Austrian Yaks, Art Books, Eggnog, Holiday Horror, Creepy Xmas Cards & More: Endnotes 09 December

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.

Those burly fellows above are hanging out in Fontanella, Austria. It’s in the western corner of Austria, a stone’s throw from the tiny country of Lichtenstein. As you might expect, there are castles and ski slopes galore. You can also visit the Aurach Wildlife Park, home to 200 different native animals and some exotic imports including kangaroos, llamas, and, yes, Tibetan yaks. If you need a wintry snow fix, here’s a 3-minute drive through Fontanella Village.

• We’ve got a favor to ask: If you enjoy our podcast, please vote for us in the Pod Bible Listener Poll. Just click this link, and vote in (or page through) the eight main categories. Then you’ll get to Oh My Pod, the award for independent podcasts like ours. Just type in ‘Strong Sense of Place’ and hit submit. The polls close on 31 December — thank you in advance for your vote!

• An ode to the joys of reading slowly. ‘People often say they devoured a book in one sitting. But I want to savor a book, which means I give myself just 10 pages a day of any book.’

• I also really enjoyed this installment from the Culture Studys newsletter: Reading is Important to Me and I Will Prove It

• This list of the top 100 cities in the world is beautifully done. It’s a fun way to explore the globe. (Thanks to friend-of-Strong-Sense-of-Pace Leslie B. for sharing it with us.)

• I’m a long-time fan of artist Mark Ryden, and I’m loving his collaboration with Mattel for a Barbie installation.

• New bucket list: The Oldest Restaurants in the World.

• When you want to move beyond novels, here are the top art books of 2022 from The Art Newspaper and fantastic children’s books from LitHub.

• Or lose a lot of time exploring this list of 222 best books of all time. ‘Why 222 books? We think a list of The 100 Best Books sounds too definitive, too final. Hopefully, offering 222 titles feels like a treasure trove worth diving into and arguing over and enjoying.’

• This is a fun story! Sixteen-year-old Annabelle Chang opened a bookshop in Los Angeles. ‘I started looking at bookstores around L.A., and even across the country, and I realized that there was no YA-focused bookstore.’ You can follow her bookish adventures on Instagram.

• You’ve heard that no two snowflakes are alike. This article in The Washington Post (gift link) explains why and includes beautiful photos of sparkly flakes.

• The Wild and Weird History of Eggnog.

• In case you’re traveling during the holidays, here’s a handy illustration of the perfect carry-on bag:

• When holiday cards get weird: Victorian Christmas cards (thanks for sharing, Elizabeth N.) and that time Salvador Dali designed cards for a Barcelona-based company.

• 10 Holiday Romances to Read if You’re Obsessed With Hallmark Movies.

• I’m more likely to celebrate with the movie Krampus and holiday horror novels!

• Something to look forward to in 2023: A countdown of the works entering the public domain next year.

• From Modern Mrs. Darcy: 15 books about books for people who ‘cannot get enough of plots set in publishing, authorial main characters, books within books, and love stories that unfold in the stacks.’

• I would 100% read novels based on these ‘nocturnal paintings’ by 19th- and 20th-century artists.

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 three books: The Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer, The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict, and The Writer’s Journey by Travis Elborough. Then Dave shares a fantastic resource for finding the best books of the year. [transcript]

Links

• The Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer

• The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict

• The Writer’s Journey: In the Footsteps of the Literary Greats by Travis Elborough

• Our History of the 20th Century by Travis Elborough

• A Traveller’s Year: 365 Days of Travel Writing in Diaries, Journals, and Letters by Travis Elborough

• Atlas of the Unexpected by Travis Elborough

• Atlas of Vanishing Places by Travis Elborough

• Largehearted Boy’s Online ‘Best of 2022’ Book Lists

• Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track by Melissa Joulwan

• Gosford Park trailer

Click here to enjoy the Christmas song we’re playing on repeat.

Top image courtesy of Lieve Ransijn/Unsplash.