Tuesday 1 July 2014

Paris in July

Bother!

I don't need another reading challenge, but I simply cannot resist one that allows me to indulge my Paris passion (okay, obsession)!

Tamara at Thyme for Tea & Karen at A Wondering Life have co-hosted Paris in July for five years now. This year, they has added four more co-hosts for more amour.

I know already that I will not succeed in reading all the books on my Paris pile, but I like to have options if something is not working for me!

In case you can't read the small print my 2014 pile includes:

Eugenie Grandet by Honore De Balzac
The Chateau by William Maxwell
French Children Don't Throw Food by Pamela Bruckerman
Chronicles of Old Paris: Exploring the Historic City of Lights by John Baxter
Delicious Days in Paris by Jane Peach
Emilie Du Chatelet: Daring Genius of the Enlightenment by Judith P. Zinsser
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris by Edmund White
Le Road Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love & France by Vivian Swift

To join in and to check out the month long events for Paris in July click here. I'm a little excited!

I also hope to cook up Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon recipe this month and watch Red, White & Blue again.

In the meantime...

Bonne lecture!

16 comments:

  1. Ah Bienvenue! Welcome to Paris in July 2014. You've selected a great bunch of books to read. I did enjoy Le Road Trip, I hope you do too. I love the title "Delicious Days in Paris", so I'll be keen to see your review. Hope you have a great month of reading!

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  2. Have fun for this month, I am a bit of a Francophile myself, and am looking forward to these posts.

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  3. Welcome Brona! You've got a great stack of books there. I've only read Hugo Cabret and Le Road Trip. Hugo is fantastic, and reads quite quickly given it's massive size. I think I've blogged about both of them. I have Delicious Days, Chronicles of Old Paris and French Kids lurking about in the TBR. Inside a Pearl sounds intriguing too. I can't wait to see what you cook up too.

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  4. What a great list of books! Happy reading and happy cooking! France really does inspire both...

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  5. Oh so glad you were too tempted and had to join us!! It's going to be a great month. I have Le Road Trip and it is an absolutely gorgeous and inspiring book. Have you seen the movie Hugo?? It is just stunning, but the book is also divine. So many wonderful options. I am looking forward to hearing what you think of "French Children don't throw food"!

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    1. Yes I have seen the Hugo movie and read Selznick's latest book, Wonderstruck. I have been meaning to reading Hugo for simply ages, and I'm looking forward to it.
      I suspect I will need the French Chn Don't Throw Food when I try to serve up the bouef - our kids don't like anything that resembles a a stew or casserole!!

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  6. These look like fun. If you're getting bogged down, Le Road Trip is definitely a quick read. Turn to that one to make your pile smaller. Good luck. Here's Mine

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    1. I actually started Le Road Trip last winter - but I left it in my soccer bag (the bag I take to my stepsons soccer games). It sat there, forgotten, all summer and I just rediscovered it last month.
      It's the perfect pre-game warm up/half time companion book - as much as I love watching the boys play...it's nice to dream of & be transported somewhere slightly more romantic than a soccer grandstand in the middle of winter!!

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  7. Can't remember which year I read Le Road Trip for Paris in July, but it was wonderful! I've got two books set aside for this challenge and hope to read at least one of them.

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  8. In case you're looking for one more to add to the pile, A Motor Flight Through France is a travelogue by Edith Wharton (to tie back to your theme from last month). I received a copy as a gift once and it's been waiting on my To Be Read shelf.

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    1. Ohhh now that sounds VERY promising - thanks for the heads up :-)

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  9. I have got to remember not to overbook next summer so that I can do this challenge too! Your list sounds great--a bit of this, a bit of that, depending on mood. I'll be checking back to get updates on what you read and how your Boeuf Bourguignon turned out--I tried it once and was underwhelmed, and chalked it up to my impatience as a cook (I never let things cook as long as suggested, probably because I never start early enough in the day or week!).

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  10. Anonymous4/7/14

    great plans! I enjoy lots of the books you listed there. Le Road Trip is so so pretty!

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  11. I'll join in too! Oh, I'm looking through your booklist for ideas.

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  12. Doesn't 'Inside a Pearl' look interesting? I read his 'Flaneur' a long time ago and his feeling for Paris really shone.

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  13. Anonymous7/7/14

    There are some great book titles here. I am particularly interested in Chronicles of Old Paris by Baxter.

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