A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 4/5 StarsThis book follows Diana Bishop, a witch with a long family history but one that she tries to shun due to the circumstances surrounding her parent’s death. She is an academic taking a sabbatical at Oxford when she encounters a spellbound book and can no longer avoid her use of magic. She also meets Matthew, a vampire, and fate keeps bringing them together no matter how much she tries to avoid him.Overall…
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy 5/5 StarsThis book is about so many different things (climate change, love, relationships, birds, working on a ship, the ocean) and the story is told in such a beautiful way. A woman finds a boat to help her track the last migration of the Arctic tern and along the way we get the back story of how she met her husband and how she grew up. We see her growing as a pre-teen and teen and…
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier 3/5 StarsI was excited to read this after reading this in the book summary: “Around the turn of the 19th century on the eastern coast of England, young Mary Anning is struck by lightning. Afterwards, she discovers she possesses a rare gift—the ability to “see” and locate fossils buried deep in the cliffs near her village.” I thought this would have a magical realism element but Mary does not actually have any special ability to…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. I feel like I’m still recovering from a heat wave we had in Seattle on Sunday and Monday of this week. As most homes and apartments here don’t have AC, everyone feels it when it does get really hot. We ended up buying a portable AC unit when we realized I’d be finishing up the pregnancy during the hottest part of summer and on hot days I just camp out in there with my cross-stitch, audiobooks,…
I read Bringing Up Bébé and bookmarked the Babyzen Yoyo stroller long before I wanted a bébé of my own, just in case, so you can imagine that when it came time to make a registry and do a bit of shopping I tried to find French items to add to my lists. I also tried to find a bit of inspiration about making my pregnancy more French but that was more difficult. I also discovered that since many women…
I was so excited to find out that Samantha Vérant was coming out with a first-to-me fiction book. I loved her memoirs, Seven Letters From Paris and How to Make a French Family, and knew that a novel by her about cooking and France would be great. Sophie is a chef in NYC until her life falls apart: she loses her job at a Michelin-starred restaurant and just weeks later her grandmother in France has a stroke. She jumps on…
Paris On Air by Oliver Gee 4/5 StarsOverall, this is a great Paris memoir read that is funny and entertaining. Many parts are cheesy, especially in the audio book version, but if you’re a Francophile and enjoy stories about how expats make their way to Paris then I’d recommend this book. Gee brings a unique angle by giving a bit of background on his career in journalism and how he transitioned into doing The Earful Tower podcast full time, which…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. Another long, sad break between Wednesday Whimsy posts. I’ve been half-heartedly trying to find French-themed content but most things have been a bust. I’ve tried watching a few French movies on Netflix or Kanopy but haven’t been enjoying them so stop watching. I have been continuing with French lessons though so at least my language skills are (hopefully) evolving. BookParis on Air by Oliver GeeOverall, this is a great Paris memoir read that is funny and…
These are from early February 2020 at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.
Once mid-March came and we realized how much COVID-19 would have an effect on not only daily life but vacations (read: a babymoon), we kept our fingers crossed that things would open up enough to take a little road trip while it would still be comfortable for me to travel. Thankfully, by the second half of June our top destination pick opened up for visitors: Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. This has been on our list of PNW things…