Endnotes: New Circus, Dracula Map, Regional Hot Dogs, Summer Reading Prompts & More
Practicing handstands right now
Dave and I have made this the Summer of the Contemporary Circus. We have tickets for five different shows! It happened by accident, but it’s a happy accident.
This is a long post and may get clipped by your email provider. It’s best viewed online here.
If you’ve listened to our podcast episode The Circus: Found Family and Daring Feats, you know we love the circus. But our affection extends only to a particular kind of spectacle, and it’s decidedly not the one that forces majestic animals like tigers, lions, horses, and elephants to do silly tricks for sugar-drunk humans. No — we’re talking about contemporary circus that showcases dazzling feats of human strength and balance, bodies of all shapes and sizes flying through the air, and live music and plenty of dancing — all fortified with a slight negligence regarding personal safety on the performer’s part.
This short video does a solid job explaining the appeal:
(If you get bit by the circus bug, too, the Crying Out Loud YouTube channel is filled with dazzling videos.)
When we moved to Prague in 2017, I was thrilled to discover a local troupe called Cirk La Putyka. They have a portfolio of shows with different themes that they perform in a fun (and funky), minimalist warehouse space. See?
It’s one of our favorite places to take visitors because it’s magical and unexpected and definitely off the familiar tourist track. We recently saw a La Putyka show called Okamžik (in English: Moment) with our pal
of The Feminist Kitchen; a photo of their opening number is at the top of this post. The entire experience was a combination of exhilaration and unmitigated stress. The tent is large enough to feel like the crowd has energy, but small enough that you can see the performers’ muscles quiver, their rib cages expand with each breath. The acrobats and dancers were accompanied by a live band on a tiny balcony above the stage, and before the finale, audience members were recruited for a massive dance number. One of the best moments of the show was when ropes dropped from the ceiling like an enormous jellyfish so tiny, muscular people could climb and swing and spin among them. You can see a photo of that here.
Later in the summer, we’ll go to Letna Park, a vast, grassy expanse on a hill overlooking the Vltava River. Every August, it’s taken over by canvas tents, fairy lights, caravans, and circus troupes from around the world for the Letnà Letna International Festival of Contemporary Circus. For two weeks, there are multiple shows every night, plus food trucks, juggling classes, live music, face painting, and other unserious pleasures. The photo of Dave and I wearing clown noses is one of my favorite pics of us ever. If it wasn’t blurry it would 100% be our official headshot for Strong Sense of Place. (The black-and-white photo is of my mom when she was on assignement as a reporter, and the lower left is baby-Me at Circus World in Florida.)
Why am I telling you all this?
First, I think everyone should give themselves over to the thrills and magic of a circus as often as possible; parades are a good stand-in if there’s no circus tent nearby.
Second, if you come to Europe, please seek out a contemporary circus. It’s an art form that’s been around for centuries, and you can find innovative performers in most European countries. (This theater in Berlin is super fun.)
Third, summer is an excellent time to get lost in a circus story. We’ve recommended nine circus books on our website — The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler is still one of my all-time favorites. It includes, in no particular order, two librarians, a tarot card reader, a traveling circus, mermaids, dark secrets, a family curse, and an antiquarian book that plays a pivotal role in the action.
I recently learned about three novels that I’ve added to my TBR. Maybe you’ll be interested in them, too:
Vladivostok Circus by Elisa Shua Dusapin (translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins): Originally published in French, it’s the story of Nathalie, a new fashion school grad who knows next to nothing about the circus and doesn’t speak Russian. She’s tasked with designing costumes for a trio that performs the dangerous act knowns as the Russian bar. Publishers Weekly said, ‘Dusapin’s scene-setting and examination of languages and cultures colliding are as precise as ever. Readers will be thrilled.’
