Endnotes: Summer Reading, Oregon Coast, Mary Bennett, Email Sign-Offs, Cairo Dining, Book-O-Mat & More

Cold drink? Check. Comfy chair? Yes. Stack of books? Definitely.

Jun 14, 2024

That’s the Oregon Coast up there, and those chairs look like a pretty great place to spend a chunk of the summer, right?

With the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, it’s a 363-mile-long wonderland of more than 80 state parks with iconic beaches, dramatic sea cliffs, quiet bays, and windswept sand dunes. The Oregon Dunes are North America’s largest expanse of coastal dunes — and they inspired Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic Dune. If you’re feeling like an adventure, you can walk the Oregon Coast Trail. Miles and miles of paths — on beaches, forest pine needles, and the sidewalks of shoreline towns — can be enjoyed as a single-day hike or a string of back-to-back expeditions; here’s a video for a sneak peek. More news you can use: There’s also a food trail where you can pick blueberries, try cranberry rum, dine on local crab cakes, forage for edible seaweed, or relax with a picnic of local foods. Hungry for more? 10 don’t-miss spots on the Oregon coast.

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I wouldn’t mind a seaside reading spot, but I’m also very fond of sitting in bed, windows open and floor fan pointed directly at me, a big glass of iced tea nearby, and a can’t-put-it-down novel queued up.

Last Saturday, I ignored all responsibilities and spent the entire day, from breakfast until dinner, reading Lucy Foley’s new thriller The Midnight Feast. As usual, Foley sets up a vivid setting and a strong premise — things go delightfully wrong at the opening night party of a Manor House-turned-hotel overlooking the sea — then tells the story from the POV of multiple characters. Unlike her previous novels, The Hunting Party (Scotland!), The Guest List (Irish island wedding!), and The Paris Apartment (all of which I loved), she gives us a few likable characters and a brilliant ending that’s more hopeful than her previous outings.

A recent installment of

Drinks With Broads

celebrated the Sweet Valley High Super Editions, special entries in the series released at Christmas and in the summer.

Drinks With Broads

Sweet Valley High Super Editions, and a Celebrity Wedding Mini-Edition

At last! As far as I can tell from the festivities at all the schools around my home, it’s now officially summer vacation, when a young woman’s fancy turns away from homework and responsibilities and toward — in my personal experience — reading library books in front of a window air conditioner and eating popsicles. Don’t get me wrong: I generally liked school. I was a good student and an extrovert, and, most importantly, a child during the pre-internet era where we had to get our gossip in person, and it was easiest to fulfill my Nosy Nancy needs at school. In fact, I always liked going…

a year ago · 81 likes · 168 comments · Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

I missed the Sweet Valley High phenomena, but reading about those books got me thinking about two YA novels that I strongly associate with that pre-teen, carefree summer reading experience I’m always trying to recapture.

I’m in no way saying these books are good; I’m just saying adolescent Mel loved them.

Love is Like Peanuts by Betty Bates.
Our heroine is 14-year-old Marianne Mandic. She needs to help pay for her ballet lessons and buy new clothes before she starts her freshman year of high school. She lands a summer job babysitting the disabled daughter of a wealthy widower. Her parents are skeptical. Her boyfriend is unsupportive. Marianne is basically surrounded by jerks. As she bonds with the 8-year-old Catsy, she also falls hard for Toby — tall, cute, kind, 18, and heading for MIT in the fall. Soon there are sailing dates at the yacht club and a desire to 'do it' with Toby (!). More (melo)drama ensues.

This book was published in 1981 when I was 13, and I was into it. One million percent rooting for Marianne — and, showing my early predilection for being overly attracted to food in novels, I was very taken with the sandwiches Toby brought to a 4th of July picnic: Thick slabs of roast beef with some kind of tangy spicy sauce. HOW DO I STILL REMEMBER THAT? I AM 56 YEARS OLD.

I'm pretty sure that this book is actually terrible — this blog post sure seems to indicate that. But the sepia-colored gauze through which I remember it is firmly in place. (Amazon informs me I bought a hard-cover copy of this book in November 2003. I wonder what happened to it?)

Sooner or Later by Carole & Bruce Hart
This book is a novelization of the 1979 TV movie of the same name, and whoo, boy! when I say it was formative for me. (I’m not the only one.) I was nine years old, super dorky, and living in rural Pennsylvania where I felt like an alien. All I wanted was to be older, have feathered hair, and own a pair of clogs with wooden heels. A cute blonde boyfriend who was also a musician and could drive was the stuff of daydreams.

So I was firmly in the demo for Sooner or Later. Our heroine Jessie Walter is 13 and immediately turns into an awkward ball of hormones when she meets her 17-year-old (!) guitar teacher Michael Skye (at the rock-and-roll-named Eddie Nova Guitar Institute).

Why are so many of his buttons open? On what planet is he 17?

Jessie had just seen Michael that weekend playing with his band at the mall and was knocked for a loop. Who could resist a performance like this?

