by

José-Louis BOCQUET (Author), Jean-Luc Fromental (Author),
Helge Dascher (Author), Stanislas Barthélémy (Illustrator)

70 pages

Graphic biography

Published by Drawn and Quarterly in November 2011

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

When I go to the library, I often roam a bit through the graphic novel section, just in case there might be something interesting there.
This book caught my eye right away: I thought, ah Tintin in English! And a crowd of childhood memories raced to my mind: I did enjoy a lot Tintin comics, good plots, nice drawings, funny characters, and I had not read any for ages, and probably none in English.

So I picked up the book and realized it was actually a biography of Tintin’s creator: Hergé! AND I needed to read a book related to Belgium for my 52 countries Reading Challenge, so that was perfect!

My first confusion and a look at the cover here above tells you how cool this is: the illustrator imitated at perfection Hergé’s style.

I knew nothing about Hergé, so it was neat to discover who was the man behind Tintin, his childhood, his success with comics. As a child, I had of course no idea that there had even been some dark controversies related to Tintin and Nazism, really!

If you enjoy Tintin, you have to check out this book.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

The Adventures of Hergé is a biographical comic about the world-renowned comics artist Georges Prosper Remi, better known by his pen name, Hergé. Meticulously researched, with references to many of the Tintin albums and complete with a bibliography and mini-bios for each of the main “characters,” the biography is appropriately drawn in Hergé’s iconic clear line style as an homage to the Tintin adventures that have commanded the attention of readers across the world and of many generations.

Seven-year-old Hergé first discovered his love of drawing in 1914 when his mother gave him some crayons to stay out of trouble. He continued drawing in school when he fatefully met the editor of XXe Siècle magazine, where Tintin first appeared. His popularity skyrocketed from the 1930s through post–World War Two. Hergé was perceived by some to have aided the Nazi government in Belgium by continuing to publish Tintin in a government-sanctioned magazine, and he was briefly imprisoned in the aftermath of the war and narrowly escaped execution. Also covered are his marriage troubles in the 1950s and subsequent affair with Fanny Vlamynck, who went on to become his lifelong partner; his late career in the 1960s, as his interest in Tintin waned and he occasionally “disappeared” for weeks at a time as he contemplated giving up his career to become a fine-arts painter; and a recounting of a humorous encounter with Andy Warhol.  [Goodreads]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Little José-Louis was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 28 August 1962 and became passionate about good comic strips so quickly that at the age of 13, he founded Bizu, his own fanzine. He then established various illustrated anthologies for Bédérama, offering compilations of work by authors such as Franquin, Binet and Andréas.

To satisfy his passion for reading, he got a job with the Temps Futurs bookshop at the start of the 1980s and, together with friend and companion Jean-Luc Fromental, he took part in the production of the works of L’Année de la Bande Dessinée), published by that Parisian temple of cartoons and science-fiction.

His first articles started to appear in Metal Hurlant and he became a press attaché for Humanoïdes Associés in 1983, then became their collections editor. His first scripts were illustrated by Serge Clerc (“Les mémoires de l’espion”), Arno (Anton Six and “Kriegspiel”), Franz (“Mémoires d’un .38″, in collaboration with Fromental), Max (“Panzer Panik”) and Biard (“Le 38° Parallèle”, in collaboration with Rivière).

It was working with François Rivière on scripts and with Philippe Berthet for illustrations that he commenced his most ambitious series in 1983, “Le Privé d’Hollywood”. Fuelled by the old-style detective novels by Stuart Kaminsky and the initial works of the Série Noire, this reconstruction of an America which disappeared a long time ago has retained all of its charm, a fact confirmed by its reissue as a complete version in 1999.

From 1989 to 1991, he wrote scripts for Francis Vallés” trilogy of the adventures of the reporter Dorian Dombre (for Glénat) and endeavoured to bring back memories of Jerry Spring with Franz (“Fureur Apache”, for Alpen in 1990).

In 1991, he and Jean-Baptiste Gilou took part in the creation of La Sirène publications in which he published a monumental monograph on film director Henri-Georges Clouzot. A man with taste and many talents, he was also assistant editor in chief on Salut Les Copains and presenter on TF 1, but writing remained his biggest pleasure and it is therefore no surprise to find several of his novels in the catalogue of Série Noire and other popular editors.

