Botanical Garden, Library-Themed Bars, Curse Words, Castle Hotels & More: Endnotes 19 January

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.

The greenhouse above is found in the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays). The Art Nouveau greenhouse was built for the Paris Exposition of 1889 — where it won an award — and was them moved to Buenos Aires in sections and reassembled. The garden was designed by French landscape architect Charles Thays. As the Director of Parks & Walkways, he spiffed up the city, redesigning public plazas and walkways, planting trees to line the streets, and revamping the parks. (Hence the Parisian vibe of Buenos Aires.) Thay’s design featured plants native to Argentina, along with three distinct landscape styles: a Roman garden (with cypresses, poplars, and laurels), a French garden (with symmetry, gravel paths, a reflecting pool, and statues), and an Oriental garden (with trees from Asia). The garden is also known for its free-roaming cats and its Botanic Library with 1,000 books and 10,000 publications from all over the world. This video is a nice stroll through the grounds.

• Why not? 14 of the best wintry reads from the Booker Library.

• LitHub delivers a 2024 literary film & TV preview. I’m very excited to watch Monsieur Spade, starring Clive Owen as an older (maybe wiser?) detective Sam Spade who’s taken his retirement in the south of France. Death and Other Details also looks fun!

• A few weeks ago, Dave talked about the terrible hack of the British Library on The Library of Lost Time. Good news! According to this blog, the Library catalogue is back online.

• Must-click headline: The 10 Best Library-Themed Bars in the World.

• Related: We need to go to the bar Library by the Sea in the Cayman Islands immediately. The mixologists’ plan was to create fancy drinks based on classic literature. ‘…you might get a Dune-themed drink with coconut “sand” and worm salt. Or a Cayman twist on James Bond’s Martini order, served in a hand-painted ceramic oyster shell and garnished with a Champagne-vinegar agar pearl onion. Or a drink based on the novella that inspired Blade Runner that’s not even a liquid.’

• Another gorgeous poetry reading from Helena Bonham Carter:

• Remember when I recommended the fantastic The World Central Kitchen Cookbook on The Library of Lost Time? On 06 February, an online event The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: The Power of Food will bring together three panelists who’ve ‘dedicated their lives to making change through food.’ It’s moderated by Chef Andrew Zimmern, and it’s free! Register here.

• Karel Čapek, a Czechoslovak writer, playwright, and journalist, is credited with coining the word robot in his play R.U.R.. I read it a few years ago before visiting his villa that’s been transformed into a museum about his life and work. The centennial of the play is marked by the publication of a new translation of the play and a collection of essays: R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life by Jitka Čejková. Read an excerpt at LitHub.

• Gadzooks! A Brief History of Curse Words. ‘Well, shoot: Curse words have been through a lot of doggone stages to get to where they are today. Mark Twain once said that under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer, and people have been swearing as long as they’ve been praying.’

• Whoa. This paper samurai!

• Need to escape into a fantasy world? Here are 10 real-life destinations that belong in a fairy tale and 18 castle hotels around the world.

• Sorta related: Enjoy Wintery Weather At These Five Historic Hotels Of America.

• Looking to level-up your journaling practice? Here’s a massive list of ideas and prompts.

• This essay about being a guest at a CIA creative writing group is a ride.

• Quiz from Merriam-Webster: Challenging Standardized Test Words, Vol. 2. I got 16/20. (Why can’t I ever remember the meaning of laconic?)

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 books: The Fury by Alex Michaelides and Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook. Then Dave recommends the delightful Planet Word Museum in Washington, DC. [transcript]

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/StrongSense and get on your way to being your best self.

Links

• The Fury by Alex Michaelides

• Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook

Distraction of the Week: Planet Word Museum

• Planet World website

• video: Welcome to Planet Word

• video: Introducing Planet Word

• video: CBS Sunday Morning: A visit to D.C.’s Planet Word

You know what’s a great word? Serendipity.

Top image courtesy of Maia Habegger/Unsplash.