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:
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!
Keep persevering with those French lessons. To speak a second language is one of life’s great joys. Spanish would seem to be a natural choice where you live.
ReplyDeleteHi Deb, I have lived in Montreal all my life. My mother tongue is English, and I am fluent in French. It is a beautiful language worth learning and speaking more than one language is a gift that broadens communication and is helpful and a wonderful experience. I love to be able to communicate with more people and in some cases even help to translate for others. I applaud 👏 you, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteYour Paris / France in July is off to a great start! I joined the classics club….
ReplyDeleteYay!
DeleteYour ideas for Paris in July and your book list all continue to be an inspiration. I like your new badge, too, and I hope it’s ok if. I use it on a future post. It looks familiar — is it a Paris architecture monument?
ReplyDeletebest… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I made the badge on Canva with a picture I took a few years ago of the dome in the Galeries Lafayette in Paris.
DeleteDefinitely a monument! … mae
DeleteLove your French reading list...and practicing French too! Don't forget to take a break French style: C'est l'heure du café. Un petit noir serré, comme il se doit! (It's coffee time....a strong expresso...as it should be!) I'm reading a novella (pg 142) Courir by Jean Echenoz (see Amazon). The French vocabulary is very easy to manage!
ReplyDeleteGood for you to continue Duolingo! You could use it visiting Quebec if you ever choose to as well. I’m also a big fan of Rick Steves’ work as well. Happy 4th Deb!
ReplyDeleteYou guys were cooler than we were, but we still haven't hit 100 degrees and I'm a little surprised about that. Kind of seems like a pretty normal summer temp-wise for us. Lots of humidity, but I suspect that August will take care of that. The humidity will go down and temps will go up. Interested in your thoughts about the new Lisa See book. I'm leading the discussion of that one at my afternoon book group in September. We'll see how it goes when I get started on it. Probably in August. Hope you guys have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteMy mom read My Friends and said the same thing about the slow beginning. She really enjoyed it once she got futher in, so I'm looking forward to reading it this fall. Have a good weekend. I hope you aren't swelting too much!
ReplyDeleteVoilà une belle sélection de livres français. J'espère que tu t'amuseras bien!
ReplyDelete(Ça fait longtemps que je n'ai pas écrit en français...!)
Votre écriture en français est magnifique.
DeleteGetting free seeds is great.
ReplyDeleteYou've been busy! It has been awfully hot here as well. Hard to go wallking but that means I am in reading more.
ReplyDeleteGreat books listed, you have many French books for the Paris in July.
You are off to a great start for Paris in July. So fun!
ReplyDeleteWe had quite the heat wave in the Midwest. We're getting rain right now and it should be a bit cooler in the next few days.
We've been very hot here as well, but I think a reprieve is on its way. Enjoy your virtual trip to Paris! :)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of "traveling" for a month. Such a fun and unique way to change things up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm really excited about the Pollinator Academy. I love that there are groups out there that get together like this and actually care about the smaller things in life. I hope you get beautiful beds of flowers from your seeds. <3
Kristin @ Book Sniffers Anonymous
Wildflower seeds are a wonderful take away from the pollinator academy! I enjoyed the new Lisa See book, it will be interesting to see how it does.
ReplyDeleteI wish you lots of happy Parisian adventures this month!
ReplyDeleteI hope you are enjoying your trip to France. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteHappy Fourth everyone
ReplyDeleteTwo books caught my eye yesterday. Now to find them.
ReplyDeleteIt was a scorcher up here! Great days and evenings to stay inside and read although I caught myself bingeing on Scarpetta on Prime and the final season of The Bear on HULU!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a fabulous week!!!
we did My friends for bookclub a while ago. I really enjoy his writing. And i read Candide at school - in French i think! those were the days...
ReplyDeletesherry
I need to find that Paris of the Parisians episode. I've probably seen it and didn't know the title but that's one I'd love to see again. Isn't it wonderful to be able to swim?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteWarm was an understatement for my region... Real Feel: 104.
ReplyDeleteHappy Reading!
ReplyDeleteI love your passion for Paris in July - thank you so much for sharing! All those wildflowers are going to be so pretty. And we have had a heck of a steaming week in the midwest!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you are off to a great start for Paris in July! Enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll join our Discord group for Candide. I just posted my impressions of chapters 1-5. Enjoy all your reading, for Paris in July and beyond. I'm always impressed by all you do!
ReplyDeleteI love the PBS passport app and what a great idea to have all those offerings connect to your reading theme! Stay cool this week!
ReplyDeleteYou're off to a great start with Paris/France in July! And the Pollinator Academy sounds really cool.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a strong start for Paris in July.
ReplyDeleteThe pool was the perfect place to be given those temperatures.
Thanks for sharing your week, happy reading!
Oh Pollinator Academy sounds like such fun. Have a great week
ReplyDeleteParis in July sounds fun! Hope you have a good week.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see what you think about your wonderul French books!
ReplyDeleteMy post today is exclsuively about French books: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/07/05/parisinjuly2026-and-sunday-post-162-my-current-french-books/
I didn't mind the heat these days, but the problem was the insane violent thunderstorms, with torrential rains. In my city lots of trees down, and we hit a 10 year event. With 1 storm lasting over 32 hours (and looks like they didn't count the smaller ones we've had, at least 1 storm every day for almost a week). And over 5 inches of rain in 24 hours.
And more coming...
Yes, my son has been keeping me appraised of the awful Chicago weather.
Deleteoh I forgot, we also lost power for 13 hours! Lightning struck a transformer in our neighborhood. It could have been worse. some neighborhood must have had poles ripped by the wind, because they still don't have power and this happened Thursday night...
ReplyDeleteUgh.
DeleteSmart move, clearing the deck of your non-Paris in July books before immersing yourself in the experience. I've still got 8 non-Paris in July stragglers in my Libby queue. Some of them I've waited so long for I can't just let them go. lol
ReplyDeleteTravels with a donkey!!! I hope that one is really good!!!
I'm glad you have that lovely pool to cool off in during the week!
Love watching Rick Steves guides through Europe! We did that before we went to Italy. Swim workouts sound perfect in the hot weather. Have a great week, Deb!
ReplyDeleteWe are under heat advisory here in SC. Stay cool indoors curled up with my books. Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a great week. enjoy visiting Paris in your reading, etc.
ReplyDeleteI won't complain about the weather. I think we won the lottery in the PacNW this week. It was in the 70s yesterday.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Paris!!!! Rae
ReplyDeleteYou have been busy! Your books sound great. I am reading one that didn't capture my attention at first, but about halfway through that changed. Enjoy your virtual trip to Paris and all the good books. Love the free seeds!
ReplyDeletehttps://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2026/07/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-mailbox.html
Looks like your July in Paris / France is already off to a good start! Due your encouragement, I joined the classics club.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Paris in July! We had a couple of warm days last week but nothing approaching your temperatures or even Chicago's. I'm okay with that since I love summer. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThose pollinating seeds look wonderful! I'm glad you're having so much time during your virtual visit to Paris and I hope you have a lovely week, Deb.
ReplyDeleteMagnifique !
ReplyDeleteWe were in the early 100's last week, which is incredibly unusual for us. My Friends was good but not a favorite of mine. I prefer his Beartown series.
ReplyDeleteHappy Paris reading. I really liked My Friends - I listened to it, loved the characters.
ReplyDeleteAn outside lap pool would feel great. I'm interested to try the Lisa See book but it does sound grim. The Backman novel might not be for me. I'm glad you're off to France reading now ... and the Janine Marsh memoir interests me. I hope you like it.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you got my previous comment but I didn't see it. Anywho the Lisa See novel is on my list so thanks for the review on GR, sounds grim. Keep swimming -- it must be very refreshing. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry, Susan! After two days, comments go to be approved before they post, and sometimes it takes me a couple of extra days to approve comments.
DeleteYay for free flowers for the pollinators! You're off to a great start with your Paris event. Would you believe we were even hotter than you in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? I don't know what the official high was on the hottest day last week but my car showed 99 degrees and I drove by a bank that showed 100! Whew! A lot of the locals don't even have air conditioning up here. They must have been miserable.
ReplyDelete