Monthly Archives: November 2024

Europe on 5 Dollars a Day

US travel writer Arthur Frommer, known for the guidebook Europe on 5 Dollars a Day and other titles on budget travel, has died aged 95. Frommer began his journalism career while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army during the … Continue reading

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Autumn

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Bookstore Tourism: Portlandia

It’s always good news to discover that a new indie bookshop has opened in the U.S.. But it’s great news when it turns out to be a travel bookstore. Even if you can’t get to Portland, Oregon IRL, you can … Continue reading

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Bookstore Tourism

The Abecadlo Antiquarian Bookshop is located in a former 19th pharmacy, at 18 Kościuszki Street in Krakow, Poland. Its beautiful interior is made up of antique pharmacy furniture dating back to the 1890s, which the owners managed to save and … Continue reading

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Once upon a time, suddenly

“A Sudden Story” by Robert Coover Once upon a time, suddenly, while it still could, the story began. For the hero, setting forth, there was of course nothing sudden about it, neither about the setting forth, which he’d spent his … Continue reading

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Train Songs

What would Pachebel’s Canon sound like if played by a series of cacophonous train horns? To find out, watch this video by Pavel Jirásek, who edited short bits from ACETrainsUK’s horn 7m50s compilation of trains in the United Kingdom with other clips of train horns to … Continue reading

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Bookstore Lover on the Road

Bob Manson is a retired teacher from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He’s also a superfan of independent bookstores. So much so that he has now visited over 600 of them across the country. At each one, he talks with the owners … Continue reading

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Encounters with French culture

Last week, the American Library in Paris announced the winner of their 2024 Book Award, which recognizes titles originally published in English “that best realizes new and intellectually significant ideas about France, the French people, or encounters with French culture.” … Continue reading

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The more things change, etc. etc.

In 1951, British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote an article titled “The Best Answer to Fanaticism—Liberalism” in The New York Times Magazine. Sadly, the piece could have easily been written this week. Russell wasn’t advocating for any particular political party or economic … Continue reading

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Things Fall Apart

  Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is … Continue reading

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