The Circus Train Conspiracy by Edward Marston: This is a mystery story swirling around the Moscardi Circus. It’s bad enough when the train carrying the circus derails on the way to Newcastle, UK, but then a woman’s body is found in the woods near the railroad tracks. Inspector Colbeck is on the case.
The Circus Train by Amita Parikh: Lena is the wheelchair-bound daughter of a famous illusionist. She’s grown up traveling with the World of Wonders circus, but she’s an outsider to the other children in the troupe. She likes reading (!) and museums. When WWII breaks out, her father is arrested by the SS, and Lena is forced to be braver than ever before.
May I suggest you pick a circus book, make a batch of this (easy) homemade caramel corn, and have the best almost-summer weekend?
I’ve added handstand practice into my workouts now that the weather is luring me to the park in the morning. If you want to try some circus-y stuff yourself, this video is filled with advice and encouragement for handstand practice, and this post explains the ins-and-outs of learning aerial silks (for people like me, not born into a circus family).
Endnotes: May 31
We’ve made it clear that we’re big fans of Amor Towles’ writing here at SSoP HQ (A Gentleman in Moscow is always a yes from us), so we were tickled to get this peek inside Amor Towles’ library. The room alone is pretty dreamy.
What’s better for the planet: a paper book or an e-reader?
This essay about summer reading made me want to book a week at a beach — any beach — to sit under an umbrella and read. ‘I can still see myself, collapsed in a folding chair beneath a rented beach umbrella. Every part of me is covered or lotioned up (half-English kids burn easy) except for my feet, which are buried in the sand. From time to time, I look up, stare at a sandpiper or a garland of kelp. If there’s no breeze to cool things down, I might get up and wade out in the water, execute a few halfhearted body surfs. Then it’s back to the chair.’
Read these handy travel hacks from
before you head out on your summer adventures.Somewhat related: Make copies of these 7 travel documents before your trip.
News you can use: A Guide to the 11 Most Beloved Regional Hot Dog Styles in the United States. I thought my heart belonged to the Coney Dog, but then I met the Polish Boy: ‘a grilled or fried kielbasa sausage placed in a hoagie roll, topped with French fries, vinegar-based coleslaw, and sweet tomato-based BBQ sauce.’
Do you have extra cash kicking around? Do you want your own island compound? Two maritime forts on the English Channel are going up for auction.
Your mail can smell like a freshly baked baguette! The French post office has released a scratch-and-sniff stamp that smells like fresh bread to celebrate the yeasty ‘jewel of French culture.’ (Have you listened to our new podcast episode France: Mostly Here for the Butter yet?)
Related: The (excellent) podcast
 is hosting a read-along of Les Miserables this summer.Sign up for the National Book Awards summer reading adventure. The reading prompts are super fun — read outdoors! re-read a childhood favorite! swap a favorite book with a friend! — and you can win prizes like books, hats, ice cream, reusable water bottles, or a trip to the National Book Awards in NYC in November. Details and downloadable card of reading activities here.
Follow the footsteps (and train rides and sea voyages) of the characters in Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Dracula: The Map. (Thank you to author Sally Jane Smith for passing this along to us!)
It’s not too late to join our Tuesday Tea discussion about your favorite spot for reading.
If your answer to that question is ‘beach,’ you might like this gallery of the best beach towns in Europe, idyllic beaches in Asia, 25 of the best beaches in the US, stunning beaches in Canada, and a virtual tour of the best beaches in South and Central America.
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 the new episode, we get excited about two books: The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis and The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Then Dave shares a very cool phone trick for tracking your books. [listen | transcript]
True story -- I was once in a work-mandated French class (Canadian bilingualism FTW) and in laboured sentences a colleague I had worked with for ten years trotted out a story about how when he was a kid on the Prairies, the circus had come to town and he had literally run away and joined it. He worked setting up and taking down the tents until he got bored and went back home. I've never looked at him the same since.
I just put a book on my TBR that I saw on the bookshelf in your Endnotes. Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure looks like a lot of fun!