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and on the book covers to access synopsis or review

Same refrain: cold and snow – but looks like it might be the last week of that. Finally.
This past week, however, I finished only one book. Well, that’s what happens when you are reading seven at the same time…

📚 JUST READ 📚  

📚 Encre sympathique, by Patrick Modiano
Published in 2019
It was translated in English (Invisible Ink) in 2020 by Mark Polizzotti

I first wrote my review here, and then realized it ended up being long enough for a post by itself, so it will be live tomorrow.

📚 CURRENTLY READING/LISTENING TO 🎧

   

📚 Gone by Midnight, by Candice Fox
Published on March 10, 2020 (US publication)

This is book 3 in this series, after Crimson Lake and Redemption Point.
A few couples were staying at a hotel. While the parents were downstairs having a nice time together, their kids stayed together playing in their room. When Sara goes up to check on them, her own son is gone.
The police can’t find any clue at all. And as Sara has had some issues in her earlier life, she becomes a suspect herself. So she decides to ask Ted’s help because of his own experience: In the previous books, policeman Ted was accused of kidnapping a girl.

I’m halfway and really enjoying it. The author is really good at creating ambiance and suspense.

📚 Dictionnaire amoureux du polar, by Pierre Lemaitre
Published on October 22, 2020

I have read at least five books by Lemaitre (the shortest and least disturbing as far violence is definitely Three Days and a Life – highly recommended), so when I saw a review of this book on a French book blog, I didn’t hesitate a second. And I even started reading it right away!
Lemaitre, a very renowned author of thrillers (and historical novels) himself, decided to share his love of the genre by presenting other authors. The introduction is very good. The only problem is I’m probably going to end up adding tons of titles to my TBR!

📚 Le Jourde & Naulleau, by Perre Jourde and Éric Naulleau
Published in 2008

A totally hilarious pastiche on a famous collection of French literature textbooks. Loving it!

📚 The Future of Buildings, Transportation, and Power, 
by Roger Duncan and Michael E. Webber
Published in July 2020

I featured this book a few weeks ago, and ended up winning the giveaway!
It’s quite technical, but accessible and fascinating, about current and future use of buildings, transportation and power, and the interaction between the three. For instance, how some parking decks produce all the electricity hey need, thanks to solar panels, and even more than they need, so that nearby buildings use that surplus.

🎧 La Vallée, by Bernard Minier
Published on April 2, 2020
Not yet available n English

A woman disappeared. Then eight years later, police inspector Martin Servaz receives a phone call from her, asking for his help.
This is very good so far, but I’m a bit nervous about the role some Cistercian monks may have in the story. A zone of interest is indeed close to heir abbey, deep in the Pyrenees.

I am also reading two spiritual books.
And the author of Stone Killer has asked me to be his first reader of the thriller he is currently writing, and to send him my reactions after each chapter.

📚 BOOK UP NEXT 📚

📚 A Fine Line, by Alan Burns
Published in 2017

Dan Burns in an Illinois Chicago author I met at a couple of events. I liked his style in his short story collection No Turning Back.

“A Fine Line is a story about Sebastian Drake, a struggling writer working out of a dilapidated apartment in the city and trying to come up with his next story idea. Drake receives an unexpected visit from a man interested in hiring him for a project and who thinks he has just the solution to Drake’s writing challenges. He also thinks that Drake’s past and secret life with a shadow government organization is a valuable asset.
His proposition to Drake is simple: become a hired agent to investigate a cold murder case involving one of Chicago’s most powerful political families. The job comes with a decent paycheck, all the support he might need, and the types of real life experiences that can form the basis for great fiction stories.
This is a story about a man with a new lease on life, a man who leads a dual existence. By day, he is an aspiring author. By night, he is a rogue undercover and unknown vigilante. His biggest challenge is keeping intact the fine line of reality and fiction.”

📚 LAST 2 BOOKS ADDED TO MY GOODREADS TBR 📚

 

📚 The Noise of Time, by Julian Barnes
Published in 2016

We had our book club meeting yesterday night (on Google Meet). We do trading titles every month, meaning, at each meeting, each member talks about the book he/she has recently read. One member presented this one, a historical novel on Shostakovich.
I have yet to read this author (I know, really!!), but I watched this fascinating documentary on Shostakovich, so I definitely want to read this one.

“A compact masterpiece dedicated to the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich: Julian Barnes’s first novel since his best-selling, Man Booker Prize–winning The Sense of an Ending.
In 1936, Shostakovitch, just thirty, fears for his livelihood and his life. Stalin, hitherto a distant figure, has taken a sudden interest in his work and denounced his latest opera. Now, certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or, more likely, executed on the spot), Shostakovitch reflects on his predicament, his personal history, his parents, various women and wives, his children—and all who are still alive themselves hang in the balance of his fate. And though a stroke of luck prevents him from becoming yet another casualty of the Great Terror, for decades to come he will be held fast under the thumb of despotism: made to represent Soviet values at a cultural conference in New York City, forced into joining the Party and compelled, constantly, to weigh appeasing those in power against the integrity of his music.
Barnes elegantly guides us through the trajectory of Shostakovitch’s career, at the same time illuminating the tumultuous evolution of the Soviet Union. The result is both a stunning portrait of a relentlessly fascinating man and a brilliant exploration of the meaning of art and its place in society..”

📚 Yokohama Station SF, by Yuba Isukari, Tatsuyuki Tanaka (Visual Art)
Expected publication: March 30th 2021 by Yen On

I saw mention of this on a French book blog I think. but I’m not even sure if it’s a graphic novel or not. Anyway, I like the premise of this Japanese scifi.

“In a future where Yokohama Station covers most of the island of Honshu, there are two ways of life-inside the station and outside. Life within the station is strictly controlled, and those who fail to follow the rules are expelled to the harsher world outside. When one of these exiles receives a temporary ticket to go into the station, he’s also given a mission to find the leader of a group determined to free humanity. ”

📚 BOOK ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK 📚

See above

INTERESTING LINKS

Some bloggers share links they found interesting n the past week. I have tried doing this on and off. I’ll try again. Let me know if this is something you would appreciate finding on this blog. Obviously, there will links to articles in English or French.

ABOUT BOOKS:
The genrefication of national literatures
Unseen work by Proust announced as ‘thunderclap’ by French publisher
La Villa du Temps retrouvé : un musée-maison de Marcel Proust, à Cabourg

ON MEMORY, and other important elements to live better in our current society:
Advice Given by a Famous Author [Umberto Eco] to his Grandson

ABOUT JAPANESE:
Wondrous Words: Kaika and Ikigai

THIS PAST WEEK ON
WORDS AND PEACE
MYRTLE SKETE
and FRANCE BOOK TOURS

• 2/16: Top Ten Tuesday, with Purple, Yellow, and/or Green Book Covers
• 2/16: Teaser Tuesday: L’Origine
• 2/19: First Line Fridays: L’Origine

📚 Book of the month giveaway

📚 Books available for free this month, to review an your own pace
  
📚 Review copy available for upcoming book tour: Victorine (literary/histfic)
📚 Subscribe to my Newsletter, and win a book each month!
Here is a sample, with link for subscription at the bottom
📚 Books available for swapping

COMING UP ON
WORDS AND PEACE
MYRTLE SKETE
FRANCE BOOK TOURS

• 2/23: Top Ten Tuesday maybe, on Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud
• 2/24: Book review: The Toughest Sudoku Puzzle Book
• 2/26: Book Beginnings: L’Origine

HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?