Road trips

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ta ta for now...

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The Summer Seekers
by Sarah Morgan
Chick-lit, Travel | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
Kathleen is eighty years old. After she has a run-in with an intruder, her daughter wants her to move in to a residential home. But she’s not having any of it. What she craves—what she needs—is adventure.

Liza is drowning under the daily stress of family life. The last thing she needs is her mother jetting off on a wild holiday, making Liza long for a solo summer of her own.

Martha is having a quarter-life crisis. Unemployed, unloved and uninspired, she just can’t get her life together. But she knows something has to change.

When Martha sees Kathleen’s advertisement for a driver and companion to share an epic road trip across America, she decides this job might be the answer to her prayers. She’s not the world’s best driver, but anything has to be better than living with her parents. And traveling with a stranger? No problem. Anyway, how much trouble can one eighty-year-old woman be?

As these women embark on the journey of a lifetime, they all discover it’s never too late to start over.

The Lincoln Highway
by Amor Towles
Historical, Travel | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future.

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* image source header: pinterest

One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan

One Summer in Paris
by Sarah Morgan
narrated by Eileen Stevens, Billie Fulford-Brown, Tanya Eby

Published: 2019
Publisher: HQN
Genre: Women's Fiction, France, Paris
Hardback: 384
Rating: 4
Goodreads | Website

First sentence(s):
Grace Porter woke on Valentine's Day, happily married and blissfully unaware that was about to change.

To celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Grace has planned the surprise of a lifetime for her husband—a romantic getaway to Paris. But she never expected he’d have a surprise of his own: he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock but refusing to be broken, a devastated Grace makes the bold decision to go to Paris alone.

Audrey, a young woman from London, has left behind a heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no money and no knowledge of the French language, suddenly a summer spent wandering the cobbled streets alone seems much more likely…until she meets Grace, and everything changes.

Grace can’t believe how daring Audrey is. Audrey can’t believe how cautious newly single Grace is. Living in neighboring apartments above the bookshop, this unlikely pair offer each other just what they’ve both been missing. They came to Paris to find themselves, but finding this unbreakable friendship might be the best thing that’s ever happened to them…

My two-bits:

Wonderful and warm story of friendship and personal growths with the characters in the midst of a Paris bookstore and mentions of well-known sights.

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* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Paris in July (here)

Bookworms in France

Fantastique!

Booksellers along the Seine are a treat for bookworms from all over the world.

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The Paris Library
by Janet Skeslien Charles
Historical, WWII, France | Goodreads
Paris, 1939. Odile Souchet is obsessed with books and the Dewey Decimal System, which makes order out of chaos. She soon has it all – a handsome police officer beau, an English best friend, a beloved twin, and a job at the American Library in Paris, a thriving community of students, writers, diplomats, and book lovers. Yet when war is declared, there's also a war on words.

Montana, 1983. Widowed and alone, Odile suffers the solitary confinement of small-town life. Though most adults are cowed by her, the neighbor girl will not let her be. Lily, a lonely teenager yearning to break free of Froid is obsessed by the older French woman who lives next door and wants to know her secrets.

As the two become friends, Odile sees herself in Lily – the same love of language, the same longings, the same lethal jealousy. The Paris Library’s dual narratives explore the relationships that make us who we are – family and friends, first loves and favorite authors – in the fairy tale setting of the City of Light. It also explores the geography of resentment, the consequences of unspeakable betrayal, and what happens when the people we count on for understanding and protection fail us.

One Summer In Paris
by Sarah Morgan
Women's Fiction, France | Goodreads | my review
To celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Grace has planned the surprise of a lifetime for her husband—a romantic getaway to Paris. But she never expected he’d have a surprise of his own: he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock but refusing to be broken, a devastated Grace makes the bold decision to go to Paris alone.

Audrey, a young woman from London, has left behind a heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no money and no knowledge of the French language, suddenly a summer spent wandering the cobbled streets alone seems much more likely…until she meets Grace, and everything changes.

Grace can’t believe how daring Audrey is. Audrey can’t believe how cautious newly single Grace is. Living in neighboring apartments above the bookshop, this unlikely pair offer each other just what they’ve both been missing. They came to Paris to find themselves, but finding this unbreakable friendship might be the best thing that’s ever happened to them…

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* image source: Les bouquinistes sur les quais a Notre Dame by Eugene Galien Laloue

* part of Paris in July (here)

Paris in July 2020

Paris in July
hosted by Thyme for Tea
(details & signup)
Paris in July is an international blogging event that brings together lovers of Paris and all things French, for a Virtual visit to Paris through literature, film, theater, art, music, food, wine and memories.

READ:

Paris by Edward Rutherford
Historical, France, Paris | Goodreads

Murder in Clichy by Cara Black
Mystery, France, Paris | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

LISTEN: Audiobooks

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin
Chick-lit, Christmas, Paris | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

One Summer In Paris by Sarah Morgan
Women's Fiction, France | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

The Black Swan of Paris
by Karen Robards
Historical, WW2, Paris | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4
Picnic in Provence by Elizabeth Bard
Memoir, Food, France, Provence | Goodreads |my review | my rating: 5

Death in Provence by Serena Kent
Mystery, France, Provence | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5


PARTICIPATE: France Book Tours

Falling for Provence tour
July 20-31 (details)
my review | my rating: 4

SHOP:

Paris Letter
creation by Janice MacLeod | etsy

MISC:

Witches and a Phantom
books featured:
The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith
The Glamourist by Luanne G. Smith
The Conjurer by Luanne G. Smith
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
For Love of the Phantom by Davyne DeSye
Skeletons in the Closet by Davyne DeSye
Phantom Rising by Davyne DeSye

Bookworms in France
books featured:
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
One Summer In Paris by Sarah Morgan

Food and France
books featured:
Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris by Ann Mah
Dirt: Adventures, with Family, in the Kitchens of Lyon, Looking for the Origins of French Cooking by Bill Buford
The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux by Samantha Verant

Films and France
films featured:
I Am Not An Easy Man
Blind Date
Madame Goes to Paris

Photos and France
book featured:
Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia Beach

Expats and France
books featured:
Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon
French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris by Scott Dominic Carpenter
L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home by David Lebovitz
Confessions of an Expat in Paris by Vicki Lesage

film featured:
Emily in Paris

Happy Bastille Day!
book featured:
The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah

Royals and France
book featured:
Marie Antoinette’s World: Intrigue, Infidelity, And Adultery In Versailles by Will Bashor

film featured:
Lady J

Fashion and France
books featured:
The French Photographer by Natasha Lester
The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester
The Queen of Paris: A Novel of Coco Chanel by Pamela Binnings Ewen

film featured:
Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times

San Francisco and France
book featured:
Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

WWII and France
books featured:
The Paper Girl of Paris by Jordyn Taylor
The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
Red Mistress by Elizabeth Blackwell

Jaunt out of Paris
books featured:
The Reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
The Safe Place by Anna Downes
Death in Provence by Serena Kent

Yarn Along - Paris theme
book featured:
Paris by Edward Rutherfurd

Films and France pt2
films featured:
Puerto Ricans in Paris
Radioactive

Foodie and France
Falling for Provence by Paulitta Kincer
Death in Provence by Serena Kent
Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim

Mystery and France
books featured:
The 7th Woman by Frédérique Molay
Crossing the Line by Frédérique Molay
The Book Artist by Mark Pryor
The French Widow by Mark Pryor
The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre

Goodbye Paris in July
book featured:
Goodbye Paris by Anstey Harris

LISTEN: Spotify - Paris Cafe Jazz



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