In 1997, he worked with Marie-Ange Guillaume on editing a biography of René Goscinny for Actes-Sud and he provided the script to “Timbrés rares” for Antonio Cossu and Louis Joos. [goodreads]

The list of his work is impressive. See here.

REVIEWS BY OTHERS

“A useful introduction to one of the 20th century’s most important cartoonists.”-Hollywood Reporter

“[An} intriguing…curiosity…Effortless charm."–New City, Chicago

"Offers greater rewards for dedicated fans than those purely interested by the big-screen adaptation."–THE AUSTRALIAN

"Barthélémy wisely evokes Remi’s style without attempting to copy it…the book evokes an unspoken fusion between its subject and his work…One can almost imagine slipping the pages of The Adventures of Hergé between the Tintin albums themselves, filling in blanks and bridging gaps. Somewhere between this episodic but evocative comic-book bio and Tintin’s own adventures lies the story of Georges Remi, hidden in the white expanses that separate one panel from the next." –SLATE

"Delightfully drawn in a style that’s an uncanny homage to the late artist…The universal appeal and sheer volume of material, along with its consistent quality and rich cast of characters make it an appealing and rich expression of the medium and society. This graphic bio of the man behind the character is well worth the trip."–THE MIAMI HERALD [on the publisher's website]

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK YET?
ANY LOVING MEMORY OF TINTIN??
DO YOU FEEL LIKE READING THIS BOOK?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS  IN A COMMENT PLEASE

02/25-26/2012

It looks like I have not posted for that meme since last November!

I’m already 9 books behind as for review writing, that’s the problem when you read a lot and quickly.

Also, I have at least 2 TBR, and am losing track…

But I have very recently gotten into the habit of updating my TBR directly n Goodreads, and I realize I could just post here let’s say the last 5 titles I ran into and thought worthy of entering my TBR.

so here you are, 5 titles for your week-end; the neat thing is that you can read about it quickly by clicking on the Goodreads links!

FICTION

 The Left Hand of Darkness, by Guin, Ursula K. Le
I’m ashamed to admit I have not read any book yet by this great author!

From the Mouth of the Whale, by Sjón
I found this on Goodreads: “Achingly brilliant, an epic made mad, made extraordinary.”—Junot Díaz”Hallucinatory, lyrical, by turns comic and tragic, this extraordinary novel should make Sjón an international name. His evocation of seventeenth century Iceland through the eyes of a man born before his time has stuck in my mind like nothing else I’ve read in the last year.”—
I plan to read it for the book I need to read on Iceland [52 countries reading challenge]

We, by Zamyatin, Yevgeny
Another big classic, in sci-fi, that I have never read!

NON-FICTION

Travels With Charley: In Search of America, by Steinbeck, John
I love Steinbeck, and that will definitely be this title next time I turn to him

Translating Lives: Living with Two Languages and Cultures, by Besemeres, Mary
Recommended by a blogger who loves languages. seems fascinating:
Recounting the personal experiences of 12 bilingual Australians, this immensely moving collection of stories shows how immersion in two overlapping cultures affects one demonstrate the intrinsic links between language, culture, and identity.

Now, if you need more tiles, you can have a look at what I’m currently reading ion the right bar here.
You can also check the list of the 18 books I have already read since Jan 1st
And look at possible titles I’m considering for my many reading challenges.

And so, what book will you be reading
or listening to this coming week-end?

by

Kazuki EBINE

192 pages

Graphic “novel”

Published by Penguin in September 2011

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

This was a nice way of reconnecting with Gandhi. The biography focuses a lot on the beginning of Gandhi’s actions, especially in South Africa, before his work in India. The drawings were very good. If you think you don’t really know about him, this would be a perfect introduction.

I enjoy this new Penguin collection, the biography of the Dalai Lama was very good as well.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

The life of a true twentieth-century hero told in a vibrant graphic novel format.

Through his quietly powerful leadership and influential use of nonviolent resistance in India’s struggle against the British Raj, Mahatma Gandhi became one of the most revered figures of the modern era. While history has recorded Gandhi’s words and deeds, the man himself has been eclipsed by maxims of virtuosity that seem to have little resonance in our everyday lives. In Gandhi, the third volume in our exciting new manga biography series, created in conjunction with Emotional Content, Kazuki Ebine combines a gripping narrative with stunning illustrations to share Gandhi’s inspiring and deeply human story with a whole new generation of readers. [goodreads]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

[I could not find any picture of the author. Let me know if you know any].
Kazuki Ebine is an up-and-coming manga artist and has won several highly recognized awards from the major comic book magazines in Japan. He lives in Tokyo.

