Sunday Post #9 – 10/5/14

Posted on October 5, 2014 by WordsAndPeace

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by
Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It’s a chance to share news.
A post to recap the past week on your blog,
showcase books and things we have received.
Share news about what is coming up on your blog
for the week ahead.
See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

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This post also counts for

Mailbox Monday,
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
and WWW Wednesdays

Oh my, already in the 40s in Chicago, I’m not ready for that –not that I’m ever ready anyway for the cold.

BOOKS JUST READ

click on the covers to know more about them

CURRENTLY READING

Taking The Cross, by Charles Gibson. Review scheduled for France Book Tours on Oct 16
Listening to: The Crown, by Nancy Bilyeau. Awesome! Almost done
3. Delirium: The Rimbaud Delusion, by Barbara Scott Emmet,
who will publish a guest-post on Oct 20!
4. And a few more!!

BOOKS UP NEXT

The Sharp Hook of Love, by Sherry Jones: histfic on Heloise and Abélard,
the famous medieval lovers.
Review scheduled for 10/26 for France Book Tours
Next audio book: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce

LAST WEEK ON WORDS AND PEACE
and FRANCE BOOK TOURS

Bitter Greens, by Kate Forsyth (review + giveaway)
October books of the month giveaway: 3 great novels for grab!
September wrap-up: so many awesome books!
4th Blogiversary giveaway winners
4th Blogiversary: stats after 4 years of book blogging
New tour posted: Journeys Through France And Life, by Glenda de Vaney (memoir) – still some spots available!
New tour posted: The Beautiful American, by Jeanne Mackin (historical fiction) – some spots available
Taking the Cross, by Charles Gibson: release day
September book of the month giveaway winners
And we still have spots available to review We’ll Always Have Paris: A Mother-Daughter Memoir, by Jennifer Coburn
and to review this thriller: The Shiro Project, by David Khara

COMING UP ON WAP and FBT

10/5, later on today: Crossing The Line, by Frédérique Molay (review + giveaway)
10/6: A Paris Apartment, by Michelle Gable (review + giveaway)
10/7: release day of The Sharp Hook of Love, by Sherry Jones; and of Seven Letters From Paris, by Samantha Vérant
Some time this week, you should receive the Newsletter #2. Did you know that by opening it, you are entered into an exclusive giveaway? Sign up now if you have done it yet!
Also, I’m revamping my rating system, to make it more obvious, still my Eiffel Towers, but in a simplified way, so it will be one of these 5 possible lines. Everyone knows but are usually rated between 1 and 5. What d you think?

BOOK REVIEW MOST READ THIS PAST WEEK

click on the cover to know more about it
and enter the giveaway!

POST MOST VIEWED ON FRANCE BOOK TOURS

click on the cover to know more about it
and enter the giveaway!

CURRENT GIVEAWAYS

click on each cover to access the giveaway entry form

BOOKS ADDED TO MY GOODREADS TBR

The Beautiful American is a histfic about Lee Miller, set in the 1920s in Paris!
Review copies available, click on the cover!

BOOKS RECEIVED THIS PAST WEEK

none, but no problem, had so many last weeks!

CHECKED OUT AT THE LIBRARY

HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Book review and giveaway: Bitter Greens – I love France #113

Posted on October 3, 2014 by WordsAndPeace

I LOVE FRANCE!

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,

at the bottom of this post.

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Bitter Greens

In full compliance with FTC Guidelines,
I received this book for free
in exchange
for a fair and honest review.
I was in no way compensated
for this post as a reviewer,
and the thoughts are my own.

Bitter Greens
by Kate Forsyth
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Release Date: September 23, 2014

ISBN–10: 1250047536
Pages: 496

Genre:
Historical/Fantasy/Fairy-Tale Retellings
Source: Received for a
virtual book tour on HFVBT

Goodreads

Buy the Book

Amazon US
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book left me totally stunned by its structure and quality. It is really a masterpiece, with an amazing blend between historical fiction and a double retelling in fact, of the fairy tale Rapunzel.
You may know Rapunzel as a work of the Grimm Brothers in 19th century Germany. They actually found their inspiration in the fairy tale Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force, which was originally published in France in 1698, being itself a variation on an even older Italian tale. Literary critics are debating how Charlotte-Rose, who did not know Italian despite her vast culture, may have known of this tale.
In Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth imagines a solution to this enigma, which seems totally plausible.
She puts all this together by telling us about the life of Charlotte-Rose, about her retelling of the tale, and about the original itself. This is brilliantly done, and here are more reasons why I loved it so much.
Click to continue reading

2014: September wrap-up

Posted on October 1, 2014 by WordsAndPeace

September was another awesome reading month. Interestingly, I read and listened to the same amount of books as in August, but longer books!

Here is what I read in August:

10 books.
= 8 books with 3,007 pages, that is: 100 pages/day.
+ 2 audiobooks = 16:29 hours, that is an average of 33 mn/day

3 historical novels:

Lies Told in Silence, by MK Tod
Bitter Greens, by Kate Forsyth – review scheduled for 10/3
A Paris Apartment, by Michelle Gable – review scheduled for 10/6

3 in nonfiction:

The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus, by Jen Bryant – children book
Hymns of Divine Love, by St Symeon the New Theologian
Everyday Saints, by Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov

2 in literary fiction:

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin – audio
Sodome et Gomorrhe, by Marcel Proust – ebook.
Yes, I’m now in book 5 of A la recherche du temps perdu!! = In Search of Lost Time. Slowly but surely.
Actually book 5 is much better than 3 and 4, according to me

2 mysteries:

Still Life, by Louise Penny – audio
Crossing The Line, by Frédérique Molay – ebook – review scheduled for 10/5

My favorites this month:

This is terribly hard to choose:
I enjoyed a lot ALL of the books I read this past month, except Sodome et Gomorrhe…

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Reading Challenges recap

Audiobook: 11/12
Boo ks on France: 45/24 – DONE
Eboo k challenge: 17/25
Histori cal fiction: 26/25 – DONE
Japanese literature: 2/6
New au thors challenge: 57/50 – DONE
My Kind of Mysteries: 17/20
TBR challenge: 2/12
What’s in a Name: 3/5
Where Are You Reading?: 16/50 – to be finished in 2014

Total of books read in 2014 = 76/105

Number of books added to my TBR in September = 40

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Blog recap

4 of the 10 books read this month were received for review.
83 reviews for my Books on France Challenge, don’t forget to link yours.
I organized 5 giveaways this month. There’s always one going on at France Book Tours.. Be sure to check the October Giveaway! 3 books offered!
I celebrated my 4th blogiversary, with 3 special posts and a giveaway. Thanks again to all my followers.
I participated in the #30Authors event.

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Most popular book review in September

click on the cover to access my review

Blog milestones

953 posts
over 1,870 subscribers
over 69,300 hits

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Blog plans for October

Lots of reviews scheduled, and lots of books to read!

I’m finally going to join some affiliates programs… Any special recommendations on tips to know??

I would like to get more active as for memes such as Teaser Tuesdays of First Chapter First Paragraph, and redo some videos, but I’m in the process of translating into French a 3rd novel this year, so with this and my insane number of French online students, there are not too many hours left in the day, lol

And I’m preparing to change the look of France Book Tours. I will switch to a white background, but definitely would love to keep 2 columns on the right… If you know of a good wordpress.COM theme with these features, please let me know, merci!
After that, I will ask your opinion, if you would like that change also on Words And Peace

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