Monday, October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween


May the candy be plentiful ;-)


I am READING this for the occasion...

Stalking Jack the Ripper
by Kerri Maniscalco
-Historical, Mystery, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.



WATCHING a couple episodes from this...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
-Action, Drama, Fantasy | imdb


And EATING these...



HOW are you spending Halloween?


~*~

* image source: book art by Su Blackwell

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Talk Like Jane Austen Day - 2016


H A P P Y
Talk Like Jane Austen Day !

The official site (here) continues to post quotes from Jane Austen works.

AND a tip sheet for How to talk like Jane Austen can be found (here).

~*~

Dear Reader,

Today I present a couple quotes from Persuasion by Jane Austen.



SHE said...

Facts or opinions which are to pass through the hands of so many, to be misconceived by folly in one, and ignorance in another, can hardly have much truth left.
-Anne



HE said...

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope...
I have loved none but you.
-Captain Wentworth




STAY TUNED...

Jane Austen-ish
a virtual book event
November 6-11, 2016

=====> JOIN me for a week of Jane Austen-ish kinda things (giveaways included).

~*~

* image source: Anne from Persuasion by Florence Minowa (here), Anne and Capt. Wentworth by Castle on the Hill (here)

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Stacking the Shelves - 10.29.16

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

~*~

Bought:

=====> Book Passage, Corte Madera, hosted an event with, Maria Semple to celebrate the release of her latest novel, Today Will Be Different. She did a Q&A with author, Kelly Corrigan and imparted lots of interesting info about the writing craft.

Today Will Be Different
by Maria Semple
-Chick-lit
Amazon | Goodreads

=====> HAD to get this as I loved her novel, Where'd You Go, Bernadette.


Other things book-related:

Coming soon...

Jane Austen-ish
a virtual book event
November 6-11, 2016

=====> JOIN me for a week of Jane Austen-ish kinda things (giveaways included).


AND watched: in theatre

National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (2011)
film of theatre production
Director: Danny Boyle
Play: Nick Dear
Based on the novel by: Mary Shelley
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Benedict Cumberbatch
-Drama | imdb | my rating: 5

Created by Victor Frankenstein, the one known only as the creature sets out to discover the world and the meaning of life.

=====> Oh, humanity. Amazing performance from the cast and cheers to Cumberbatch as the creature. His part for physically intense moments.


Currently flipping through: from the library

The Singing Bones:
Inspired by Grimms' Fairy Tales
by Shaun Tan
-Fairy Tales, Fantasy
Amazon | Goodreads

=====> Some creepy-ish fairy tale sculpture images for the season.


~*~

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

* check out the sidebar and click on GIVEAWAYS for current offers

Friday, October 28, 2016

Paris: end credits

Paris
a virtual book event (schedule)
October 23-28, 2016

AU REVOIR!

Thank you dear readers for joining me for this virtual book event.

Please note all giveaways end October 31, 2016.


Spending the last evening of this event with this one..

The Only Street in Paris:
Life on the Rue des Martyrs by Elaine Sciolino
Amazon | Goodreads

A delightful and beguiling look at life on a small Paris street.

Elaine Sciolino, the former Paris bureau chief of the New York Times, invites us on a tour of her favorite Parisian street. "I can never be sad on the rue des Martyrs," Sciolino explains, as she celebrates the neighborhood's rich history and vibrant lives. While many cities suffer from the leveling effects of globalization, the rue des Martyrs maintains its distinct allure.

Sciolino reveals the charms and idiosyncrasies of this street and its longtime residents―the Tunisian greengrocer, the husband-and-wife cheesemongers, the showman who's been running a transvestite cabaret for more than half a century, the owner of a 100-year-old bookstore, the woman who repairs eighteenth-century mercury barometers―making Paris come alive in all its unique majesty.

The Only Street in Paris will make readers hungry for Paris, for cheese and wine, and for the kind of street life that is all too quickly disappearing. 25 photographs.



~*~

* image source: event badge cover of Inspired by Paris: Why Borrowing from the French Is Better Than Being French by Jordan Philips

* Ribbet was used for some graphics creations for this event.