REVIEWS BY OTHERS

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK YET?
DO YOU FEEL LIKE READING THIS BOOK?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS  IN A COMMENT PLEASE

by

Chimamanda Ngozi ADICHIE

541 pages

Published by Knopf in 2006

This book counts for the following challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

A friend of mine lent me her book last year, and it fit perfectly in my 52 countries Reading Challenge.

I had heard about Biafra in my younger years, but had no clear idea about all that was involved. This is a good historical novel, describing very well what was happening when Biafra tried to become independent, the violent reaction to their move and the huge suffering the population had to go through, with also famine at the same time.

I have lived several years with refugees from Africa and heard enough first hand horror stories of what they had to go through, so I’m always a bit hesitant in reading books on African wars these days. But this was done with style in this book and made it bearable for me. It also describes the political milieu and discussions around the issue of independence. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the past of Nigeria.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as “the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,” Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed.

With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had. [goodreads]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Enugu, Nigeria, the fifth of six children to Igbo parents.

Chimamanda studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria for a year and a half. At nineteen, Chimamanda left for the U.S to study communication at Drexel University in Philadelphia for two years, then went on to pursue a degree in communication and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University. Chimamanda graduated summa cum laude from Eastern in 2001, and then completed a master’s degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

It is during her senior year at Eastern that she started working on her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, which was released in October 2003.

Chimamanda was a Hodder fellow at Princeton University during the 2005-2006 academic year, and earned an MA in African Studies from Yale University in 2008.

REVIEWS BY OTHERS

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK YET?
DO YOU FEEL LIKE READING THIS BOOK?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS  IN A COMMENT PLEASE

Our local book club was very excited to meet for its second time. Some were reading books presented by other members last month, so it sounds like the trading titles format is working well.

Here are the books shared this time:

Meeting #2 on 02/09/2012

(synopsis taken from Goodreads.com)

1. Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption (2010)
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion.  His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.
In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit.  Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

Link to Emma’s review on her blog [it includes a book trailer]:http://wordsandpeace.com/2010/12/14/unbroken/ [you can also go to http://wordsandpeace.com , and type ‘Unbroken’ in the search box on the top right.]

2. Richard Powers, The Time of Our Singing (2002)
On Easter day, 1939, at Marian Anderson’s epochal concert on the Washington Mall, David Strom, a German Jewish émigré scientist, meets Delia Daley, a young Philadelphia Negro studying to be a singer. Their mutual love of music draws them together, and—against all odds and better judgment—they marry. They vow to raise their children beyond time, beyond identity, steeped only in song. Jonah, Joseph, and Ruth grow up, however, during the Civil Rights era, coming of age in the violent 1960s, and living out adulthood in the racially retrenched late century. Jonah, the eldest, “whose voice could make heads of state repent,” follows a life in his parents’ beloved classical music. Ruth, the youngest, devotes herself to community activism and repudiates the white culture her brother represents. Joseph, the middle child and the narrator of this generation-bridging tale, struggles to find himself and remain connected to them both.

3. Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper (2005)
“New York Times” bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate–a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister–and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
“My Sister’s Keeper” examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child’s life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in “My Sister’s Keeper, ” Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

4. William Kent Krueger, Iron Lake (Cork O’Connor #1) [1998-2011]

Here is the synopsis of the #1 in the series, but E. presented the whole series. So far, 11 volumes have been published.

William Kent Krueger joined the ranks of today’s best suspense novelists with this thrilling, universally acclaimed debut. Conjuring “a sense of place he’s plainly honed firsthand in below-zero prairie” “(Kirkus Reviews), ” Krueger brilliantly evokes northern Minnesota’s lake country — and reveals the dark side of its snow-covered landscape.

Part Irish, part Anishinaabe Indian, Corcoran “Cork” O’Connor is the former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota. Embittered by his “former” status, and the marital meltdown that has separated him from his children, Cork gets by on heavy doses of caffeine, nicotine, and guilt. Once a cop on Chicago’s South Side, there’s not much that can shock him. But when the town’s judge is brutally murdered, and a young Eagle Scout is reported missing, Cork takes on a mind-jolting case of conspiracy, corruption, and scandal.

