Friday, July 11, 2025

A Bakery in Paris by Aimee K. Runyan (with Croissants): Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 




Today's Featured Book: 

A Bakery in Paris

by Aimie K. Runyan

Genre: Historical Fiction

Published: August 1, 2023

Page Count: 384 pages

Summary: 

1870: The Prussians are at the city gates, intent to starve Paris into submission. Lisette Vigneau—headstrong, willful, and often ignored by her wealthy parents—awaits the outcome of the war from her parents’ grand home in the Place Royale in the very heart of the city. When an excursion throws her into the path of a revolutionary National Guardsman, Théodore Fournier, her destiny is forever changed. She gives up her life of luxury to join in the fight for a Paris of the People. She opens a small bakery with the hopes of being a vital boon to the impoverished neighborhood in its hour of need. When the city falls into famine, and then rebellion, her resolve to give up the comforts of her past life is sorely tested.

1946: Nineteen-year-old Micheline Chartier is coping with the loss of her father and the disappearance of her mother during the war. In their absence, she is charged with the raising of her two younger sisters. At the hand of a well-meaning neighbor, Micheline finds herself enrolled in a prestigious baking academy with her entire life mapped out for her. Feeling trapped and desperately unequal to the task of raising two young girls, she becomes obsessed with finding her mother. Her classmate at the academy, Laurent Tanet, may be the only one capable of helping Micheline move on from the past and begin creating a future for herself. 

Both women must grapple with loss, learn to accept love, and face impossible choices armed with little more than their courage and a belief that a bit of flour, yeast, sugar, and love can bring about a revolution of their own. 




 


BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City ReaderWhat 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.

September 2, 1870 

“Come away from the window, Lisette. I don’t want anyone knowing we’re up here.”


Runyan, Aimie K.. A Bakery in Paris: Two Women, Two Eras, One Bakery of Courage, p. 1. Kindle Edition. 






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. 

Madame Dupuis ushered me in to her apartment with the warmth of someone welcoming an old friend. She walked with a cane, but she never allowed it to detract from her graceful comportment. She somehow managed to glide, despite being dependent on the stick for support. Though I had to be fifty years her junior, perhaps more, she made me feel awkward and gangly.


Runyan, Aimie K.. A Bakery in Paris: Two Women, Two Eras, One Bakery of Courage, p. 56. Kindle Edition.  







This book is two stories---one of a rich girl, Lisette, in 1870, who meets a man, Theo, fighting for the common people; and one of a young woman, Micheline, in 1946, waiting for the return of her mother after the war to relieve of her of the burden of caring for her sisters. 

Both stories involve baking, and both involve a bakery, and, for me, that's the best part of the story.

I shall attempt, for the first time, a croissant. From the book:

“Always start the morning before you plan to serve. Mix four cups flour, two spoonfuls of salt, one-third cup sugar, one spoonful of yeast, one-and-a-half cups milk, and one cup water. Mix well, place in oiled bowl, and chill in icebox or coldest part of cellar overnight. 


The next morning, take three-quarters of a pound cold butter and roll between two sheets of parchment. Shape into a square, roughly half an inch thick. Keep butter as cold as you can. Roll your dough into a square the same width, but twice the length of your square of butter. Fold the butter in the dough and seal edges. Fold the dough-and-butter sheets in half, and then again into thirds. Let dough rest and complete this process two more times. Roll out the dough and cut into triangles three inches at the base. Roll into the croissant shape, stretching the dough as you work. Let rest one hour. Brush the tops with egg whites and bake in a medium oven one half hour. Let cool one half hour before serving. Serve with butter and any variety of jams, jellies, or preserves."








Okay, these might have a few problems. I used the recipe (above) from the 1871 portion of this book, and I might have needed a little more guidance about temperature than "a medium oven," especially as I imagine this might have been a wood stove of some sort. There was a lot (a lake, if I am being completely honest) of melted butter halfway through the bake. They may not be beautiful, but they do have great flavor (as you might expect, with 3/4 lb. of butter in the recipe). 










The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer   

July 11th - 17th - How many weekly bookish posts do you put on your blog and/or social media? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Review)

For seventeen years, I've aimed at posting once a week. I've now posted for 884 weeks and I've posted 2,794 times. That's an average of three times a week.




Wednesday, July 9, 2025

The 2025 Houston Bookstore Crawl: Houston Book Warehouse

I was delighted to participate in the Second Annual Houston Bookstore Crawl #HTXBookCrawl25 in April. Here is a map I made of the twenty-five indie bookstores in the Houston area.


How it worked: I picked up a crawl card at Then & Now Bookstore in Galveston, one of the 25 participating stores. I got my card stamped or signed by each of the stores I visited through the end of April. Once I visited 10, I submitted my card to any of the participating bookstores to be entered into a raffle for gifts. Every store I hit after the first 10 counts as an additional entry. The cards had to be turned in by the end of business on April 30.


April 26 was Indie Bookstore Day, and indie bookstores all over the US hosted events. Take a look at the map here to see what events were held in April.

Here is my tenth bookstore:  

Houston Book Warehouse

17939 Keith Harrow Blvd., Suite 202

Houston, TX

(281) 815-5151



The Houston Book Warehouse is in a big space in an industrial area of Houston.


It was fun to meet a fellow Bookstore Crawler.


