Murder in Belleville by Cara Black

Murder in Belleville
by Cara Black

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Published: 2000
Publisher: Soho Press
Genre: Mystery, France, Paris
Hardback: 341
Rating: 4

Aimée Leduc Investigation series:
Murder in the Marais (1999)
Murder in Belleville (2000)
Murder in the Sentier (2003)
Murder in the Bastille (2004)
Murder in Clichy (2005)
Murder in Montmartre (2006)
Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (2007)
Murder in the Rue de Paradis (2008)
Murder in the Latin Quarter (2009)
Murder in the Palais Royale (2010)
Murder in Passy (2011)
Murder at the Lanterne Rouge (2012)
Murder Below Montparnasse (2013)
Murder In Pigalle (2014)
Murder on the Champ de Mars (2015)
Murder on the Quai (2016)
Murder in Saint-Germain (2017)
Muder on the Left Bank (2018)
Murder in Bel-Air (2019)

First sentence(s):
Aimée Leduc's cell phone rang, startling her, as she drove under the leafy poplars tenting the road to Paris.

Parisian P.I. Aimée Leduc finds herself involved with a secretive North African radical group the French government would rather she didn’t investigate

When Anaїs de Froissart calls private investigator Aimée begging for help, Aimée assumes her best friend's sister wants to hire her to do surveillance on her philandering husband again. Aimée's too busy right now to indulge her. But Anaїs, a politician's wife with an unhappy marriage and a young daughter, insists Aimée must come, that she is in trouble and scared. Aimée tracks Anaїs down just in time to see a car bomb explode, injuring Anaїs and killing the woman she was with.

Aimée, who saw her father die in a car bomb five years earlier, is shaken by the attack, but manages to escort Anaїs to safety. But Anaїs can't explain what Aimée just witnessed. The dead woman, Anaїs says, is Sylvie Coudray, her cheating husband's long-time mistress, but she has no idea who wanted her dead, and Anaїs officially hires Aimée to investigate.

As she digs into Sylvie Coudray's murky past, Aimée finds that the dead woman may not be who Anaїs thought she was. Her Belleville neighborhood, full of North African immigrants, may be hiding clues to who Sylvie really was. As a prominent Algerian rights activist stages a hunger protest against new immigration laws, Aimée begins to wonder whether Sylvie's death was an act of terrorism, and who else may be at risk. To make matters worse, Yves, Aimée's ex-boyfriend, a journalist who seems to appear in and disappear from Aimée's life without any regard for her feelings, is back in town. Just the kind of distraction she doesn't need right now.

My two-bits:

Got the North African immigrants vibe with investigations in and around the Belleville district for Paris.

Aimée's love life although precarious is moving forward.

Love how this mystery series highlights each arrondissement (districts) of Paris.

~*~
* part of Paris in July (here)

Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod

Paris Letters
by Janice MacLeod
narrated by Tavia Gilbert

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Published: 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Memoir, Art, France, Paris
Paperback: 272
Rating: 5

series:
Paris Letters
A Paris Year

First sentence(s):
I'm in love with the butcher," I told Summer.

Finding love and freedom in a pen, a paintbrush...and Paris

How much money does it take to quit your job?

Exhausted and on the verge of burnout, Janice poses this questions to herself as she doodles on a notepad at her desk. Surprisingly, the answer isn't as daunting as she expected. With a little math and a lot of determination, Janice cuts back, saves up, and buys herself two years of freedom in Europe.

A few days into her stop in Paris, Janice meets Christophe, the cute butcher down the street-who doesn't speak English. Through a combination of sign language and franglais, they embark on a whirlwind Paris romance. She soon realizes that she can never return to the world of twelve-hour workdays and greasy corporate lingo. But her dwindling savings force her to find a way to fund her dreams again. So Janice turns to her three loves-words, art, and Christophe-to figure out a way to make her happily-ever-after in Paris last forever.

My two-bits:

LOVED this memoir of making it in Paris with romance to boot.


Artwork: July in Paris letter available at Etsy shop

~*~
* New York Times bestseller, 2015

* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Paris in July (here)

Lovely Books and Things - 7.27.19

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~
HAPPY THINGS:

1. Volunteer ushering for the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

2. Starting a new work project

3. Scrub treatment at Pearl Spa (here) - ahhh, so nice. It was my first one to experience and it was glorious ;-)

~*~
Author event:

Booksmith hosted a reading, Q&A and conversation with Homay King.

In the '60s and '70s, America's music scene was marked by raucous excess, reflected in the tragic overdoses of young superstars such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. At the same time, the uplifting harmonies and sunny lyrics that propelled Karen Carpenter and her brother, Richard, to international fame belied a different sort of tragedy -- the underconsumption that led to Karen's death at age thirty-two from the effects of an eating disorder.

In Why Karen Carpenter Matters, Karen Tongson (whose Filipino musician parents named her after the pop icon) interweaves the story of the singer's rise to fame with her own trans-Pacific journey between the Philippines -- where imitations of American pop styles flourished -- and Karen Carpenter's home ground of Southern California. Tongson reveals why the Carpenters' chart-topping, seemingly whitewashed musical fantasies of "normal love" can now have profound significance for her -- as well as for other people of color, LGBT+ communities, and anyone outside the mainstream culture usually associated with Karen Carpenter's legacy. This hybrid of memoir and biography excavates the destructive perfectionism at the root of the Carpenters' sound, while finding the beauty in the singer's all too brief life.

Why Karen Carpenter Matters
by Karen Tongson
-Biography, Memoir, Music, Filipino | Goodreads

Library:

The Bookseller
(Hugo Marston #1)
by Mark Pryor
-Mystery, France, Paris | Goodreads
FOR my face-to-face group, Foreign Mystery Book Club August pick. Also, just in time for my Paris in July reading pile.


For Review:

The Sea of Japan
by Keita Nagano
-Women's Fiction, Japan
courtesy of author -Thanks! | Goodreads
AND watched: on DVD for Paris in July

Lourdes (2010)
Director/Writer: Jessica Hausner
Writers: Géraldine Bajard (dramaturgy)
Stars: Sylvie Testud, Léa Seydoux, Bruno Todeschini
-Drama, France | imdb | my rating: 5
In order to escape her isolation, wheelchair-bound Christine makes a life changing journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees Mountains.

LOVED it for the views and prompts on thinking about disabilities and miracles.


AND watched: in theatre

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
Director/Writer: Joe Talbot
Writers: Jimmie Fails, Rob Richert
Stars: Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors
-Drama, San Francisco | imdb | my rating: 5
Q&A with director
A young man searches for home in the changing city that seems to have left him behind.

CAPTURES some of the vibe on the housing situation in current San Francisco. Left the theatre with a heavy heart.


AND watched: in theatre for San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (here)

Seder-Masochism (2018)
Director/Writer: Nina Paley
Stars: Barry Gray, Hiram Paley, Nina Paley
-Animation, Jewish | imdb | my rating: 4
Q&A with director
Loosely following a traditional Passover Seder, events from the Book of Exodus are retold by Moses, Aharon, the Angel of Death, Jesus, and the director's own father. But there's another side to this story: that of the Goddesses, humanity's earliest deities. 'Seder-Masochism' resurrects the Great Mother in a tragic struggle against the forces of patriarchy.

COLORFUL imagery of patriarchy vs. matriarchy with a contemporary hits soundtrack.

Gefilte (2018)
Director: Rachel Fleit
-Short, Documentary, Jewish | website | my rating: 5
Each year the Hermelin family of Detroit comes together to celebrate Passover by eating gefilte fish. The signature dish becomes a lightning rod in which the Hermelins project their feelings about family, identity, tradition, struggle, loss-and as always, love.

LOVED this short on a family's perspective and tradition story.

My Antosha (2019)
Director: Garret Price
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5
Q&A with director and producer
A portrait of the extraordinary life and career of actor Anton Yelchin.

ASTOUNDED to learn how much work and dedication this actor had during his lifetime. Makes me want to go on a binge watch of some of his 49 films.

Give Me Liberty (2019)
Director/Writer: Kirill Mikhanovsky
Writer: Alice Austen
Stars: Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Chris Galust, Maxim Stoyanov
-Comedy | imdb | my rating: 4
Q&A with director
When a riot breaks out in Milwaukee, America's most segregated city, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get a group of elderly Russians to a funeral and his desire to help Tracy, a young black woman with ALS.

LIKED this chaotic wild ride with quiet reflective moments sprinkled in.