Jessie pretends to be 16 (who amongst us hasn’t?), applying makeup on the bus on the way to guitar lessons after school, flirting with Michael, and attending a band practice that is like no band practice I’ve ever seen (and I played in three bands in Austin).

They kiss. They go on a date. They get dangerously close to ‘doing it,’ and Jessie has to decide how far she’s willing to go for love. There is a happy ending that keeps everyone’s dignity and moral code intact.

I should also mention that Jessie was my fashion ideal. Her parents didn’t forbid her to wear leather clogs. Her hair feathered just so. In one scene, she wears a plaid vintage vest that gave her a cool mini-Anne Hall vibe I coveted. (For my birthday that year, I wore braces, fuchsia capri pants, a turquoise sleeveless sweater, and plastic bangles — with matching earrings — in fuchsia, turquoise, yellow, and orange. My hair was decidedly not feathered.)

Last summer, when we visited the States, I bought a paperback of the 125-page book version of Sooner or Later and read it on our road trip to my hometown. That may have been one of the best reading experiences of my life. Is the book good? No. Are there lessons to be learned about life in its pages? Nope. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Will I read it again this summer now that I’ve remembered it’s on my bookshelf? Definitely.

Do you need to see Rex Smith singing the 1979 Billboard top ten hit ‘You Take My Breath Away’? Obviously.

This summer, as I always do, I’ll take a personal holiday in July to read the latest Gabriel Allon novel from Daniel Silva, and my TBR for our vacation in Croatia and Venice includes literary fiction and books about actual adults. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m forever chasing the high of Jessie and Michael’s feathered hair and nearly unbearable yearning for each other.

Endnotes: 14 June

Take a look at the British country hotels that inspired the setting in The Midnight Feast
Biographies written for kids are a great way to learn the basics about famous people, usually with fantastic illustrations. Here’s a roundup of 15 picture books that celebrate the lives of great artists, writers, and scientists.
When ‘sincerely yours’ just won’t do it: a collection of creative email sign-offs. Looking forward to using have the day you deserve soon.
Yes, please, I would like to eat in any (all?) of these 19 essential Cairo restaurants. I think I’d start with Khufu’s. So dreamy.
Can’t get to Italy this summer? Here are five podcasts that will transport you there.
In our recent podcast New York City: NO! SLEEP! TILL BROOKLYN!, Dave told a story in Two Truths and a Lie about Books & Burlesqueand included what he thought was a made-up drag-queen name: Page Turner. We were delighted to learn she’s real. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Paige Turner.
Reading with friends is more fun! Why not join this read-along of Jane Austen’s Emma from
John Halbrooks
.
Treat yourself to this lovely letter from Normandy from
jodi {fiftybeautifulthings}
. ‘The sound of accordion music fills the air as I turn out of the alley and walk toward the Great Clock of Rouen. It seems a street musician has claimed his spot in the cathedral square particularly early on this Sunday morning, and his songs have been floating through the empty streets, following me like an old-school French soundtrack as I walk past the half-timbered buildings of the old town.’
Related: There’s a new novel-length retelling of Pride & Prejudice with five Mary Bennetts. It’s called Pride & Prejudice: Oops All Marys, and eight chapters are available right now. ‘No truths are universally acknowledged. There are truths widely circulated; truths inherently understood (but rarely stated); and then there are truths which are so ridiculous, so irregular, that no member of polite society would dare utter them aloud. Mr. Bennet had to live with one of these truths, which was, impossibly, that each of his five daughters was Mary.’ (This is also where I need to mention that I cry every time I think about the fact that when Hilary Mantel died, she was working on a retelling from the POV of Mary. A few hundred words are all that exist.)
Aw. It’s the end of the charming Maisie Dobbs series. But rejoice! There are 18 titles you can read over and over.
Big museums like the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, the Prado Museum in Madrid, The Met in New York, and the Louvre in Paris are magical and breathtaking. But kitschy little museums are great, too. Here’s a directory to help you find niche museums all over the world. Cleveland Hungarian Museum! DEVIL-ish Little Things in Washington! House of Broel Dollhouse Museum in New Orleans!
Bring back the Book-O-Mat!
30 Things Good Readers Do from
Sara Hildreth
. ‘read to watch the artist build his castle of cards and watch the castle of cards become a castle of beautiful steel and glass.’
Hey! Do you guys want to buy this Scottish Island with us? It has seven residential properties, a lighthouse, and a flock of 55 black-faced sheep. The island is also home to puffins, seals, and cormorants. A bargain at $2.5 million!
Must-click headline: This Luxurious African Train Trip Takes You From South Africa to Zimbabwe on Vintage Railcars.

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: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart and Hip-Hop is History by Quest Love. Then Mel delves into the immersive storytelling, cosplay, and fantastic settings of LARPing.

listen | transcript

Cheers to summer reading!

Rachel N

Jun 23, 2024

We are on an 11 week road trip with two tween boys. The Coast of Oregon is the entirety of Week 6, so this food trail is amazing! Generally, these growing boys are more interested in quantity over artisanal craftsmanship, but we'll get them there. 😂

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