Florence, Baba Yaga, Real-Life Middle-Earth, Gothic Novels & More: Endnotes 04 October

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.

That image of a cheery bike above was captured in Florence, Italy. If you’d like to explore the Renaissance city, a Fat Tire Bike Tour is a fantastic way to do it. Fat Tire is one of our favorite ways to explore; we’ve done their tours in Paris (at night!), Berlin (in the rain!), and Barcelona (with champagne overlooking the city from atop a hill). (Not an ad; we just really love their tours.) If you’re a fan of the enduring classic novel A Room with a View, you can enjoy a self-guided walk of locations from the film — and then visit the 10 best museums in Florence. This boutique hotel recommended by Wallpaper magazine is pretty sweet.

• If you like lists the way I like lists, then you will like this Reading List for Lovers & Makers of Lists. ‘We all make lists, if only to buy bread and milk. But we tend to forget how mythic and subversive (as we have just seen), joyful and maddening, enchanting and sobering, and utterly chilling lists can be — and what they can do.’

• This article is specifically about what fiction writers can learn from Dungeons & Dragons, but spontaneity, creativity, and play are good for all of us.

• Our pal Amy Tector — mystery author extraordinaire and creator of the Méli-Mélo newsletter — shared a pretty irresistible book list: The best mystery novels with dog sidekicks where nothing bad happens to the good boys.

• Um, this dancer moves like a vampire, no?

• How about a weekend in Venice? Cabana has some ideas for how to make it awesome.

• This garden gnome in Cornwall is very cute and not at all what you’re probably expecting.

• Mexico, Spain, California, Austria, Bolivia, France — all places you can visit 8 mind-bending, fantastical homes.

• Relevant to Spooky Season: Who is Baba Yaga? ‘Trickster, mentor, probable goddess—Slavic folklore’s most famous villain is so much more than a witch.’

• Ditto: Are you a scaredy-cat? Here are tips to help you read horror.

• And related; 20 Best Gothic Novels to Read on a Gloomy Autumn Night.

• This episode of the History Extra podcast — Powerful Pages: The Beguiling History of Books — gave me heart-eye emojis.

• We’re big fans of Janine Pendleton’s urban exploration photos; her book of pics from Pennsylvania is stunning. Her 2025 calendar Beautiful Abandoned Places is now available for pre-order (with a 15% discount).

• I would like to visit every one of these 7 adorable European towns.

• Where to Find the Real-Life Middle-Earth. ‘While Tolkien’s stories take place in the fictional realm of Middle-earth, the awe-inspiring landscapes of the books, films and TV shows are closer than you might imagine.’

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 Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel and Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II by Elyse Graham. Then Mel recommends the History Extra podcast for all your Spooky Season storytelling needs. [transcript]

Links

• The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

• Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II by Elyse Graham

• History Extra podcast

• Ancient Egypt: The Big Questions

• Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials

• More episodes about witches

• Halloween episodes

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

All treats, no tricks.

Top image courtesy of Cristina Gottardi/Unsplash.