New Circus, Dracula Map, Regional Hot Dogs, Summer Reading Prompts & More: Endnotes 31 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.

Forget what you think you know about the circus! In contemporary circus, there’s no spangle-clad damsel sticking her head in a tiger’s mouth or an elephant forced to stand on a tiny pedestal. Instead, you thrill to dazzling feats of human strength, bodies of all shapes and sizes flying through the air, and — if you’re lucky — live music and plenty of dancing. We’re in prime circus season here in Prague. A local troupe called Cirk La Putyka has shows all summer. In August, the Letní Letna International Festival of Contemporary Circus will take over a hilltop above the Vltava River with canvas tents, fairy lights, caravans, and shows in languages from all over the world. So what the heck is contemporary circus? Here’s a short video with all you need to know. (And if you get bit by the circus bug, the Crying Out Loud YouTube channel is filled with dazzling videos.) Summer is an excellent time to get lost in a great story about the circus; our podcast episode The Circus: Found Family and Daring Feats goes behind the greasepaint and red velvet curtains to get curious about circus history, and we recommend many books that confirmed our desire to run away with the circus.

• We’ve made it clear that we’re big fans of Amor Towles’ writing here at SSoP HQ (A Gentleman in Moscow is always a yes from us), so we were tickled to get this peek inside Amor Towles’ library. The room alone is pretty dreamy.

• What’s better for the planet: a paper book or an e-reader?

• This essay about summer reading made me want to book a week at a beach — any beach — to sit under an umbrella and read. ‘I can still see myself, collapsed in a folding chair beneath a rented beach umbrella. Every part of me is covered or lotioned up (half-English kids burn easy) except for my feet, which are buried in the sand. From time to time, I look up, stare at a sandpiper or a garland of kelp. If there’s no breeze to cool things down, I might get up and wade out in the water, execute a few halfhearted body surfs. Then it’s back to the chair.’

• I’m currently on the hunt for a mass-market copy of Jane Eyre with a cover like this. Does it exist? I don’t know! But I’m looking. (Click through to enjoy all the glorious covers.)

• Read these handy travel hacks from Brent and Michael (excellent writers and friends-of-SSoP) before you head out on your summer adventures.

• Somewhat related: Make copies of these 7 travel documents before your trip.

• News you can use: A Guide to the 11 Most Beloved Regional Hot Dog Styles in the United States. I thought my heart belonged to the Coney Dog, but then I met the Polish Boy: ‘a grilled or fried kielbasa sausage placed in a hoagie roll, topped with French fries, vinegar-based coleslaw, and sweet tomato-based BBQ sauce.’

• Do you have extra cash kicking around? Do you want your own island compound? Two maritime forts on the English Channel are going up for auction.

• Your mail can smell like a freshly baked baguette! The French post office has released a scratch-and-sniff stamp that smells like fresh bread to celebrate the yeasty ‘jewel of French culture.’ (Have you listened to our new podcast episode France: Mostly Here for the Butter yet?)

• Related: The (excellent) podcast Novel Pairings is hosting a read-along of Les Miserables this summer.

• Sign up for the National Book Awards summer reading adventure. The reading prompts are super fun — read outdoors! re-read a childhood favorite! swap a favorite book with a friend! — and you can win prizes like books, hats, ice cream, reusable water bottles, or a trip to the National Book Awards in NYC in November. Details and downloadable card of reading activities here.

• Follow the footsteps (and train rides and sea voyages) of the characters in Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Dracula: The Map. (Thank you to author Sally Jane Smith for passing this along to us!)

• We had a lively conversation with our Substack community this week about our favorite spots for reading.

• If your answer to that question is ‘beach,’ you might like this gallery of the best beach towns in Europe, idyllic beaches in Asia, 25 of the best beaches in the US, stunning beaches in Canada, and a virtual tour of the best beaches in South and Central America.

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 Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis and The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Then Dave shares a very cool phone trick for tracking your books. [transcript]

Links

• The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis

• Video: Jaclyn Goldis on the Chris Voss Podcast

• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

• Video: Kaliane Bradley’s first TV interview on Good Morning America

• Video: How to Convert Image to Text in iPhone & Android

We raise a glass of icy lemonade to you — thanks for being here with us.

Top image courtesy of Cirk La Putyka.