This took me a long time to read because it gets pretty dense in the middle. The beginning is super interesting because we learn about Sequana, the pagan river goddess the Seine is named after and an archeological site at Bercy in Paris where hundreds of artifacts were found. Sciolino starts at the source of the Seine and follows it to the sea, stopping along the way in notable towns and cities. It really is a great story of the…
Expeditions Unpacked by Ed Stafford Master of the Phantom Isle by Brandon Mull 5/5 StarsI love all of Brandon Mull’s books but this story just seemed… extra funny and even more adventurous than usual. Seth has no memory of his identity and is with Ronodin in the Phantom Isle. Kendra and her friends travel from Wyrmroost to the Crescent Lagoon, both for protection and to help the fallen sanctuary of Crescent Lagoon. We’re introduced to new characters, like a giant,…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. We went on a trip to New England this month (New Hampshire, mostly Manchester, southern Maine, and Boston) and I went to as many French things as I could, just like I said. Manchester has a surprising French influence and as a result a had crepes for breakfast twice, happily. I also stumbled upon this perfect French/Halloween (perhaps an oxymoron?) set up at a cafe in Kennebunkport, Maine. I’d love to redo the house to be…
Expeditions Unpacked is a book I didn’t know I needed in my life and now that it’s there I want 100 more just like it. This book covers 25 explorers who were the first to accomplish a goal in their field, such as the first person to climb Everest, walking the Amazon River, or the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe, to name a few. Each entry has a list accompanied by illustrations of 20-30 items the explorer had with…
On the fifth day of our trip we drove from Missoula, MT to West Yellowstone, MT. The campsite and town of West Yellowstone are in Montana and you cross into Wyoming on your way into the park. After setting up our tent we went into town to the visitor center to plan what to do the next few days, visited the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, and had dinner at Firehole Bar-B-Que Co. The restaurant was busy because it was…
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson 4/5 StarsI love that Magnusson says she is aged “between 80 and 100” and that this is her first book. I thought this would be more about decluttering (like The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up) but I feel that this book would most benefit someone over 50. It is geared towards those thinking of gradually really paring down and getting rid of things to the comfortable necessities so when…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. I’ve been researching French things to do for an upcoming trip to New England. If you have any recommendations, please send them my way. We’ll be in Boston, New Hampshire, and parts of Maine up to Portland. We were recently in the mood for a cottage pie-type dish so I used recipes from Instantly French! (probably my favorite cookbook) and A Kitchen in France to make a Brisket Parmentier. Once I tweak the recipe a bit…
At the beginning of August we took a road trip out to Montana and Wyoming, our first stop being Glacier National Park in Montana. We stayed three nights in the West Glacier KOA that is just outside the park entrance. The KOA was okay: the bathrooms and showers were fine and the layout was okay but there was a lot of noise from other campers and the food we ate at the cafe there wasn’t good (we had a rib…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. I’ve been jumping head first into the Halloween holiday season, which for me starts September 1 since one month just isn’t enough. Pleasantly, surprisingly I have a few non-fiction French books that fit into spooky-themed reading so keep an eye out for those reviews if you’re interested. Or you can follow me on Goodreads to see what I’m up to. BookI recently finished the second book in the Cassidy Blake series by Victoria Schwab. I cannot…
Nobody Cares by Anne T. Donahue 4/5 StarsI really enjoyed these essays and can relate to Anne in many ways (anxiety! Titanic! Harry Styles!) but towards the end she got pretty politically preachy. I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed that the author read it. The essay format and humor was a breath of fresh air compared to what I usually read and I look forward to more from this author. Overall I liked it and would recommend.kindle,…