As a lakeside blizzard buries Aurora, Cork must dig out the truth among town officials who seem dead-set on stopping his investigation in its tracks. But even Cork freezes up when faced with the harshest enemy of all: a small-town secret that hits painfully close to home.

5. Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind (1936) [audiobook]

Revisit the South and fall under the spell of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler all over again. After six decades, this sweeping saga set against the backdrop of the war-torn South remains one of the most beloved American novels ever written.

6. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games/Catching Fire/Mockingjay (2008-2010) [presented by Pat]

Synopsis of the 1^st volume:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister Primrose, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before — and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love

7. A. presented the 2012 Master List of Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award (Illinois Children=s Choice Award) – grades 4 through 8. See here: http://www.rcyrba.org/pdf/2012MasterList.pdf

One of the books she enjoyed a lot on that list a few years ago was:

Gary D. Schmidt, The Wednesday Wars (2000):

Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero in THE WEDNESDAY WARSin the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.

8. Norman Ollestad, Crazy For The Storm (2009)

“Dad Said

Olestad, we can do it all. . . .”

Why do you make me do this?

“Because it’s beautiful when it all comes together. ”

I don’t think it’s ever beautiful.

“One day.”

Never.

“We’ll see, my father said. Vamanos.”

From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the intense, charismatic father he both idolized and resented. While his friends were riding bikes, playing ball, and going to birthday parties, young Norman was whisked away in pursuit of wild and demanding adventures. Yet it were these exhilarating tests of skill that prepared “Boy Wonder,” as his father called him, to become a fearless champion–and ultimately saved his life.

Flying to a ski championship ceremony in February 1979, the chartered Cessna carrying Norman, his father, his father’s girlfriend, and the pilot crashed into the San Gabriel Mountains and was suspended at 8,200 feet, engulfed in a blizzard. “Dad and I were a team, and he was Superman,” Ollestad writes. But now Norman’s father was dead, and the devastated eleven-year-old had to descend the treacherous, icy mountain alone.

Set amid the spontaneous, uninhibited surf culture of Malibu and Mexico in the late 1970s, this riveting memoir, written in crisp Hemingwayesque prose, recalls Ollestad’s childhood and the magnetic man whose determination and love infuriated and inspired him–and also taught him to overcome the indomitable. As it illuminates the complicated bond between an extraordinary father and his son, Ollestad’s powerful and unforgettable true story offers remarkable insight for us all.

9. Claire Tomalin, Charles Dickens: A Life (2011) [presented by me on the occasion of Dickens’ 200^th birthday on 2/7/2012]

The tumultuous life of England’s greatest novelist, beautifully rendered by unparalleled literary biographer Claire Tomalin.

When Charles Dickens died in 1870, “The Times” of London successfully campaigned for his burial in Westminster Abbey, the final resting place of England’s kings and heroes. Thousands flocked to mourn the best recognized and loved man of nineteenth-century England. His books had made them laugh, shown them the squalor and greed of English life, and also the power of personal virtue and the strength of ordinary people. In his last years Dickens drew adoring crowds to his public appearances, had met presidents and princes, and had amassed a fortune.

Like a hero from his novels, Dickens trod a hard path to greatness. Born into a modest middle-class family, his young life was overturned when his profligate father was sent to debtors’ prison and Dickens was forced into harsh and humiliating factory work. Yet through these early setbacks he developed his remarkable eye for all that was absurd, tragic, and redemptive in London life. He set out to succeed, and with extraordinary speed and energy made himself into the greatest English novelist of the century.

Years later Dickens’s daughter wrote to the author George Bernard Shaw, “If you could make the public understand that my father was not a joyous, jocose gentleman walking about the world with a plum pudding and a bowl of punch, you would greatly oblige me.” Seen as the public champion of household harmony, Dickens tore his own life apart, betraying, deceiving, and breaking with friends and family while he pursued an obsessive love affair.

“Charles Dickens: A Life” gives full measure to Dickens’s heroic stature-his huge virtues both as a writer and as a human being- while observing his failings in both respects with an unblinking eye. Renowned literary biographer Claire Tomalin crafts a story worthy of Dickens’s own pen, a comedy that turns to tragedy as the very qualities that made him great-his indomitable energy, boldness, imagination, and showmanship-finally destroyed him. The man who emerges is one of extraordinary contradictions, whose vices and virtues were intertwined as surely as his life and his art.

