I am currently 9 days into Whole30 so I won’t be celebrating this 14 Juillet like I usually do- at a restaurant with other Francophiles, French food, and wine. Even though I’m mostly staying home for the day, I thought I’d share what I’ll be up to and a few other ideas for those of you who don’t want to or can’t go to a Bastille Day fest. Most of these are free and can be done in the comfort…
When Clotilde Dusoulier announced that she was coming out with her fifth book I may have lost it a little. In a good way. I have all of her books, love her blog (Chocolate and Zucchini, which is one of the first blogs I ever read), and even hired her for a food tour of Montmartre when we were in Paris in January 2017. She has such a healthful and unique approach to food, using and combining ingredients I never…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. I spent last week recovering from ECCC and going to even more author events. On Monday I went to see Anne Bishop and Patricia Briggs at the University Bookstore and on Wednesday I went to see Zack Davisson, who did a presentation on the supernatural cats of Japan. This week I had a new book club meeting on Monday and tonight I am going to see Leslye Walton (I know her from The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows…
Where the Wild Cherries Grow is an absolutely stunning tale. Two points of view separated by fifty years guide us through this story of friendship, love, and determination. Bill Perch is tasked with finding out what happened to a lost family member of a client so they can sell land to a developer. He travels to the childhood home of Emeline Vane where he finds her diary. He becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her when she disappeared…
Bonjour! Happy Wednesday and Happy (belated) New Year. With how busy the holidays were I have not put much active thought into the Wednesday Whimsy posts. Now everything is so slow that I’m looking forward a little too much to making a quiche later in the week. Though honestly I’d look forward to that on a busy week too. Book T.V. Show I recently finished the Netflix show Call My Agent (Dix pour cent in France). I kept coming across it…
Bonjour mercredi! This week I have one of my most favorite collections of French things to share.Book David Lebovitz’s new book, L’appart, is now out. Read my review here and buy it on Amazon here. If you’re local, he’ll be at Book Larder next week. Links I had no idea that Catacomb mushrooms were a thing. Supposedly starting with horse manure in Napoleon’s time and ending with the construction of the metro. Now we have something new to call button mushrooms *waggles eyebrows* A…
Oh, Shakespeare and Company. I’ve been to this store twice, the first time to buy a tote bag in 2014 and the second time to buy another tote along with a copy of To Capture What We Cannot Keep earlier this year. I knew it wasn’t the same store as the one that the Lost Generation frequented, but I had no idea of its rich history or what an interesting person George Whitman was. I first thought this book would…
Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father and is blind from age 6. She has memorized the model of their Paris neighborhood that her father made her from wood and loves to read Jules Verne. Werner is a German boy who lives in a group home with his sister. He teaches himself how to fix a radio they found and they listen in secret while the other children are sleeping. We get to see Marie-Laure and Werner grow up into…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday! I am currently in the air and on my way to Atlanta for a road trip to New Orleans for Nola StoryCon. I get to spend a week in the south eating the best food and enjoying one last chance at summer weather (Seattle has been very disappointing, but then again no one has AC so that’s probably a good thing). I am very excited to be meeting Charlaine Harris and Delilah S. Dawson for the…
Diane Ratican, a native Californian, gives us this whimsical book comparing two of her favorite cities in Why LA? Pourquoi Paris? Between charming illustrations of Paris by Eric Giriat and LA by Nick Lu, Ratican narrates the main points that make these two cities alike and different. I’ve seen a lot of compare/contrasts between New York City and Los Angeles, or Paris and NYC, but never LA and Paris and I like that that sets this book apart from the rest. I have…