Greenland, International Thrillers, Airport Food, Vacation Stories & More: Endnotes 12 July

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.

Oh, to be on a sailboat off the coast of Greenland! This is Scoresby Sund, the longest fjord system on Earth. It’s the only place on the planet where you can see icebergs floating in a fjord. Here’s one for the introverts: You can also visit Ittoqqortoormiit, the most isolated town in Greenland. It’s quiet and pristine. It’s also where you have the highest chance/risk of meeting a polar bear. The first paragraph of this National Geographic story about Scoresby Sund is an excellent litmus test to know if a trip there is a good fit for you. I’m pretty swayed by the idea that I could go on an expedition to see narwhals there. If this is tempting to you, here’s a guide to visiting and a short video that captures a perfect day in Scorsby Sund.

• I could not be more excited about this! Reactor has a cover reveal for Erika Swyler’s new book We Lived on the Horizon. Her novel The Book of Speculation is in my all-time Top 15.

• These new covers from Penguin Vintage Classics are so pretty!

• In case you’ve ever asked yourself, Which airports have the best food?

• Sure, millions of us have read Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None, but what about Dame Agatha’s short stories? Here are 10 of her best.

• This is a pretty dreamy bookshop:

• This piece has so many fun ideas about what to bring for a weekend at someone’s house.

• AFAR magazine shares 10 mysteries that will take you around the world. (And here’s our list of 19 international mysteries and thrillers with a strong sense of place.

• Can You Guess the Popular Book Based on its Obscure Subtitle? (Ooh, I did really poorly on this quiz.)

• This could be the thing that inspires you to move to Europe: 6 Charming Places in Europe That Will Pay You to Move There. Greece! Spain! Switzerland! Italy!

• Break out your favorite pink outfit, London’s (fantastic) Design Museum just opened a super-fun exhibit about Barbie.

• This is a really cool way to manage your reading life: My Sunday ritual: a reading plan for the week.

• 9 Unique Eats You Have to Try in Denver. ‘Watch chefs cook your meal in a live performance at Beckon, learn dessert science at The Inventing Room, or snag a booth in a former mortuary at Linger.’

• Just in time for your summer getaway, here are 10 novels about vacations gone horribly, fantastically wrong.

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: A Season for That by Steve Hoffman and The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Then Mel explains why she’s so excited to get the new episode of the ‘Pack One Bag’ podcast every week. [transcript]

Links

• A Season for That by Steve Hoffman

• Steve Hoffman’s website and an interview with the Star Tribune

• Still blog by Mary Jo Hoffman and an interview with Yoga Journal

• Still: The Art of Noticing by Mary Jo Hoffman

• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

• Long Bright River by Liz Moore

• Podcast: Pennsylvania: Political Player, Potato Chip Maker

Distraction of the Week: ‘Pack One Bag’ Podcast

• The ‘Pack One Bag’ website

• Deadline Magazine on the podcast and the upcoming TV remake

• Stanley Tucci Compares WW2 Fascism Story to Now — ‘It’s Happening Today’

Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly.

Wishing you a story that grabs your imagination.

Top image courtesy of Dylan Shaw/Unsplash.