Inspired by Paris by Jordan Phillips

Inspired by Paris:
Why Borrowing from the French Is Better Than Being French
by Jordan Phillips

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter @jphillipsNY

Just released: June 2016
Publisher: Lure of Luxe LLC
Genre: France, Travel
Paperback: 256 pages
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
I love French men and French culture and French wine and French architecture and French food, along with a lot of other French things. Show me a wedge of oozy cheese or a slightly dilapidated Mansrd roof, and I still swoon, no matter how many I see.

Part travel narrative and part lifestyle guide, Inspired by Paris: Why Borrowing from the French Is Better Than Being French is a must-read for anyone who’s ever dreamed about traveling to or living in France.

Author Jordan Phillips is a bona fide Francophile. Just show her a wedge of oozy French cheese or a slightly dilapidated Mansard roof, and she’ll swoon every time. Before moving to New York, Phillips lived in Paris, and she still travels to her apartment there frequently. But through these experiences, she learned that—as in so many things in life—fantasy is often better than reality.

Filled with historical tidbits, motivational nuggets, and honest insight, chapters such as “La Vie Est Belle,” “The Paris Syndrome,” and “Jacques-in-the-Box” reveal the truth of what it’s really like to live in the most beautiful city in the world.

Whether you’re headed to Paris next week or never make it there at all, this chatty and information-packed book will introduce you to the real City of Light—beyond the fantasy of the Instagram version.


Peekabook:


=====> Loved the girly french illustrations scattered throughout this book.

My two-bits:

Filled with nitty gritty things to know about Paris and its people, this is one of those books for keeps (for future reference).

I liked learning about how to get around in the city and how to just enjoy the moments there.

This book contains some history, shared recipes and lists of fashion, food, films and fun facts to be in a Paris mind-set and mode.

~*~

* review copy courtesy of book tour sponsored by Kate Tilton's Book Bloggers

* included in October Paris virtual book event (schedule)

Zombies in Paris




Throwing in some zombies for this event. I came across this set of zombie walk posters that took place in Paris 2011 to 2015.


AND, found a sort of travel sight-seeing book...

An Alphabet of Paris Zombies:
When the zombie apocalypse starts in Paris, this is who you'll be running from
by Amy Plum
-Photos, Zombies
just released: September 16, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads

From the international bestselling author Amy Plum comes this illustrated series of rhyming couplets memorializing the mysterious deaths of twenty-six residents of the City of Light. For every letter there's another gruesome end linked to a famous spot, leading the reader on a deliciously ghoulish tour through Paris. The photos were taken by the author as she scurried around the city preparing the ghastly alphabet for her contribution as a Featured Author of the 2014 Twitter Fiction Festival.

=====> Looks like a fun one to flip through for a dose of sights with a twisted and dark tinge.

FYI: Amy has also written the Revenants series that include undead in Paris.



Die For Me by Amy Plum
Amazon | Goodreads

Until I Die by Amy Plum
Amazon | Goodreads

If I Should Die by Amy Plum
Amazon | Goodreads


~*~

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)

Thursday, October 27, 2016

My Paris Dream by Kate Betts

My Paris Dream:
An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine
by Kate Betts
narrated by the author

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter @katebetts

Release date: 2015
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Genre: France, Memoir
Hardback: 256 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
In the summer of 1982 I discovered Paris for the first time. I was on a high school graduation adventure with my boarding school roommate, Maria, and her sister Johanna.

A charming and insightful memoir about coming of age as a fashion journalist in 1980s Paris, by former Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar editor Kate Betts, the author of Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style

“You can always come back,” my mother said. “Just go.”

As a young woman, Kate Betts nursed a dream of striking out on her own in a faraway place and becoming a glamorous foreign correspondent. After college—and not without trepidation—she took off for Paris, renting a room in the apartment of a young BCBG (bon chic, bon genre) family and throwing herself into the local culture. She was determined to master French slang, style, and savoir faire, and to find a job that would give her a reason to stay.

