Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books

If you were born anytime after, say, 1974, you probably associate Lebanon and its capital city of Beirut with political strife, violence, and bombed-out buildings. But this beautiful, misunderstood country is far more than its troubled past.Lebanon is a tiny nation on the eastern side of the Mediterranean. Its capital city of Beirut was once known as the Paris of the East, a holiday getaway for movie stars, moguls, and spies. Lebanon’s coast is still a dreamy beach destination with long stretches of sand — or dramatic rock formations — lined with palm trees on one side and perfect turquoise-blue water on the other.The name Lebanon comes from the Semitic word lbn in reference to the snow-kissed Mount Lebanon range. The interior’s rugged mountains are great for winter skiing and hiking among the fragrant cedar trees during the warmer months.You can also visit wineries, explore ancient ruins, dance the dabka, and eat delicious things like hummus, kibbeh, kofta, tabbouleh, and baklava — a.k.a. some of Mel’s favorite food in the world.In this episode, we briefly walk through the long history of Lebanon, delve into amazing stories of sibling rivalry and bank robbery, and Mel shares the story of her Lebanese great-grandmother. Then we recommend great books that took us to Lebanon on the page.Here are the books about Lebanon we recommend on the show: House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid Between Beirut and the Moon by A. Naji Bakhti The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East by Rebecca Lowe Rose Water and Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from my Lebanese Kitchen by Maureen Abood For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.Transcript of Lebanon: WORDS.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox and The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. Then Dave talks about how to help your non-podcast-listening friends become podcast fans.LINKS The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty Hester Fox’s website and Instagram Shannon Chakraborty’s website and Twitter City of Brass By Shannon Chakraborty Our podcast episode Egypt: Ancient Antiquities, Fiery Djinn, and the Lure of the Nile. Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown Our podcast episode The Sea: Tales of Poets and Pirates This American Life WTF with Marc Maron RadioLab Shut Up and Sit Down Twenty Thousand Hertz What Should I Read Next? with Anne Bogel The Perks of Being a Book Lover Films to be Buried With with Brett Goldstein Podchaser Realm.fm The Library of Lost Time episode: Realm Podcasts & Two New Books Tink Media: Adopt-a-Listener Transcript of this episodeThe Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Facebook Twitter Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: Jane & Edward by Melodie Edwards and Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Then Dave invites us all to get delightfully nerdy about punctuation.LINKSJane & Edward by Melodie EdwardsVera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. SutantoAn Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark! by Florence HazratSemicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark by Cecelia WatsonMelodie Edwards websiteExcerpt of the novel Jane & Edward in print and audioJane & Edward readers’ guideSometimes it’s too much! But the exclamation point has a point. (gift link)Video of LL Cool J on The Electric Company, rapping about punctuation.Transcript of this episodeThe Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:- Our site- Instagram- Facebook- Twitter- Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sri Lanka is known for its rich, full-bodied Ceylon tea, fishermen on stilts, and staggering beauty. If you want to visit an elephant sanctuary, trek to a mountaintop monastery, or swim (and surf) in crystal-blue waters, this teardrop-shaped island in the Bay of Bengal is the place to go.In contrast to its warm, soothing climate is its long history of civil war. The conflict that raged from 1983 until 2009 between the mostly-Sinhalese government and the insurgent Tamil Tigers had a profound and lasting effect on the population.But none of that has curbed Sri Lankans’ welcoming temperament nor the island’s natural charms. There’s world-class street food — all manner of crunchy, savory fried things, spicy curries, and tropical fruits like nothing you’ve ever seen before. There are sparkling waterfalls, whale watching and leopard sightings, and an iconic train ride through lush green jungles dotted with colorful flowers. All giving truth to the name Sri (Resplendent) Lanka (Island).In this episode, we explore Sri Lankan legend, get nostalgic about Duran Duran, hear the details of a remarkable airplane adventure, and get very curious about wood fruit. Then we recommend five great books that took us to Sri Lanka on the page, including an adventure memoir by the world’s best travel writer, an unusual crime story, a colorful cookbook, and two dream-like novels set during the civil war years, one of which Mel clutched to her chest in a hug.Here are the books about bookshops we recommend on the show:Anil’s Ghost by Michael OndaatjeThe Hamilton Case by Michelle de KretserRambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka by Cynthia ShanmugalingamElephant Complex: Travels In Sri Lanka by John GimletteThe Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan KarunatilakaFor more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.Transcript of Sri Lanka: Remarkable, Relentless, Resplendent.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Girl with Twenty Fingers by Kate Mueser and White Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link. Then Mel introduces everyone to the man teaching modern foodies how to cook like Jane Austen.LINKS The Girl with Twenty Fingers by Kate Mueser  White Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link Kate Mueser’s website Kate Mueser on YouTube talking about Mozart and Munich. Kelly Link’s website and her bookstore Book Moon Books. The Prague Sonata by Bradford Morrow Magic for Beginners: Stories by Kelly Link. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link. Stranger Things Happen: Stories by Kelly Link. Regency Cook website and Instagram.  