The Keeper (2018)
Trautmann (original title)
Director/Writer: Marcus H. Rosenmüller
Writer: Nicholas J. Schofield
Stars: David Kross, Freya Mavor, John Henshaw
-Biography, Drama, Romance, U.K. | imdb | my rating: 5
The Keeper tells the extraordinary love story between a young English woman and a German PoW, who together overcome prejudice, public hostility, and personal tragedy. While visiting a PoW camp near Manchester at the end of WWII, Margaret Friar, the daughter of the manager of the local football team, notices young German soldier Bert Trautmann. Her father is so taken by Bert's prowess as a goal-keeper that he gets him out of the camp to play for his local team. Margaret and Bert's love blossoms despite local hostility and resentment of the German PoWs. In the meantime, Bert's heroics in goal are noticed by Manchester's City Football Club. Rather than going back to Germany like nearly all the other camp inmates, Bert marries Margaret and signs for Man City. His signing causes outrage to thousands of Man City fans, many of them Jewish. But Margaret wins support from an unexpected direction: Rabbi Altmann, a Man City supporter who fled the Nazis, who publishes an open letter opposing the campaign against Bert. Bert's path to acceptance begins and peaks at the 1956 FA Cup Final when he secures victory for Man City by playing on despite breaking his neck. Yet fate twists the knife for both Margaret and Bert. Alienated and alone, Margaret's and Bert's loyalty to each other will be put to the test once more. Heartbroken, Bert wants to give up. Equally heartbroken, Margaret insists that they move forward and that he keeps on playing.

LOVED the power of passions for good that propelled the people in their lives.

The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)
Operation Brothers (original title)
Director/Writer: Gideon Raff
Stars: Chris Evans, Haley Bennett, Alona Tal
-Drama, History, Thriller, Africa | imdb | my rating: 4
Q&A with director
Israel's Mossad agents attempt to rescue Ethiopian Jewish refugees in Sudan in 1977.

ONE of those eye-opening films with bits of history.

~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Pancakes in Paris by Craig Carlson

Pancakes in Paris
Living the American Dream in France
by Craig Carlson
narrated by Donald Corren

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Published: 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Memoir, Food, France, Paris
Paperback: 320
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
If you had met me as a kid and seen where I came from, you would have never in a million years imagined that one day I would end up living in France.

Zombie sighting:
"Remember Craig," my first investor Todd once said to me when he saw me with dark circles under my eyes picking french fries off the floor like a zombie, "you're living your dream."
-chapter one

Paris was practically perfect...

Craig Carlson was the last person anyone would expect to open an American diner in Paris. He came from humble beginnings in a working-class town in Connecticut, had never worked in a restaurant, and didn't know anything about starting a brand-new business. But from his first visit to Paris, Craig knew he had found the city of his dreams, although one thing was still missing-the good ol' American breakfast he loved so much.

Pancakes in Paris is the story of Craig tackling the impossible-from raising the money to fund his dream to tracking down international suppliers for "exotic" American ingredients... and even finding love along the way. His diner, Breakfast In America, is now a renowned tourist destination, and the story of how it came to be is just as delicious and satisfying as the classic breakfast that tops its menu.

My two-bits:

This was an American male perspective of living in Paris. Loved the drive and determination Craig has to make his dreams come true despite the rocky road.

Got a peek into how businesses run in Paris. What a difference! especially in regards to employees.

PeekAbook:

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Paris in July (here)

The Hashtag Hunt by Kristina Seek

The Hashtag Hunt
by Kristina Seek
narrated by Andrea Emmes, Tim Paige

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Published: March 2019
Publisher: self
Genre: Romance
Paperback: 211
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
Lauren tapped her beer bottle against her best friend's martini.

Zombie sighting:
If box number one is a bust, we can open zombie defense system and taxidermy school projects.
-chapter 6

The only reason Lauren entered the Hashtag Hunt was for the $10,000 grand prize. She needed seed money for her startup, and it sounded easy enough: twelve hours to text twelve photos to someone called the Wizard. For hashtag number five, Lauren needs a #HottieInTheWild, and with the help of her best friend, Ivy, she finds the perfect subject.

The only reason Brenner entered Barkley’s Pub was to have beers with Scott, an Army brother back in town. The reunion is interrupted when a woman is caught crouched in a dark corner, taking pictures of Brenner. Lauren explains, and though embarrassed, she accepts Scott and Brenner’s offer to help with hashtag number six.
While hunting for hashtags, Lauren finds adventure and romance with her #Hottie, but she must stay focused to beat the clock and win the cash.

My two-bits:

Fun scavenger hunt vibe with love found along the way for more than one couple. Loved how friends and team work was a strong theme.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

* review copy courtesy of tour

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

Lunch in Paris
A Love Story, with Recipes
by Elizabeth Bard
narrated by Ann Marie Lee

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Published: 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Memoir, Romance, Travel, France, Paris
Hardback: 336
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
I slept with my French husband halfway through our first date.

In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman--and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slid effortlessly through her pave au poivre, the steak's pink juices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce?

Lunch In Paris is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs--one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine. Packing her bags for a new life in the world's most romantic city, Elizabeth is plunged into a world of bustling open-air markets, hipster bistros, and size 2 femmes fatales. She learns to gut her first fish (with a little help from Jane Austen), soothe pangs of homesickness (with the rise of a chocolate souffle) and develops a crush on her local butcher (who bears a striking resemblance to Matt Dillon). Elizabeth finds that the deeper she immerses herself in the world of French cuisine, the more Paris itself begins to translate. French culture, she discovers, is not unlike a well-ripened cheese-there may be a crusty exterior, until you cut through to the melting, piquant heart. Peppered with mouth-watering recipes for summer ratatouille, swordfish tartare and molten chocolate cakes, Lunch in Paris is a story of falling in love, redefining success and discovering what it truly means to be at home. In the delicious tradition of memoirs like A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, this book is the perfect treat for anyone who has dreamed that lunch in Paris could change their life.

My two-bits:

I found this to be a delightful arm-chair travel read with an American female perspective of living in Paris.

Loved the food focus and recipes that are sprinkled nicely throughout the book.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Paris in July (here)

The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani

The Perfect Nanny
by Leïla Slimani
translated by Sam Taylor

Find out more about this book and author:
Goodreads
BookExcerpt

Published: 2018
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Contemporary, Thriller, France, Paris
Paperback: 228
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
The baby is dead. It only only took a few seconds.

When Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family's chic apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau.

My two-bits:

Perfectly creepy and chilling.

This story includes another set of unlikable characters with a dark storyline in a Paris setting.

Made me wary of "perfect" people. It's usually a facade.

~*~
* The #1 international bestseller and winner of France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Goncourt, 2016.

* part of Paris in July (here)

Adèle by Leïla Slimani

Adèle
by Leïla Slimani
translated by Sam Taylor

Find out more about this book and author:
Goodreads
BookExcerpt

Published: 2019
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, France, Paris
Paperback: 216
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
Adèle has been good. She has held out for a week now.

Adèle appears to have the perfect life: She is a successful journalist in Paris who lives in a beautiful apartment with her surgeon husband and their young son. But underneath the surface, she is bored--and consumed by an insatiable need for sex.

Driven less by pleasure than compulsion, Adèle organizes her day around her extramarital affairs, arriving late to work and lying to her husband about where she's been, until she becomes ensnared in a trap of her own making. Suspenseful, erotic, and electrically charged, Adèle is a captivating exploration of addiction, sexuality, and one woman's quest to feel alive.

My two-bits:

With an unlikable protagonist this is a dark ugly story set in the lovely Paris which makes for an interesting juxtaposition.

Got me thinking of the role and importance of sex in people's lives.

PeekAbook:



~*~
* part of Paris in July (here)

Lovely Books and Things - 7.20.19

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~
HAPPY THINGS:

1. Yummy classic ramen at Ippudo (here) - this place always has a long line, but we decided to give it the wait and it turned out to be a delicious delight

2. Picking up a lucky penny

3. Member's Preview night at SF MOMA - Silver Clouds from the Andy Warhol exhibit

~*~
Bought:

Fixer Chao
by Han Ong
-Literary, LGBTQ, Filipino | Goodreads
FOR a future Filipino themed self reading challenge.


Author event:

The Bindery hosted a reading and Q&A with author, Helen Phillips, to celebrate the release of The Need.

The Need
by Helen Phillips
-Horror, Thriller | Goodreads

Library:

Less
by Andrew Sean Greer
-Contemporary, LGBTQ | Goodreads
FOR the hype and it is a Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2018.

Waiting For Monsieur Bellivier
by Britta Röstlund
-Contemporary, France, Paris | Goodreads

Paris Letters
One woman's journey from the fast lane
to a slow stroll in Paris
by Janice Macleod
-Memoir, France, Paris | Goodreads
BOTH for Paris in July. BTW: I updated the post with a couple pictures (here).


AND watched: in theatre

Tattoo Uprising (2019)
Director: Alan Grovenar
Featuring: Ed Hardy
-Documentary, Art | website | my rating: 5
The history of American tattoos is, like that of any other art form, driven through movements and generations. In TATTOO UPRISING, which carefully studies the work of extraordinary American tattoo artists such as Ed Hardy, Stoney St. Clair, and Jamie Summers, we see how American tattooing art and culture evolved and grew through these young visionaries and tattoo masters alike. Also featuring Werner Herzog and Les Blank.

WANTED to see this before going to the “Ed Hardy: Deeper than Skin“ exhibit at the de Young Museum, July 13, 2019 – October 6, 2019.

Wonderful dose of American history and culture of the tattoo phenomena.

Kill Bill: volume 1 (2003)
Director/Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Actor/Writer: Uma Thurman
Based on book by:
Stars: David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen
-Action, Crime, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5
After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.

DID a re-watch to prep for the upcoming Tarantino release of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Loved this mashup of things western, Japanese and revenge.


AND watched: in theatre for Hong Kong Film Festival (here)

The Lady Improper (2019)
Director/Screenplay: Tsui Shan Tsang
Original story: Link Sng
Writer: Anna Yuet Shan Lai
Stars: Charlene Choi, Kang Ren Wu, Kwok Keung Cheung
-Drama, Hong Kong | imdb | my rating: 5
Siu Man is a nurse who has lost who she is as a person. Her marriage has ended partly due to her fear of intimacy and, having been abandoned by her husband, she now faces losing her father after he is hospitalised. Siu Man decides to reboot her life by taking over her father's restaurant but without the experience of being a chef, she has to hire someone. In steps Chia-hao, a Paris-trained cordon bleu chef, who is a free spirit but also treats cooking as serious philosophy and is able to recreate her father's culinary style. It seems that the handsome chef cooks up a storm in and out of the kitchen as he helps Siu Man learn to deliver delicious food and his delicious looks arouses her desire. Through him, Siu Man faces her fear of intimacy head-on and liberates herself.

LIKED how this character came into her own. Quite sexy with steamy scenes and I heard that some parts were edited out for some screenings in China.


~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Fix Her Up
by Tessa Bailey
narrated by Charlotte North

Find out more about this book and author:
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Published: June 2019
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports
Paperback: 400
Rating: 5

Hot & Hammered series:
Fix Her Up
book 2 -tba

First sentence(s):
No freaking way.

Zombie sighting:
Georgie slicked paste onto the final cut out for her zombie birthday party vision board.
-chapter 16

Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World... whatever that means.

Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)

Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)

Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)

Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)

Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?

Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there's Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her...

My two-bits:

Fun story with a couple who are reinventing themselves and discovering each other along the way.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

The HashTag Hunt Blitz

The only reason Lauren entered the Hashtag Hunt was for the $10,000 grand prize. She needed seed money for her startup, and it sounded easy enough: twelve hours to text twelve photos to someone called the Wizard.

For hashtag number five, Lauren needs a #HottieInTheWild, and with the help of her best friend, Ivy, she finds the perfect subject.

The only reason Brenner entered Barkley’s Pub was to have beers with Scott, an Army brother back in town. The reunion is interrupted when a woman is caught crouched in a dark corner, taking pictures of Brenner. Lauren explains, and though embarrassed, she accepts Scott and Brenner’s offer to help with hashtag number six.

While hunting for hashtags, Lauren finds adventure and romance with her #Hottie, but she must stay focused to beat the clock and win the cash.

GRAB your copy today: Audible | iTunes

LISTEN to a sample: on Soundcloud



ENTER the giveaway:

One lucky US winner will receive a paperback copy of The Hashtag Hunt signed by Kristina Seek and the narrators! They will also receive an Amazon Echo making listening to audios in your home a breeze. Enter today!

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About the author:
Kristina Seek's debut novel, The Hashtag Hunt, was published in 2018. She is a graduate of Queens College in Charlotte and a member of Romance Writers of America. In March of 2019, she quit her day job to focus on a career in writing. Kristina lives in North Carolina with her husband and son. She cherishes time with her friends and family, loves traveling to new destinations, and wants to cross off the other items on her bucket list.

Find out more about this book and author:
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Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Lost Children Archive
by Valeria Luiselli

Find out more about this book and author:
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Published: February 2019
Publisher: Knopf
Genre: Literary
Hardback: 400
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
Mouths open to the sun, they sleep.

A mother and father set out with their kids from New York to Arizona. In their used Volvo--and with their ten-year-old son trying out his new Polaroid camera--the family is heading for the Apacheria: the region the Apaches once called home, and where the ghosts of Geronimo and Cochise might still linger. The father, a sound documentarist, hopes to gather an "inventory of echoes" from this historic, mythic place. The mother, a radio journalist, becomes consumed by the news she hears on the car radio, about the thousands of children trying to reach America but getting stranded at the southern border, held in detention centers, or being sent back to their homelands, to an unknown fate.

But as the family drives farther west--through Virginia to Tennessee, across Oklahoma and Texas--we sense they are on the brink of a crisis of their own. A fissure is growing between the parents, one the children can feel beneath their feet. They are led, inexorably, to a grand, unforgettable adventure--both in the harsh desert landscape and within the chambers of their own imaginations.

Told through the voices of the mother and her son, as well as through a stunning tapestry of collected texts and images--including prior stories of migration and displacement--Lost Children Archive is a story of how we document our experiences, and how we remember the things that matter to us the most. Blending the personal and the political with astonishing empathy, it is a powerful, wholly original work of fiction: exquisite, provocative, and deeply moving.

My two-bits:

Quite a road trip! Although this was a good and engaging read I was in a state anxiety the whole time. I was worried for the various characters and all the things that could go wrong.

The format of the storytelling was in a documentary style with full effects of both sound and visuals despite being presented in a written form.

Treated to photos in the last chapter.

Got me thinking of refugees and the state of immigrants.

~*~
* part of the Camp ToB 2019 (here)

Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec

Death in Brittany
by Jean-Luc Bannalec
narrated by Jean Brassard

Find out more about this book and author:
Goodreads

Published: 2015
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery, France
Hardback: 320
Rating: 3

Brittany Mystery series:
Death in Brittany
Murder on Brittany Shores
The Fleur de Sel Murders
The Missing Corpse
The Killing Tide
books 6-8 not yet translated

First sentence(s):
The seventh of July was a magnificent summer's day, one of those majestic Atlantic days that always lifted Commissaire Dupin's spirits.

Commissaire Georges Dupin, a Parisian-born caffeine junkie recently relocated from the glamour of Paris to the remote (if picturesque) Breton coast, is not happy when he is dragged from his morning croissant and coffee to the scene of a curious murder. The local village of Pont-Aven-a sleepy community by the sea where everyone knows one other and nothing much seems to happen-is in shock. The legendary ninety-one-year-old hotelier Pierre-Louis Pennec, owner of the Central Hotel, has been found dead.

A picture-perfect seaside village which played host to Gaugin in the 19th century, Pont-Aven is at the height of its tourist season and is immediately thrown into uproar. Dupin and his team identify five principal suspects, including a rising political star, a longtime friend of the victim, and a wealthy art historian. An obstinate detective whose unconventional methods include good food, good wine, and taking in plenty of sea air, Dupin finds his case further complicated when ongoing incidents compound the mystery. As Dupin delves further into the lives of the victim and the suspects, he uncovers a web of secrecy and silence that belies the village's quaint image. A delectable read, Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec transports readers to the French coast where you can practically smell the sea air and taste the perfectly cooked steak frites in an expertly crafted, page-turning mystery.

My two-bits:

While I liked the setting and it was presented well, I could not get into the story or the characters.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Books, Inc. Foreign Intrigue Book Club (here)

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent

Lying in Wait
by Liz Nugent

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Published: 2018
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Ireland, Dublin
Hardback: 320
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.

On the surface, Lydia Fitzsimons has the perfect life—wife of a respected, successful judge, mother to a beloved son, mistress of a beautiful house in Dublin. That beautiful house, however, holds a secret. And when Lydia’s son, Laurence, discovers its secret, wheels are set in motion that lead to an increasingly claustrophobic and devastatingly dark climax.

My two-bits:

Creepy dark vibe with this one with unlikable characters all-around. And yet, it draws you in for the end that leaves you with a "whoa" moment.

~*~
* part of ibc book club (here)

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne
narrated by Katie Schorr

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Published: 2016
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Paperback: 384
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
I have a theory. Hating someone feels disturbingly similar to being in love with them.

Zombie sighting:
Sorry for missing the deadline the other day. I can't wait to have a proper night's sleep. I'm like a zombie.
-chapter 8

Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.

Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.

If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth-shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.

Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

My two-bits:

Loved the banter and games these two played along the way to their eventual climax. Also, some chuckles and cuteness along the way.

~*~
* a movie version is in the makings with Lucy Hale and Robbie Amell are set to star as the leads as of May 2019

* Listened to audiobook version.

Lovely Books and Things - 7.13.19

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~
HAPPY THINGS:

1. Made fresh walnut pesto to go with spaghetti into my belly ;-)

2. Hainan Chicken with rice and soup to help combat a cold

3. Used an Amazon gift card to pick up some Paris in July themed items
- Harney & Sons Paris, Black Tea
- 8pcs Mini Notebook, with Eiffel Tower icon
- Cavallini Vintage Paris 10 Pencils and 1 Sharpener
- iPhone Case with Eiffel Tower and Pink Flowers

~*~
Library:

Lunch in Paris
A Love Story, with Recipes
by Elizabeth Bard
-Memoir, Food, Travel, Paris | Goodreads
FOR Paris in July reading list.

The Perfect Nanny
by Leïla Slimani
-Thriller, Mystery, Paris | Goodreads
FOR Paris in July reading list.


For Review:

The Hashtag Hunt
by Kristina Seek
-audiobook, Romance| Goodreads
courtesy of publisher for blitz tour -Thanks!

AND watched: in theatre

Midsommar (2019)
Director/Writer: Ari Aster
Stars: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper
-Drama, Horror, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 5
A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

HORROR done in a visually beautiful way with its vibrant colors and constant sunlight.

Pulp Fiction (1994)
Director/Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Writers: Roger Avary
Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson
-Crime, Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster & his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

PREPPING for the upcoming July 26 release of Tarantino film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a local theatre presented Pulp Fiction this week. I won a free ticket to see this. Next week will be Kill Bill, volume 1. And the following week will be Jackie Brown.

It was a re-watch for me and continues to be a wonderful classic with its innovate way of storytelling. Love that dance scene.


AND watched: on DVD for Paris in July

Fidelio: Alice's Odyssey (2014)
Fidelio, l'odyssée d'Alice (original title)
Director/Writer: Lucie Borleteau
Writers: Clara Bourreau (scenario), Mathilde Boisseleau (collaboration)
Stars: Ariane Labed, Melvil Poupaud, Anders Danielsen Lie
-Drama, Romance, France | imdb | my rating: 5
Thirty-year-old Alice's occupation is rather unusual for a woman : she works as an engineer on a freighter. She loves her job and does it competently but even in a greasy blue overall a woman will be a woman, with her heart, her desires and her seduction... In such conditions can an all-male crew really remain totally insensitive to her charms? A situation all the more complicated as not only does Alice leave her fiancé Felix behind but she also discovers on board the Fidélio that the captain is Gaël, her first love...
—Guy Bellinger

LIKED the female perspective of life as a sailor. Loved the character's strong independent spirit.

~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

The Bride Test
by Helen Hoang
narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

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Published: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Romance, Asian American, Vietnamese
Paperback: 320
Rating: 5

The Kiss Quotient series:
The Kiss Quotient
The Bride Test
The Heart Principle -tba

First sentence(s):
Ten years ago
San Jose, California

Khai was supposed to be crying. He knew he was supposed to be crying. Everyone else was.

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

My two-bits:

Loved the male perspective with this couple. Also loved how quirks and differences were handled between this pair.

This series have a great set of characters that bring about a cozy family setting.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.