usually money.’

• Kinda related: How Magpie Murders evolved its outsider detective. ‘The trench coat was a little bit shabby, and so I liked it. There’s a kind of slight air of refugee about him… The coat is Eastern middle European design; looks like from the beautiful old photographs from the ’40s. When people are stuck in transit, they wear those kinds of coats with a belt that does up in the middle and two rows of buttons and stuff.’

• Pop the popcorn! Here are the 10 best BBC adaptations of all time. Strong agree with Wolf Hall and Jane Eyre — and delighted to see some new-to-me titles.

• We are not big wine drinkers, so we were unfamiliar with terroir. Thanks to friend-of-Strong-Sense-of-Place Jim D, we now know that terroir is a French term that simply means ‘a sense of place.’

• Two cool gifts for the readers in your life (or you!): A short story advent calendar and a darling illustrated advent calendar by the author of the excellent newsletter Doodle Dispatches (where she writes about life and drawing and creativity and and other relatable stuff).

• Obvs, the photography in National Geographic is some of the most arresting and beautiful in the world. Here are 15 iconic images from the National Geographic archive.

• Somewhat related: These Luxury Trains Are Worth Booking Just for Their Dining Cars.

• ‘It is also extraordinarily beautiful, with hand-colored illustrations, rotating paper dials, and silk threads helping to steer its owner’s astrological forecast.’ How a 500-year-old book — The Astronomicum Caesareum — was used to find ‘guidance, knowledge, and fate in the stars.

New Episode of The Library of Lost Time

In each mini-podcast episode, we discuss two books 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 books: The Cloisters by Katy Hays and The Best American Short Stories 2022 by Andrew Sean Greer & Heidi Pitlor. Then Mel recommends a new bookish advice column. [transcript]

Links

• The Cloisters by Katy Hays

• The Best American Short Stories 2022 by Andrew Sean Greer & Heidi Pitlor

• Less by Andrew Sean Greer

• Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer

• The Best American Food Writing 2022 by Sohla El-Waylly & Silvia Killingsworth

• The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022 by Jess Walter & Steph Cha

• The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2022 by Jaime Green & Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

• The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022 by John Joseph Adams & Rebecca Roanhorse

• The Best American Essays 2022 by Robert Atwan & Alexander Chee

• Lucinella by Lore Segal

• Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra (translator)

• Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over by Nell Painter

• Read about the Met Cloisters.

• Katy Hays discusses her novel The Cloisters with Library Journal.

• Read all the Dear Dorothea columns — and here’s the intro post about the whole shebang.

• We love the What Should I Read Next? podcast with Anne Bogel.

May your next cup of tea be brewed just right.

Top image courtesy of Julia Solonina/Unsplash.