Regency Cook schedule of upcoming classes. Video tour of The Regency Townhouse kitchen. Everything You Wanted to Know About Regency London. Why Are So Many Romances Set in the Regency Period? Transcript of this episode The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Facebook Twitter Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Company by J.M. Varese and Sweet Enough: A Dessert Cookbook by Alison Roman. Then Dave shares stories from a recent trip to the Shetland Islands.LINKS The Company by J.M. Varese Sweet Enough: A Dessert Cookbook by Alison Roman J.M. Varese’s website and Instagram. Arsenic and Old Tastes Made Victorian Wallpaper Deadly. The Dickens Project at UCLA. Interview with Alison Roman, author of Sweet Enough. _Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings by Yossy Arefi Shetland with Laurie, plus her Instagram and Patreon. Transcript of this episode The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Facebook Twitter Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A bookshop is a special (maybe enchanted) place found all over the world and staffed by booksellers who seem to have a preternatural ability to put just the right book in your hands. People have been buying and selling books since about 300 BCE. During the latter part of the Roman empire, when all the best homes included a personal library, the book trade was boomin’. Back then, shops posted a list of titles for sale on their doors. The kind of store we think of when someone says ‘bookshop’ was initially tied closely to printing. The first booksellers were also editors and printers who made the books, then sold them to the reading public. Eventually, those specialties split apart: Publishers worked with authors to create books, and booksellers placed them into the hands of readers. And we’re all better for it.In this episode, we talk about the world’s oldest bookshop and discuss some remarkable bookstores around the world, including a bookshop in paradise and Scotland’s National Book Town. We also learn about a shocking bookstore-related medical phenomenon! Then we recommend great books that took us inside the world of bookshops.Here are the books about bookshops we recommend on the show: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount Spine Poems by Annette Dauphin Simon Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner Booked to Die by John Dunning The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.Transcript of Bookshops: Mostly Paper and Magic.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: Speak for the Dead by Amy Tector and I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. Then Mel shares a story about the Gotham Book Prize that will warm your literature-loving heart. LINKS- Speak for the Dead by Amy Tector- Amy’s Substack- The Newburyport Literary Festival- Bustle interview with Rebbeca Makkai- Amy Tector’s awesome Substack- I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai- The Gotham Book Prize- The 2023 Finalists- Get a $25 gift card when you buy all 11 finalists- The story of P&T Knitwear- Transcript of this episodeThe Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:- Our site- Instagram- Facebook- Twitter- Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mountains of Jamaica rise up out of the turquoise-blue Caribbean. From those jaggy peaks, rolling hills — covered in lush green rainforests — taper down to soft-sand beaches along the coast.It makes perfect sense that the first Jamaican inhabitants — the Taino from South America — gave the island a name that means ‘Land of Wood and Water.’ It’s all as if paradise is beckoning you to come, sit, relax.Music floats on the air in both the rhythmic lilt of reggae music and Jamaican patois, a creole language that combines elements of English, Spanish, and African languages.Yes, there are pirates in Jamaica’s past, along with Spanish conquistadors, British interlopers, and a history of slavery. But Jamaica is now a cultural superpower, sharing its feel-good music (with a message), colorful cuisine, star athletes, and multicultural gifts with the world. In this episode, we explore the so-literal-they’re-poetic names of some Jamaican towns, sing along to our favorite Bob Marley tunes, dig into the history of jerk chicken, and spy on Ian Fleming’s Jamaican estate. Then we recommend five great books that took us to Jamaica on the page.Here are the books we recommended in the show:Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkersonhttps://bit.ly/3XSUjVHIf I Survive You by Jonathan Escofferyhttps://bookshop.org/a/1240/9780374605988Black Heart of Jamaica by Julia Goldinghttps://amzn.to/3Yx6cRKMotherland: A Jamaican Cookbook by Melissa Thompsonhttps://bit.ly/3ZjfUrjWest Winds: Recipes, History and Tales from Jamaica by Riaz Phillipshttps://bit.ly/3YXmkg9The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller - audiohttps://amzn.to/3Yx6JmIThe Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller - printhttps://bit.ly/41oF4GPFor more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes at http://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2023–03–06-jamaicaTranscript: http://strongsenseofplace.com/transcriptions/47_jamaica_transcriptDo you enjoy our show and website? Do you love bonus content? Do you enjoy chatting with other book lovers? Please consider supporting our work on Patreon! You’ll get access to bonus goodies, input on which destinations we cover each season, and become part of the Strong Sense of Place community. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Get all the info you need right here.https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplaceYou can always find us at:- Our site- Instagram- Facebook- Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: ‘Weyward’ by Emilia Hart and ‘Psych: The Story of the Human Mind’ by Paul Bloom. Then Dave tells the story a recently solved code that reveals new secrets of a famous Queen.LINKSWeyward by Emilia Harthttps://bit.ly/3KoeYh8Psych: The Story of the Human Mind by Paul Bloomhttps://bit.ly/3Z5zJSYVideo: Emilia Hart shares three books that inspired herhttps://bit.ly/3xFRA79Paul Bloom’s TED talkshttps://bit.ly/3ErSszYNational Geographic on the decoded lettershttps://on.natgeo.com/3KsKpqIFrom Cryptologia: Deciphering Mary Stuart’s Lost Letters from 1578–1584https://bit.ly/3XS76YqTranscript of this episodehttps://bit.ly/3KgOhuOThe Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:- Our site- Instagram- Facebook- Twitter- Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices