MI Library, Notebooks, Vintage Rome, List Love, Austen Inc & More: Endnotes 14 February

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.

The spectacular reading room above is found at the University of Michigan Law Library. The library’s collection covers all aspects of international law. Since 1957, it’s been the depository for documents about the European Union, the first at an American university. All of the materials are available to students, attorneys, researchers, and the public. But, perhaps, more enticing is the idea of bringing your own book to read at one of the study tables under that vaulted ceiling. Here’s a quick video tour of the room — and this is a charming video introduction to the librarians who work there. The University of Michigan is in Ann Arbor, a fantastic place for bookworms and food lovers. If Michigan isn’t in your travel plans just now, here are 8 more majestic libraries around the world and 13 books set love set in libraries. For more library love, check out our Library Destination Page.

• Everyone Should Own a Big Ass Notebook.

• Sorta related: How Commonplace Books Got Their Name. ‘When Renaissance humanists first came up with the term commonplace book, they were referencing an ancient memory technique described by the ancient Greek writer, Aristotle, and Roman writers like Cicero and Quintilian, who all wrote about common places.’

• I was so happy to contribute an essay to the wonderful Beyond the Bookshelf substack this week: How I Learned to Love Short Stories. Matt’s regular musings on the reading life are well worth your time. Why not subscribe while you’re over there?

• Meet Barbara Shermund, one of the first woman cartoonists at The New Yorker. ‘… while Shermund may have lampooned her flappers, her sharp social commentary took relationships between young women seriously, recognizing the true, even subversive solidarity between them. There’s a knowing wink under all that eyeshadow — each gossipy comment is a whispered secret.’

• This is fun and funny: Is the Book You’re Reading Literary or Genre Fiction? Electric Lit provides a ‘100% definitive guide.’

• So pretty! Treat yourself to these 35 amazing photochroms of Rome in the 1890s.

• Julia Child’s relationship with her husband Paul is definitely #goals. Food & Wine shares the couple’s sweet Valentine’s Day tradition.

• My favorite link of the week is this lovely virtual visit to Bath, England. I found the opening irresistible: ‘Here’s the thing: I was expecting balls. This is my second time visiting Bath in as many years. I stayed for a week in the Widcombe neighborhood last year, and I’ve been Bath-adjacent for the past six weeks. And yet - it’s hard to believe - in all that time I haven’t attended a single ball. I haven’t even been invited to one, honestly. Part of me is glad, I’m not traveling with a ball gown, after all. But it would certainly be nice to get an invitation.’

• Kinda related: Move over Marvel, 2025 is All About Austen Inc. ‘On the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, the mania surrounding her genius shows no signs of abating. From Austen-themed tea towels to a Pemberley Trail at Lyme Park, Austen props our economy up so literally she even appears on our £10 notes.’

• Sometimes literary love hurts so good. Mental Floss presents 12 of the most unforgettable books about doomed romances. I see you, The Remains of the Day.

• Or maybe you’d prefer 5 Polar Books for the Shortest Month.

• A few years ago, Dave and I visited an exhibit of Czech book illustrator Zdeněk Burian’s work. Did I know I would fall in love with lush images of prehistoric creatures? I did not. Am I so happy to know about his work now? I definitely am. It’s Burian’s 120th birthday, and he’s being celebrated here in Czechia. More on the artist and his museum here.

• Brooke Shields talks about how a solo trip to Florence gave her a confidence boost in a recent episode of the Women Who Travel podcast.

• A Welsh island dedicated to love? Yes, please! ‘With the exception of the crashing waves, the reach of the silence was total, and we looked down from here to the island’s perimeter. Below were the ramshackle ruins of Saint Dwynwen’s Church, built in the 16th Century on the site of the chapel she founded, and the remains of Dwynwen’s Well, where the nun once blessed visitors with its holy waters. The legend says she could divine a lover’s faithfulness through the movements of sacred eels that lived in the well, Hawksworth said, as we looked into its depths.’

• Um, who doesn’t love a list?

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: Every Tom, Dick & Harry by Elinor Lipman and On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves. Then Dave shares a sweet poem about the good stuff: love and dogs. [transcript]

Links

• Every Tom, Dick & Harry by Elinor Lipman

• Podcast: Mel talks about Ms. Demeanor by Elinor Lipman

• Visit Elinor Lipman’s website.

• Elinor Lipman is the new EM Forster. Fight me.

• Review of The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman

• Review of The Way Men Act by Elinor Lipman

• Review of Isabel’s Bed by Elinor Lipman

• On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves

• Photos from On the Hippie Trail on Rick Steves’ website

• Video: Rick Steves talks about his book

• Taylor Mali’s website

• What Learning Leaves by Taylor Mali

• Video: Taylor Mali performing ‘How Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog’

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

May your day be very sweet.

Top image courtesy of Mathew Schwartz/Unsplash.