Link to my review on this blog: http://wordsandpeace.com/2012/01/23/review-2-2012-charles-dickes-a-life/

Other titles briefly mentioned:

I’m sure there were many more, but these are the titles I heard
- Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Cicrle and Nineteen Minutes

- Nancy Horan, Loving Frank

- mysteries by C.J. Box

- Todd Burpo, Heaven Is For Real

- William P. Young, The Shack

- Murielle Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog [see my review here: http://wordsandpeace.com/2010/10/19/the-elegance-of-the-hedgehog/ ] and Gourmet Rhapsody  [http://wordsandpeace.com/2011/06/16/my-review-47-gourmet-rhapsody/ ]

- Erik Larson, The Devil in The White City  and In The Garden of Beasts, and Isaac’s Storm

- Joseph Heller, Catch-22 [not in too positive terms…]

- Betty Smith, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

HAVE YOU TRIED YET TO SET UP
A TRADING TITLES BOOK CLUB?

Reflecting today on Charles Dickens, his work, the social portraits of his time, I was wondering if we had a Dickens or a Zola for our time.

Any idea? A fiction writer who would portray the tough social times so many go through in our 21st century?

He/she can be a European or American writer – I’m thinking more of our Western world here.

Please share any thought, with some examples of titles if necessary. Thanks!

Charles Dickens’ 200th anniversary
02/07/2012

In case you did not know it was coming, you found out at least this morning with the google logo – well done, I have to say.

If you want to get in the swing on thing, you can visit the special website created for that event, full of goodies.

And of course, I encourage you to read my review of Dickens’ biography by Claire Tomalin, a great book.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CELEBRATE THIS DAY?

this month has been terrific, best EVER!

Ok, I did NOT finish any audiobook, mostly for technical reasons, I’ll explain when I post the review of the audiobook I finished 24 hours too late to make it for the January count.

BUT I read 11 books, with a total of 2803 pages, that is, an insane 90.4 pages/day! I had to redo the maths several times, to be sure it was correct.

Another neat thing, is that I’m working on my end of year recap as I go along,that will save tons of times at the end, and prevent mistakes.

So for instance, I add titles and numbers after each book I read on this public google recap sheet, and I update all my Reading Challenges on that one.

The cool thing is that to list the following titles, I just add to select them form my column, et voilà!

SO, here are the titles I read:

5 fiction:

Le Grand Meaulnes, by Alain-Fournier – in original French
Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – historical novel, upcoming review
A Midsummer Night’s Dream , by Shakespeare – play
The Man In The Brown Suit , by Agatha Christie – mystery
Remembering Babylon , by David Malouf

I enjoyed them all, but my old love for le Grand Meaulnes was too strong against Agatha Christie, so that’s my favorite fiction this month:

6 non-fiction

Gandhi: A Manga Biography, by Kazuki Ebine – graphic format, upcoming review
The Adventures of Hergé, by José-Louis Bocquet – graphic format, upcoming review
Saint Gregory Palamas As A Hagiorite, by Hierotheos of Nafpaktos – upcoming review
Charles Dickens: A Life  , by Claire Tomalin
Cliffs Notes on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream , by Matthew Black
Paris My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) , by Amy Thomas – ebook

Difficult to resist the Parisian sweetness of Amy Thomas’ book, but I’m still giving my preference to this masterpiece, which I highly recommend for Dickens’ 200th anniversary coming up in a few days now:

***

Reading Challenges recap

Around the World in 52 books:  9/52
Around the world in 12 books: 1/12
European reading challenge: 4/5
I love Italy: 0/1-3
Dewey Decimal: 8/20
We want you to read French authors: 4/5 or 10 (ends in August)
Books in translation: 2/10-12
South Asia: 1/7
Middle East: 0/18
My own reading challenge: 0/5
What’s in a Name: 3/5
Ebook challenge: 3/10
Audiobook: 0/12
Support your library: 7/37
Finishing the series: 0/1
2nds challenge: 0/3
Foodies: 1/3
Japanese literature: 0/? (starts in June)
Historical novels: 1/7-10
New authors challenge: 8/15
A Shakespeare play a month: 1/12
SHAKESPEARE READING MONTHE: 1/1   -  COMPLETED
AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE MONTH: 1/1 – COMPLETED
DICKENS READING MONTH: 1/1  – COMPLETED
Graham Green Challenge: 0/1

***

Blog recap

December 2011:    29 posts =  total views =  1,718  = 55/day
January 2012:        21 posts =  total views =  2,165  = 70/day

Another very exciting event in January was my starting a book club for our block, with a very special format that everybody seems to enjoy. If you have not yet read about it, it’s here.

