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

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

Friday, 31 May, 2024

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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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.)

 
 

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.

close-up photo of a gray bookshelf with colorful book spines facing out
Photo courtesy of Aneta Pawlik/Unsplash.

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]

 

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

Top image courtesy of Cirk La Putyka.

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Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got books shelved by emotion, the new Accidentally Wes Anderson exhibit, 8 great campus novels, Jane Austen House Museum, and more.
Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got Hilary Mantel tshirts, Jane Eyre: The Musical, books in translation, tips for learning languages, a Holbein exhibit, and more.
Every Friday, we share our favorite book- and travel-related links. This week, we've got an alphabet inspired by architecture, a book titles quiz, street art from Nespoon, charming general stores, Prague, and more.

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