Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series in Houston 2016-2017

Shhhhhhh! Don't tell my husband but I just spent $180 buying season tickets to Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series in Houston. I know, I know, it's a lot of money, but I decided today that I need to put my money where my mouth is; if I'm going to say I support books and literacy and thinking, I need to spend money on books and literacy and thinking.

Besides, several times I've tried to buy tickets for an author reading and they were sold out. It won't happen with season tickets. Plus, look at all the benefits:

• Seating in the reserved section for each of the seven readings. Seats held until 7:25 pm.
• Signed copy of Jonathan Safran Foer’s new novel Here I Am, available for pick up at the reading. Those who purchase two season tickets per household will receive a signed copy of George Saunders’ new novel Lincoln in the Bardo as the second book.
• Free parking passes for each of the seven readings in the Alley Theatre garage.
• Access to the first-served “Season Subscriber” book-signing line.
• Recognition as a “Season Subscriber” in each reading program.
• An acknowledgement letter for tax purposes.

And...look who are coming this year:

Jonathan Safron Foer...September 19       Lauren Groff & Ann Patchett...October 17

 Rabih Alameddine & Juan Gabriel Vásquez...November 21    Annie Proulx...January 23

George Saunders...March 6       Ada Limón & Gregory Pardlo...April 3

Colm Tóibín...May 8

I feel so fortunate to live near a city that has these wonderful author events. Maybe I will see you there.

What Arrived in the Mail What I Finished  We listened to two mystery audiobooks, one on the way to West Texas, and one on the way home, both by my favorite mystery writer, Bill Crider. That's what a 9 1/2 hour drive to the other side of the state will do for you. Oh my, did we love hearing the story of guitar-playing Dr. C. P. "Seepy" Benton in Of All Sad Words. And does Bigfoot live in Texas? That's what Sheriff Dan Rhodes has to find out in A Mammoth Murder. We were entranced for nineteen hours and that's no small feat. I finally finished my foodie Paris books, The Little Paris Kitchen and Bonjour Kale. I've had The Little Paris Kitchen for a while, but I've been saving it to read carefully during Paris in July. I'd hoped to try some of the recipes for Weekend Cooking, but it just didn't happen...maybe next year. Nevertheless, it was fun to browse through stories and recipes as Rachel Khoo proves to us that it doesn't take a fancy kitchen to cook up a little la joie de vivre. I was a little reluctant to try Bonjour Kale. Yes, I adore Paris, but  a story about the woman who reintroduces Paris to kale? Happily, Kristen Beddard is a solid writer, and her passion for kale has convinced me to give this healthy-food vegetable a try. Preferably in Paris, but who knows? Finally, I can't say enough good about Emotional Agility. It is sad to realize that in this day of plenty so many people suffer from depression and anxiety. Emotional Agility is full of wisdom for these woes. Susan David walks us through ways to dance your way through troubles. Don't think it's another of those dry textbook self-help books, though; David shares lots of wonderful stories that make her ideas more real and more clear.  What I'm Reading Now I'm finishing the last few chapters of The Bookshop on the Corner and F is for France. I should be reviewing these next week. What are you reading today? Have you read any of these? Any recommendations for non-French, non-Texas books?

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Réfléchi et Rêveur at the Roman Ruins in Provence

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words

that we’ve encountered in our reading.

If you want to play along, grab the button,

write a post and come back and add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermuda Onion!

Ten French-ish Things Reading French-ish Books Have Led Me To Do

Culturally I am nothing. Born in Texas, yes, but with a Deep South father and a Yankee mother. One side of the family Baptist and one side Catholic. No real Texas roots. Could this be why I'm drawn to the rich and deep French culture?

It just took one two week trip to France to rock my world. One two week trip and ninety-four books about France.

What has reading ninety-four French-ish books led me to do? French-ish things, of course.

Here, then, are ten French-ish things that reading French-ish books have led me to do....

1. Reflection 2. Flâneur 

3. Beauty 

4. Bake bread 5. Fresh ingredients 

6. Styling 

7. Good food 8. More beauty

9. Family 

10. Friends

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Mo Willems Goes to Paris

I gloried in West Texas last week. I wrote. I read. I wrote some more. I explored Alpine and Marfa. I spent some time at the Sul Ross University Library, taking a close look at their children's books. I ate some wonderful food at Penny's Diner in Alpine and Squeeze in Marfa and La Casita in Alpine. I visited the Marfa Public Library and the Alpine Public Library and Marfa Book Company and Front Street Books. And I read. And I wrote.

I'll be posting about my West Texas adventures soon.

For now, let's spend a little more time in Paris in July....

Something happened to me when I went to Paris. I'm forever changed. I don't know what it is, but it seems to have happened to Mo, too.  Look at this photo, cette image. Quite the dapper gentleman, isn't he? Look at those glasses, des lunettes. That beard, une barbe. And what a jacket, une veste. His books, ses livres. Oo la la. A changed man.

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Les Fenêtres in Paris and Provence

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words

that we’ve encountered in our reading.

If you want to play along, grab the button,

write a post and come back and add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermuda Onion!

Ten Great Books Set in Paris

Lessons in French

"It’s 1989, the Berlin Wall is coming down, and Kate has just graduated from Yale, eager to pursue her dreams as a fledgling painter. When she is offered a job as the assistant to Lydia Schell, a famous American photographer in Paris, she immediately accepts. It’s a chance not only to be at the center of the art world, but to return to France for the first time since, as a lonely nine-year-old girl, she was sent to the outskirts of Paris to live with cousins while her father was dying. As Kate rediscovers Paris and her roots there, she begins to question the kindness of the glamorous people to whom she is so drawn as well as her own motives in wanting their affection. In compelling and sympathetic prose, Hilary Reyl perfectly captures this portrait of a precocious, ambitious young woman struggling to define herself in a vibrant world that spirals out of her control."

All the Light We Cannot See
"From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II."

The 6:41 to Paris
"Cécile, a stylish forty-seven-year-old, has spent the weekend visiting her parents in a provincial town southeast of Paris. By early Monday morning, she's exhausted. These trips back home are always stressful and she settles into a train compartment with an empty seat beside her. But it's soon occupied by a man she instantly recognizes: Philippe Leduc, with whom she had a passionate affair that ended in her brutal humiliation thirty years ago. In the fraught hour and a half that ensues, their express train hurtles towards the French capital. Cécile and Philippe undertake their own face to face journey—In silence? What could they possibly say to one another?—with the reader gaining entrée to the most private of thoughts. This is a psychological thriller about past romance, with all its pain and promise."

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

"We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Renée, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Renée is a cultured autodidact who adores art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With humor and intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the building's tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence."

The Paris Wife

"Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for."

Anna and the French Kiss

"Anna can't wait for her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's not too thrilled when her father unexpectedly ships her off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair, the perfect boy. The only problem? He's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home. Will a year of romantic near-misses end in the French kiss Anna awaits?"

A Moveable Feast

"Ernest Hemingway’s classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s...(and) published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway’s most enduring works. Widely celebrated and debated by critics and readers everywhere...A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the unbridled creativity and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized."

Suite Francaise

"Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart." 

Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris

"New Yorker writer A.J. Liebling recalls his Parisian apprenticeship in the fine art of eating in this charming memoir."

Madeline

"Poor Miss Clavel! In 'an old house in Paris that was covered with vines,' Miss Clavel oversees the education of 12 little girls, the littlest of whom is the mischievous Madeline."




How many of these have you read? 




For a complete list of stories I've read 
set in seventy-one countries around the world, 
take a look here.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Children's Books Set in Paris: A Definitive List

I'm heading off to a writing class way out in west Texas. While I'm traveling today, I thought I'd leave this little Paris in July post....


I pride myself on trying to read every children's book ever written that takes place in Paris. 

Here is the definitive list:

No Dogs Allowed. 

This is Paris. 

Everybody Bonjours. 

Adèle & Simon. 

A Lion in Paris.

Oops by Fromental

The Inside-Outside Book of Paris. 

Paris in the Spring with Picasso. 

Not for Parents Paris: Everything You Wanted to Know

Mirette on the High Wire

Madame Martine

Ooh-la-la: Max in Love

An Armadillo in Paris

Secret Letters 0 to 10

The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau

A Spree in Paree

Rooftoppers 

The Cat Who Walked Across France

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! 

Crictor 

Chasing Degas

Belinda in Paris

A Walk in Paris. 

Crepes by Suzette

Kiki and Coco in Paris

Henri's Walk to Paris

Charlotte in Paris

Come With Me to Paris

Anatole

Paris-Chien

A Giraffe Goes to Paris

The Family Under the Bridge

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

My Secret Guide to Paris

The Cows Are Going to Paris

Come Fly with Me by Ichikawa

Different Like Coco

Sandy's Circus: A Story About Alexander Calder

Lily B. on the Brink of Paris

Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris

Minette’s Feast. 

Bon Appétit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child

Lots of books where famous characters go to Paris. 
Eloise in Paris. Minnie and Moo Go to Paris. Flat Stanley in Paris.

And a wonderful early chapter book, Dodsworth in Paris.

Good grief...can't forget Madeleine!

August 2016 Update:  The magnificent Louise of A Strong Belief in Wicker loves lists. She took my list and added some titles of her own which makes my definitive list perhaps not quite so definitive. Here are my list and Louise's list (my list in the first column and Louise's list in the second) alphabetized in a lovely Google doc, with titles I missed (good grief, I forgot The Three Musketeers!) in yellow. Here's Louise's list in full, with lots of links to her delightful reviews. You can vote for or add to books on this list on Goodreads.

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.