Bali, 100 Pages, Hurkle-Durkle, Letter Writing, Culinary Tucson & More: Endnotes 24 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.

Sometimes you just gotta imagine what it’s like to splash in a waterfall in Bali. Timeless Buddhist temples, tropical beaches, friendly people, fantastic food, and, yes, magical waterfalls are some of the best reasons to fall for this Indonesian island. Here’s some daydream fuel: The 24 Best Things to Do in Bali — and here are the 10 of the best foods and drinks to try (including the Indonesian feast called Rijsttafel). And about those waterfalls…

• The luxury travel company Belmond just released a new promo video narrated by actress Tilda Swinton. As Dave said while watching it, ‘Have you ever felt strong White Lotus vibes in your life? Somebody is gonna die.’

• This letter from Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to his daughter is filled with love and excellent advice.

• Oooh, this 100 pages strategy is a good one! ‘If you seriously intend to read one hundred pages each day—not occasionally when there is nothing to watch or when you find yourself racing to discover whether the lay cook or the sinister young monk is the killer—you will probably find that you open a book within an hour of waking up in the morning.’

• There was such a lively discussion of short stories in our Substack Tuesday Tea this week. And now here are 10 Outstanding Short Stories to Read in 2025.

• Country Life answers the burning question, Why do woolly hats have bobbles?

• And while we’re asking questions, Why is Everyone Suddenly Reading Middlemarch?

• TBH, we are deeply committed to the notion of a hurkle-durkle.

• Perhaps you need this (beautifully designed) George Orwell commemorative coin. I am not making reference to Big Brother and fascism for any particular reason at all.

• I also really want to buy some of these book-inspired fragrances! Yes, please, to this library-scented perfume roller. Also cute: these tshirts.

• Neat! The BBC says that Tucson is the United State’s underrated culinary capital. I must agree, the Sonoran hotdog sounds amazing.

• The first public library in Prague opened 250 years ago. ‘On January 17, 1775, bookseller Wolfgang Gerle and his brother Ondřej established the first lending library for fiction and newspapers, making literature accessible to the general public… Wolfgang Gerle transformed part of his apartment on Prague’s Charles Street into a reading room for newspapers and magazines, called the Learned Club.’

• Author Grady Hendrix seems like a very amiable fellow — who also writes delightfully spooky books. I loved his book The Final Girl Support Group, and I’m looking forward to reading his latest Witchcraft for Wayward Girls.

• Our crush on Shetland remains undiminished. This is a fun post about what it’s like to live in the Scottish islands.

• Here’s a love letter to the art of letter writing, thanks to the creator of Penpalooza.

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 new books: The Power and the Glory: The Country House Before the Great War by Adrian Tinniswood and Playworld: A Novel by Adam Ross. Then Mel shares her reading and loving doorstopper novels of 500+ pages. [transcript]

Links

• The Power and the Glory: The Country House Before the Great War by Adrian Tinniswood

• The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House, 1918-1939 by Adrian Tinniswood

• Noble Ambitions: The Fall and Rise of the English Country House After World War II by Adrian Tinniswood

• Playworld: A Novel by Adam Ross

• Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross

• Adrian Tinniswood’s website

• Podcast: History Extra — The Golden Age of the Country House

• The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch

Mel’s Favorite Doorstopper Novels

• Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

• REAMDE by Neal Stephenson

• The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili (translated by Ruth Martin & Charlotte Collins)

• Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth - reviewed on our Hollywood podcast

• Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel - reviewed on our London podcast

• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - reviewed on our Library podcast

• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - reviewed on our Cemetery podcast

• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

• The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón - reviewed on our Library podcast

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

• Fairy Tale by Stephen King

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

Sending you good vibes because we all need ‘em.

Top image courtesy of Robert Collins/Unsplash.