Read Comics in Public, Burrowcore, Punctuation History, Novellas & More: Endnotes 28 August

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.

News you can sue: Today is International Read Comics in Public Day! I think most of us readers know that comics aren’t just for kids, and today is our opportunity to help spread that opinion far and wide. Grab a new graphic novel or an old-school comic and hit a park bench, the coffee shop, the bus, or the subway with your book. If you need some ideas to get you started, Dave talked about the best graphic novels for newbies in a mini-episode of our podcast — and the brilliant Tillie Walden (Charity & Sylvia, Clementine, Spinning) shared her favorite manga for beginners. You can also read her graphic novel On a Sunbeam online! For graphic novels with a strong sense of place, we recommend Persepolis (Iran), Daytripper (Brazil), Rebetiko (Greece), When Stars are Scattered (Kenya), Roaming (New York City), and The Ladies-In-Waiting (Spain). (BTW, that’s the iconic Belgian comic book character Tintin and his pals in the image above; read more about his adventures here.

• More evidence that reading fiction is good for your brain (as if we needed a scientific excuse to get lost in a good book). ‘…research has found that fiction is linked to better social cognition — our ability to think about and interact with other people — and an increased understanding of the world as a complex place.’

• If you love a specialized vocabulary like I do, treat yourself to the lost vocabulary of whaling. (In this episode of our podcast, Dave makes a strong case for reading Moby Dick.)

• From CrimeReads: The Very Best Short Mystery Fiction. Two modern masters of the locked room mystery — Gigi Pandian and Tom Mead — choose their favorites of the genre’s shorter form.

• This book bar in Glasgow is dreamy:

• ‘Picture the scene: an attentive host drizzles hand-pressed olive oil on a seasonal spread made using ingredients grown in a nearby organic garden. Meat is sizzling on a nearby open grill, as you take a sip of local wine from a neighbouring vineyard. There is a faint bleat of grazing sheep, as the sun drifts behind a pastoral backdrop of endless sweeping hills, rolling meadows and peaks. You retreat to one of just a handful of rooms, to be awoken by nature the next morning.’ More on the best farm stays in Europe.

• This headline made me LOL: Goodbye Cottagecore, Hello Burrowcore. I am however compelled by the idea of living ‘inside a storybook hideaway.’ To be fair, I do want to teleport into the photos and read with a cup of tea.

• I wish Lufthansa was selling these snarky tshirts and other merch about the quirks of flying.

• Summer is ticking out, so now is a great time to ponder the question, Why Are So Many Horror Movies Set at Summer Camp?

• Simon Haisell — king of the slow read on Substack — is about to tackle A.S. Byatt’s The Children’s Book. Here’s all the info you need about the slow read.

• Sorta related: We’re doing a slow/close read of Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian with our supporters on Patreon. We’d love to have you join us! Get all the details here.

• This giant junk drawer sculpture is delightful! Like Gulliver’s Travels in real life!

• Britain’s 10 most idyllic seaside escapes. Heed the siren song of the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England. So many cute towns! So much crashing surf!

• Florence Hazrat has written a book about the history of punctuation — On the Mark: From Periods to Interrobangs, How Punctuation Remade the World. As a devoted fan of the interrobang (?!), I am here for it. Read an excerpt about parentheses here.

• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is accepting donations.

• Sort but not necessarily sweet: Nine Novellas To Read In a Single Afternoon. (The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt keeps popping up in my life. Have you read it?)

• The National Gallery Imaginarium website is a beautiful, interactive way to take a short art break. Navigate through the halls to get an up-close looks at landmark works of art. Highly recommended.

BRB, gotta go read a graphic novel in the park.

Top image courtesy of Omid Roshan/Unsplash.