How was YOUR month of January?

I LOVE FRANCE!

This meme will be published every Thursday.
You can share here about any book
or anything cultural you just discovered related to France, Paris, etc.

Please spread the news on Twitter, Facebook, etc !
Feel free to grab my button,
and link your own post through Mister Linky
please if possible
include the title of the book or topic in your link.

*******

Paris, My Sweet:

A Year in the City of Light

(and Dark Chocolate)

by

Amy THOMAS

280 pages

Published by Sourcebooks today, Feb 1 , 2012!

Ebook received for free from Netgalley and Sourcebooks

I read this book for the following Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

The ad for this ebook was so alléchante (appetizing) that I could not resist. And this was indeed a treat!

Amy, from New York, is sent for her work in Paris. As she had discovered treasures of bread and mostly sweets some years before, her tale of two cities is organized by chapter each dedicated to some great French and/or American sweet, from la madeleine to cupcakes.

It is both the story of her struggle in finding her place as an expat in the French society, and that was rather tough at the beginning, and the revelation of her deepening love for the city of light – for instance on  a vélib, the bicycles you can rent to go around in Paris.

This book is a treasure trove of fantastic places in Paris and New York if you have a sweet tooth. At the end of each chapter, she recapitulates a few key places in both cities where you can find what she presented in the chapter.

Also, at the very end of the book, you will find a long list of those amazing sweet houses in both cities.

This is irresistible, but really dangerous if you are on as diet. This book made me hungry all along, even though I’m not really a fan of sweets.

It is also a very good presentation of the French mentally, and this book may rightly debunk some of your too romantic ideas about the French people.

But all is well that ends well, Amy calls now Paris her home.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

Part love letter to New York, part love letter to Paris, and total devotion to all things sweet. Paris, My Sweet is a personal and moveable feast that’s a treasure map for anyone who loves fresh cupcakes and fine chocolate, New York and Paris, and life in general. It’s about how the search for happiness can be as fleeting as a sliver of cheesecake and about how the life you’re meant to live doesn’t always taste like the one you envisioned. Organized into a baker’s dozen of delicacies (and the adventures they inspired) that will tempt readers’ appetites, Paris, My Sweet is something to savor. [Goodreads]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Thomas is a writer based in Paris and New York.

It was during her junior year abroad at the American University of Paris that Amy’s infatuation with the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) blossomed into true love. But when she finished her degree at Babson College, it was to San Francisco that she moved. There, she started a career in advertising at J. Walter Thompson and Foote, Cone & Belding, working on accounts such as Levi’s, Amazon and the YMCA.

Along the way, her interest in the editorial world evolved into a second career and a move to New York brought her closer to home (and Madison Avenue). While her copywriting portfolio expanded to include Redken, BMW and Dove, her magazine and newspaper writing brought her to Sydney, Dublin, the Caucus mountains and the Connecticut coastline.

In 2008, fate or luck came her way with a job offer to work on Louis Vuitton’s digital advertising in the Paris office of Ogilvy & Mather. With a full-blown éclair addiction and an imaginary closet filled with only Vuitton, Paris is where Amy now calls home.

Here is her website, and her great blog on Paris.

REVIEWS BY OTHERS

“”A sweet and charming tale of Paris through the eyes of a cake-lover. Willie Wonka for grown ups — and a guide to some of the sweetest destinations in the City of Light. ” – Karen Wheeler, author of Tout Sweet

“”Such a charming, heartfelt book. Paris, My Sweet is as dainty and decadent as a box of pastel macarons, a bewitching tale of a young woman’s love affair with two iconic cities and the confections found in each one.”" – Ann Mah, author of Kitchen Chinese

“”Amy Thomas’s descriptions of the delicious delights in Paris and New York had me almost licking the pages.”  ” – Rachel Khoo, author of Little Paris Kitchen

“”Dessert lovers will devour this one… Amy Thomas draws the reader into the comfort of sweets seemingly found on every street corner in Paris, creating a delectable fantasy world. As a self-professed sugarholic, this memoir/travelogue/dessert guide to New York and Paris is a rare, nostalgic treat – equal parts charm, style, and wit.”" – Pichet Ong, chef and author of The Sweet Spot [amazon]

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