After a series of dues-paying jobs that seemed only to reinforce her outsider status, Kate’s hard work and willingness to take on any assignment paid off: Her writing and intrepid forays into la France Profonde—true France—caught the eye of John Fairchild, the mercurial fashion arbiter and publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, the industry’s bible. Kate’s earliest assignments—investigating the mineral water preferred by high society, chasing after a costumed band of wild boar hunters through the forests of Brittany—were a rough apprenticeship, but she was rewarded for her efforts and was initiated into the elite ranks of Mr. Fairchild’s trusted few who sat beside him in the front row and at private previews in the ateliers of the gods of French fashion. From a woozy yet mesmerizing Yves Saint Laurent and the mischievous and commanding Karl Lagerfeld to the riotous, brilliant young guns who were rewriting all the rules—Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, John Galliano—Betts gives us a view of what it was like to be an American girl, learning about herself, falling in love, and finding her tribe.

Kate Betts’s captivating memoir brings to life the enchantment of France—from the nightclubs of 1980s Paris where she learned to dance Le Rock, to the lavender fields of Provence and the grand spectacle of the Cour Carrée—and magically re-creates that moment in life when a young woman discovers who she’s meant to be.


My two-bits:

This memoir describes a young american's experience of living and learning Paris. Loved the behind-the-scenes feel of this story with its viewpoint on the magazine and fashion scenes - makes one more alert to what to observe in the fashion world.

Got a sense of the people and the culture which adds another dimension to the city.

~*~

* part of Audiobook Challenge

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)


Paris Inspired Treats

miette
Ferry Building Marketplace
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.837.0300
Monday-Friday 9-7 | Saturday 8-7 | Sunday 10-6
mail order option for some items available - website

=====> There are a few local eateries inspired by Paris by food and/or decor. I visited a couple this week to get into the Parisien mode. If you have a favorite in your town, tell me about it in comments.

I enjoyed a chocolate (coffee buttercream frosted) cupcake and halloween goodie (sour bats) at miette in Larkspur.


Miette: A Video from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop from 4SP Creative on Vimeo.




b. patisserie
2821 California St. @ Divisadero St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
contact@bpatisserie.com | 415.440.1700
website | instagram
Tuesday-Sunday 8-6
Monday closed

=====> Croissant dipping into a yummy mocha. b.patisserie has a granola blend that is magnifique!


~*~

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Paris Sketchbook by Fabrice Moireau, Mary Kelly

Paris Sketchbook
illustrated by Fabrice Moireau
text by Mary Kelly

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads

Published: 2001
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Art, Illustrations, France
Hardback: 96 pages
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
Everyone develops his or her own personal relationship with Paris. It begins with a visit, a book or a film but then it seems to take on a life of its own.

Paris is seen through the eyes of artist Fabrice Moireau, with sketches in watercolor and pencil perfectly matched by an introduction by Mary A. Kelly. These residents of the world's most romantic capital city are the perfect guides to its streets, monuments, gardens and delightfully hidden corners.

PeekAbook:


=====> Shakespeare and Company is a MUST go-to spot for book lover ;-)

My two-bits:

I loved looking through this book of watercolored sketches. This collection of illustrations brings about a cozy feeling with its use of warm subtle colors of old architecture and street scenes.

Some of the sights get into the nooks and crannies of the historic centre, Northern Paris, Eastern Paris, Southern Paris and Western Paris. Each scene includes a brief description of the location and some with trivia bits.

This is a good travel book as well when planning a trip to Paris. I found that there are still so many places and things to see in Paris. Southern Paris with its Hong Kong-style eateries is an area that caught my attention in the book. I plan to visit one of its noodle shops on Tolbiac and Porte de Choisy in the 13th arrondissement.

If you like coffee table art books, this is one to get that should be left open to random pages to enjoy when you walk past.

~*~

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)

Waiting on Wednesday - 10.26.16

Waiting on Wednesday
sponsored by Jill at Breaking the Spine (details)

~*~

I'm waiting for...

Paris for One
by Jojo Moyes
-Short stories, Contemporary
Release date: October 18, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads

Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris. She's never even been on a romantic weekend away—to anywhere—before. Traveling abroad isn't really her thing. But when Nell's boyfriend fails to show up for their mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone—including herself—wrong. Alone in Paris, Nell finds a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid. Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life? Funny, charming, and irresistible, