The Sunday Salon: Off to Paris! (Virtually)

 

We are happy that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Welcome!

What is the Sunday Salon? The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

I finished up some non-Paris-in-July books this week. For me, My Friends started slowly, but the second half of the book turned everything around for me, and I ended up rating it 4 1/2 stars. I listened to Beyond Words, but I went ahead and ordered a copy and I'll read that again before my book group meets next month. I liked the new Lisa See book a lot, but I felt like she spent a little too much time putting on paper all the details of a terrible event in Los Angeles history for a book that is historical fiction---probably that's just me. 

What I Read Last Week:

Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina (Book Club Nonfiction)

My Friends by Frederik Bachman (Book Club Fiction)

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See (Fiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

The Earth by Émile Zola (Fiction)

Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson (Travel Memoir)

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire (Fiction in French)

The Paris Bookshop for the Brokenhearted by Rebecca Raisin (Fiction)

My Good Life in France by Janine Marsh (Memoir)

France: An Adventure History by Graham Robb (History)

The War of the Buttons by Louis Pergaud (Children's Fiction)

PBS helped me start my Paris in July 2026 journey off right with a visit to Paris via the Rick Steves' episode, Paris of the Parisians, coupled with the Daytripper's episode on Paris, Texas. 

I began seven books that feature Paris or France.

And I practiced my French on Duolingo at least one time a day.

A pretty good start...

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Northern Cardinal Chicks, Butterflies and Bees, an Alligator, and Some Gulf Coast Toads

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026

The Earth by Émile Zola:Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, and The Friday 56

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

My husband and I attended 

a Pollinator Academy last weekend,

and we came home with 

ten packets of free wildflower seeds.

Good Thing #2:

I swam Monday through Friday

this week at the Rec Center.

Good Thing #3:

It was warm this week, 

but when we saw that it was five degrees

warmer in Chicago,

it didn't feel too bad!

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

The Earth by Émile Zola:Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, and The Friday 56

                       

Today's Featured Book: 

The Earth (La Terre)

by Émile Zola

Genre: Fiction

Published: 1887

Page Count: 512 pages

Summary: 

Zola's novel of peasant life is generally regarded as one of his finest achievements, comparable to Germinal and L'Assommoir. Set in a village in northern France, it depicts the harshness of the peasants' world and their visceral attachment to the land. Jean Macquart, a war veteran and now an itinerant farm laborer, is drawn into the affairs of the Fouan family when he starts courting young Françoise. He becomes involved in a bitter dispute over the property of Papa Fouan when the old man divides his land between his three children. Resentment turns to greed and violence in a Darwinian battle for supremacy.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

That morning, Jean had slung a blue canvas seedbag round his middle and was holding it open with his left hand, whilst with his right he took out a handful of wheat and at every third step scattered it broadcast with a sweep of his arm.

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

"You get back and see to the dinner or else you'd better look out. And shut up the house, you little brat, in case of burglars."

Émile Zola

It's Paris in July time, and for me that means it's time to read another Zola book. 

I have read five Zola books so far:

• L'Assommoir (2020)
• The Belly of Paris (2021)
• Nana (2022)
• Germinal (2024)
• Thérèse Raquin (2025)

I have loved all the books I've read. I declared myself a Zola fan after my first Zola read, L'Assommoir, the story of a poor washerwoman in Paris. My favorites are L'Assommoir and Germinal, the story of the workers in a mine in France.

The stories all deal with social injustice, with the huge gaps between the lives of the rich and the lives of the poor in France in the mid to late 1800s. 

The lives of the characters in the novels I've read range from bleak to wretched to despondent. 

As you might guess, there are no happy endings here. 

I decided to read The Earth after reading a recent rave review of Zola's The Earth. Here are some reviews from other members of the Classics Club: Fanda, Karen K., and Katrina.

If you have read any Zola novels, I'd like to hear your thoughts. I welcome any recommendations for future Zola reads.

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026

Here are the books I can't wait to read...

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See

Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer

Social Animals by Camille Perri

Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum

Receipts from the Bookshop by Courtney Clapham

Earth 7 by Deb Olin Unferth

Trash! A Garbageman's Story by Simon Pere-Poupart

How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside by Brian Bilston

Man Overboard! by Kathleen Rooney

The Butterfly Season by Lea Korsgaard

Moss'd in Space by Rebecca Thorn

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy

The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn

Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood

Building 903 by Lois Lowry

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.