It's filled with bargains...if you look carefully.


Staff was helpful.

I got my tenth stamp for the crawl...and turned it in...though I couldn't resist going to two more bookstores...

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

French Books I've Re-Read the Most

Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (10)

After being stranded in a desert after a crash, a pilot comes in contact with a captivating little prince who recounts his journey from planet to planet and his search for what is most important in life.

Crêpes by Suzette by Monica Wellington (10)

Take your children on a trip to Paris with Suzette, the crêpe maker, and her artistic customers. As Suzette sells her delicacies over the course of a day, you will be treated to the sights and sounds of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, from Nôtre-Dame to the Eiffel Tower. Suzette's customers along the way are inspired by works of art, such as da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Degas's Little Dancer. Children will learn some key French words and phrases.


Madeleine by Ludwig Bemelmens (10)

Nothing frightens Madeline—not tigers, not even mice. With its endearing, courageous heroine, cheerful humor, and wonderful, whimsical drawings of Paris, the Madeline stories are true classics that continue to charm readers, even after 75 years!

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik (3) 

In 1995, Adam Gopnik, his wife, and their infant son left the familiar comforts and hassles of New York City for the urbane glamour of Paris. In the grand tradition of Stein, Hemingway, Baldwin, and Liebling, Gopnik set out to enjoy the storied existence of an American in Paris—walks down the paths of the Tuileries, philosophical discussions in cafés, and afternoon jaunts to the Musée d’Orsay. 


Paris in Winter by David Coggins (2)

This memoir of poetic, lighthearted stories highlights the family's passion for art, food, fashion, and social life. Family rituals—from having lunch each January at the delightful Le Grand Vefour to haunting favorite antique shops and seeking out-of-the-ordinary spots, like a little known garden or a gypsy circus—are interspersed with serendipitous moments: hearing Bono sing "Happy Birthday" to a friend in a bistro, adopting an abandoned lap dog, and the simple pleasures of Parisian street life.


Dear Paris by Janice McLeod (2)

What started as a whim in a Latin Quarter café blossomed into Janice MacLeod’s yearslong endeavor to document and celebrate life in Paris, sending monthly snippets of her paintings and writings to the mailboxes of ardent followers around the world.


Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (2)

Emma Bovary is the original desperate housewife. Beautiful but bored, she spends lavishly on clothes and on her home and embarks on two disappointing affairs in an effort to make her life everything she believes it should be. Soon heartbroken and crippled by debts, she takes drastic action, with tragic consequences for her husband and daughter.


750 Years in Paris by Vincent Mahé (2)

750 Years tells the story of our time, focusing on one single building in France as it sees its way through the upheavals of history, beginning in the thirteenth century and making its way towards today.


The Story of Diva and Flea by Mo Willems (2)

For as long as she could remember, Diva lived at 11 avenue Le Play in Paris, France. For as long as he could remember, Flea also lived in Paris, France―but at no fixed address. When Flea flâneurs past Diva’s courtyard one day, their lives are forever changed. Together, Diva and Flea explore and share their very different worlds, as only true friends can do.


A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (2)

Ernest Hemingway’s classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s remains one of his most beloved works. Filled with tender memories of his first wife Hadley and their son Jack; irreverent portraits of literary luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft, A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.

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.    

Saturday, July 5, 2025

The Sunday Salon: Maigret and A Tale of Two Cities (Sigh) and Oh, Those Fresh Eggs

 




Welcome! I am delighted that you joined us here at the 
Sunday Salon

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. 






Take-home treats from the first birthday party of my great-nephew, Jack.
The cookie and cake were made by Jack's aunt and the photography on the magnet was done by Jack's mom.


Another busy week filled with swimming and writing and guitar lessons (!) and baking and visiting with those in a crochet club and eating with friends and, of course, reading---enjoying the moment.





What I Read Last Week:


The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh (Fiction)

James by Percival Everett (Slow Re-read for Book Clubs)






What I'm Reading Now:

A Tale of Two Cities (Annotated) by Charles Dickens (If at first you don't succeed...)

A Tale of Two Cities (Illustrated and Highly Abridged) by Charles Dickens

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (Chapter-a-Day; 54%)

A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich (Audiobook)

Claudine: A Fairy Tale for Exceptional Grownups by Marian Grudko and T. A. Young (Paris in July)

A Bakery in Paris by Aimee K. Runyon (Paris in July; Cook the Books)

The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot








What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

James by Percival Everett: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop






Paris in July has begun. I'm celebrating being in Paris this July by reading some books set in Paris, watching Maigret (1992) on BritBox, and practicing my French on Duolingo (oh-so-slowly...it took me eleven minutes to complete a single lesson today).  The first book I've read for Paris in July is Remembering Paris written by Denis Tillinac and illustrated with work by André Renoux. 




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:

Oh, these delicious fresh eggs from family in East Texas.
I do not have words for how good they are.



Good Thing #2:

My Aunt Karen is the Queen of Bags,
and when she heard I did not have a tote for my new iPad,
she made me this magnificent iPad case, 
complete with my favorite colors and creatures (butterflies) and a bookworm zipper pull
.


Good Thing #3:

Aqua Zumba class 
is delightful on these hot summer days.



How was your week? 
I hope you will link up with a post or two,
and share what you have been up to.



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.