Saturday, August 1, 2020

Au Revoir à Paris, la Ville Lumière








I read 50 books during Paris in July, including novels, nonfiction, mysteries, and children's books.

titleauthor
The Provocative ColetteGoetzinger, Annie
The Paper Girl of ParisTaylor, Jordyn
The Readers' RoomLaurain, Antoine
Waiting For Monsieur BellivierRöstlund, Britta
E is for Eiffel Tower: A France AlphabetWilbur, Helen L. 
Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc ChagallMarkel, Michelle 
25 Great French Films: Ebert's EssentialsEbert, Roger
I Love You Too MuchDrake, Alicia 
Colorful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri MatisseParker, Marjorie Blain
My Wish ListDelacourt, Grégoire
Impressionism: 13 Artists Children Should KnowHeine, Florian
Confessions of a French Baker: Breadmaking Secrets, Tips, and RecipesMayle, Peter
French RhapsodyLaurain, Antoine
French Cooking for Beginners: 75+ Classic Recipes to Cook Like a Parisiande Mélogue, François 
Monet Paints a DayDanneberg, Julie
VincentStok, Barbara
A Dash of Magic (The Bliss Bakery, #2)Littlewood, Kathryn
The Stranger: The Graphic NovelFerrandez, Jacques
A Book for EscargotSlater, Dashka 
Bonjour, Happiness!: Secrets to Finding Your Joie de VivreCallan, Jamie Cat 
The Whole Fromage: Adventures in the Delectable World of French CheeseLison, Kathe 
Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona LisaScotti, R.A.
You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution!: A Horrible Time in Paris You'd Rather AvoidPipe, Jim
Ooh-la-la: Max in LoveKalman, Maira
Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect FoodGuiliano, Mireille
750 Years in ParisMahé, Vincent
Seven Ages of ParisHorne, Alistair
King Louie's ShoesSteinberg, D.J.
Bees in the CityCheng, Andrea
Dinner Chez Moi: 50 French Secrets to Joyful Eating and EntertainingBard, Elizabeth
Painting PepetteLodding, Linda Ravin 
Let's Visit Paris!Manzione, Lisa *
Come Fly with MeIchikawa, Satomi
Zarafa: The Giraffe Who Walked to the KingSt. George, Judith
French ExitdeWitt, Patrick
Kiss Me in ParisRider, Catherine
The Paris Librarian (Hugo Marston #6)Pryor, Mark 
PabloBirmant, Julie
Five French HensLeigh, Judy
French Pastry Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #21)Meier, Leslie 
Who Was Napoleon?Gigliotti, Jim
Dodsworth in ParisEgan, Tim
The Story of Diva and FleaWillems, Mo
Barefoot in ParisGarten, Ina
Fromage à Trois: Paris. Love. Cheese.Brownlee, Victoria 
Dinner in French: My Recipes by Way of France: A CookbookClark, Melissa
Dirt: Adventures, with Family, in the Kitchens of Lyon, Looking for the Origins of French CookingBuford, Bill
Impressions of Paris: An Artist's SketchbookSeto, Cat 
Who Was Claude Monet?Waldron, Ann

My favorite books read were the children's books about French artists, the history of Paris called The Seven Ages of Paris, the graphic novel The Stranger, the mystery called The Paris Librarian, and the light novels set in Paris by Antoine Laurain.




I watched thirteen movies during Paris in July. Here's the list:

To Catch a Thief...Alfred Hitchcock mystery with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly

Grand Illusion...Class relationships between French officers in POW camp in WWI

DaVinci Code...Corruption dealt with by Tom Hanks

April and the Extraordinary World...Animated Paris in the future

Les Miserables...Fabulous film made from fabulous stage play made from fabulous book

Breathless...Amoral man and woman aimlessly go through their days

LeDivorce...Two sisters and love troubles

Sunday in the Park with George...Musical based on Seurat painting

An American in Paris...Amazing dancing

Gigi...A courtesan in training

Ratatoullie...A rat wants to become a chef

Mr. Hulot's Holiday...Gentle classic comedy

The Pink Panther...A detective who has trouble entering a room without falling


My favorites were Grand Illusion, An American in Paris, Les Miserables, and Mr. Hulot's Holiday. 





I shared thirteen posts during Paris in July, with weekly summaries in addition to these posts:

Barefoot in Paris: Croque Monsieur

Books About Paris That Make Me Smile

Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect Food

Some Bookish Places in Paris I Have Visited

French Cooking for Beginners: 75+ Classic Recipes to Cook Like a Parisian

In Paris, When the Pandemic Is Over...

Dinner Chez Moi: 50 French Secrets to Joyful Eating and Entertaining


I practiced my French on Rosetta Stone; prepared Croque Monsieur, Moroccan Mint Tea, Quiche Lorraine, and Roasted Pork Loin with Rosemary; and put together a Paris puzzle.



And to wrap up my trip I spent a day visiting Paris virtually. SoloSophie oh-so-kindly compiled this excellent list of Virtual Paris Tours.

I spent a wonderful virtual holiday in Paris. Thank you, Tamara, at Thyme for Tea, for Paris in July. And now I'll put away my Eiffel Tower for another year.




It's time for another Classics Club spin. I have sixteen books left to read on my list, but two of them are books I am already reading and one book is over 700 pages, too long to finish in a month. Also, I don't have copies of all of the books on my list. I shall only list books I have access to right now.

1, 11. Main Street          6, 16. The Razor's Edge

2, 12. Heat of the Day.         7, 17. Mary Barton

3, 13. Selected Stories of O. Henry.         8, 18. Around the World in 80 Days

4, 14.The Winter's Tale.         9, 19. Wives and Daughters

5, 15. Tom Brown's Schooldays.         10, 20. Washington Square

The spin number will be announced on Sunday, August 9th.



Let's have a few good things now, shall we?

Good Thing #1: Our library now checks out DIY items. You can check out power washers, carpet cleaners, cake pans, a sewing machine, a telescope, a record player, Legos, a metal detector, Monopoly, a digital film and slide scanner, a loom, inflatable sprinklers, rock collections, a photo light box, and much more. 



Good Thing #2: Dewey's Reverse Readathon is coming next weekend. It begins on Friday, August 7 at 7 pm CST and runs through Saturday, August 7 at 7 pm. I'll be manning the helm at 9 pm CST for an hour, and I'll also be hosting a mini-challenge to name a mood-boosting book, with a prize of a free book from BookDepository. I hope you will join in.


Good Thing #3: Bonnie at Bonnie's Books shared a fun site on her blog last week and I couldn't resist spending time there. It's WindowSwap, and it will allow you to look out a window all over the world. Explore. 

What good things have you experienced this week?





I'm very happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. There are no requirements for linking up at Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is simply a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. Sunday Salon is a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:
  • What was your week like?
  • Read any good books? Tell us about them.
  • What other bookish things did you do? 
  • What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.


My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.

73 comments:

  1. That's serious Paris in July reading and I'm glad to know of many of these titles. I'll be checking out plenty of them. It has been fun, hasn't it? Oh, the food and cooking!

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    1. Yes, great fun. Loved the reading and the food and cooking.

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  2. you are amazing!
    I read only 4 of these, but I received the new Laurain for review.
    Now, if you want to stay in Paris, I have 2 cool books set there available for review later in the year. One is a historical novel with Chopin ad George Sand: https://francebooktours.com/2020/07/15/nancy-burkhalter-on-tour-the-education-of-delhomme/
    The other is a horror novel based on The Count of Monte Cristo: https://francebooktours.com/2020/07/28/j-trevor-robinson-on-tour-the-mummy-of-monte-cristo/
    Any of your readers is most welcomed to sign up

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  3. I just watched the Da Vinci Code a few months ago. It was pretty good.

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  4. I love this post! So many good Paris books etc. I'm going to check out the Virtual Paris Tours and WindowSwap! How cool that your library loans all those DIY things!

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    1. Anyone can contribute a 10-minute video to WindowSwap.

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  5. What a wonderful tour through Paris and France in July! I'm very impressed with all your books, movies, and your language practice! Looks like you cooked as well. Very cool. I'd love to take a virtual tour as well. I'll have to check those links out. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I've done other monthly events like Austen in August but Paris in July is my favorite, I think.

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  6. You have such a perfectly balanced list of books & films. Some are serious classics, some not so much. Some are originally in French, others not. Your accomplishment in reading so much is awesome.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. I look forward to Paris in July all year. It's almost like Christmas.

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  7. What a lovely July filled with books and films set in Paris! That is so cool that your library is checking out such eclectic items! Who would have thought? I hope you have a great week and August, Deb. Take care!

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    1. There's a VHS to DVD recorder that I'd love to try, too.

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  8. You had a great Paris/France kind of month. I'm sure it felt like you were almost there. I got to check out the windowswap ... thanks for sharing. I sort of want to read The Paris Hours by Alex George ... have you read it?

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    1. Yes, I read Paris Hours back in April of this year. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3276490468.

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  9. Wow! That's a lot of the City of Lights :) I LOVE that your library checks out DIY needs. Our library system has moved to more Makerspace, but this fits in with their vision so I'm going to mention it to our library manager and to our Friends board.

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    1. You would not believe how many people are waiting to check out the power washer.

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  10. Wow, what an impressive number of books you have read, films you have seen and posts you have done. I enjoyed reading about them. As usual my plans "went out the window" (as we say in Swedish) and I just posted a few. I did read two of my favourite French thriller writers and am pleased with that.

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    1. It helps that I'm retired and that my library opened for curbside service.

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  11. Bonjour Deb!! Kiss kiss (both cheeks). You had such a lovely time in Paris. I can't say I'm jealous, because you took us with on your adventure. Thanks for that! It was great fun.

    Hope August will be a wonderful month for you. I will have a look at the Readathon for next weekend. We have a long weekend coming up, so it might be perfect!

    Have wonderful week. Here's my The Sunday Post

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    1. Dewey's Readathon was the very first event I ever did with my blog, so I'm happy I can continue to participate.

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  12. You have definitely read more Paris books then anyone I know.

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  13. i agree with trin about the paris books. happy travels
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  14. That is quite an impressive list of accomplishments for reading books, watching movies, writing reviews, etc. during just the month of July! 50 books? wow! You definitely embraced and shared about Paris this month! How fun!

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  15. Oh my goodness me - what an amazing achievement, Deb. You must be thoroughly immersed in all things Parisian. You clearly thoroughly enjoyed and thank you for the Windowsnap link - I think... I can see it could be a MASSIVE timewaster when I'm struggling with the writing:)). I hope the coming week is a healthy one - and as peaceful as possible. So sorry you are caught up in the middle of the craziness. I'm not all that optimistic about our chances of avoiding a 2nd spike during the coming winter, either... Take care!

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    1. The WindowSwap link might be a nice way to look out someone else's window while you are writing.

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  16. You had an amazing Parisian month! Bien fait!!!
    Thanks for the Window Swap, I took a quick look and will be back.
    I can't get into reading lately, probably because it is so nice out and we are planning some renovation/improvement projects at home.

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  17. What a lovely virtual Paris trip you had. July was a great month for you. I hope you have a great week!

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    1. I loved my time in Paris, but it's nice to be reading anything I want.

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  18. Wow, you were really immersed in your Parisian month! I'm thinking of doing the Reverse Dewey Readathon since I start my vacation that weekend. We'll see. Sleep is precious to me so I need to be careful not to read too late into the night.

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    1. I rarely make it past ten, but I'm hosting the Reverse Readathon at ten, so I think I will have to stay awake. Coffee, I think.

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  19. I loved you July movie list (some good ones for mr to try) thanks. We watched The Two Mrs Carrolls (1947) and liked it a lot. That Window Swap pic is awfully cute.

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    1. I will look for that one. I saw it today on your post. I couldn't find it at Netflix or Amazon, but maybe I can try Hoopla or Kanopy.

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  20. Your Parisian month sounds fabulous!
    I can never get enough of croque monsieurs, they are so delicious and I have started to make them with goat cheese or boursin as well.
    Have a great week!

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  21. I admire your Paris exploration and sharing. What a month! I will be on vacation or I'd join you for Reverse Dewey but I want to know what is 'reverse' about it. Have a good week.

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    1. It's designed for people in other parts of the world to start at a time that allows them to read for a good number of hours before going to sleep. That's the intent, anyway.

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  22. You’ve had a delightful virtual vacation, thank you for sharing it with us!
    Your library is such a wonderful resource for your community, I hope more libraries do something similar.

    Wishing you a great reading week

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    1. I will be trying out the slide-to-digital photo machine next week.

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  23. Oh, thanks for the tip on Dewey's and WindowSwap. Have a good week.

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  24. What a wonderful July in Paris! Thanks for sharing, and enjoy the upcoming week...and month.

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  25. That is an impressive list of accomplishments for a single month! I've seen some of those movies, my favorite by far is An American in Paris. I didn't watch nearly as many French movies as I wanted but I've started a Netflix series called Call My Agent which I'm really enjoying. Every episode a different French movie or TV star plays a version of themself which I find very amusing. And I like your Spin list -- Wives & Daughters is one of my favorites and I also really liked Main Street and Around the World in 80 Days. Good luck with your spin pick!

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  26. Wow, how do you manage to read 50 books in one month? That's impressive.

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  27. Congrats on reading 50 books! It takes me half a year to read that many. Around The World In 80 Days was one of my childhood favorite books. I loved the travel and adventure stuff. Happy August!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  28. I am so impressed with all your Paris reads and activities! You are so good with following your theme.

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  29. Paris in July sounds like a great escape!

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  30. wow! You were well and truly immersed in Paris in July.

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  31. Sounds like you had a wonderful month touring France virtually. I think I spent the whole month in outer space since I'm reading/listening to a long space opera series. Come see my week here, Happy reading!

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  32. You will enjoy Main Street and O Henry. Remember O Henry was once a bank teller in Austin until he embezzled and went to the penn where he got the pen name, O. Henry.
    His stories are fast reads. I hope the spinner lands on him.

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  33. Wowzers! You read so much! :) I am glad you had such a great time participating in Paris in July. :) We need those things that make us smile these days! :)

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  34. lots of things to check up in your post :)

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  35. I am in awe of your reading and viewing accomplishment. Congratulations.

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  36. I've got Razor's Edge on my spin list, too, but different slot. Washington Square is one of my favorite Henry James.

    I saw Grand Illusion for the first time pretty recently. Such a great movie, isn't it?

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  37. It is so impressive all that you have achieved in July for Paris month. While France just seems so far away to me, I love that you love it.

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  38. Wow, Deb, you have been busy! And a lot went into your Wrap-up here... All things Paris/French, and I want to explore all night! It's dangerous to my schedule -- such as it is, haha -- stopping by here.

    I noticed one of your favorite movies being "Les Miserables." I have always wanted to read the novel, and wonder if I ever will. At least, I could watch the movie again! I also liked "An American in Paris" very much - Gershwin + dancing = the best!

    Thanks for all the fun and good ideas.

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    1. Haha!

      You should start reading Les Miserables today. It's one of the best books I have ever read. I think it's okay if you read an abridgment.

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  39. For the Spin, I hope you get 8! Here's mine https://wordsandpeace.com/2020/08/06/the-classics-club-the-classics-spin-24/

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  40. Good luck on your spin! Around the World in 80 Days is my favorite of Verne's.

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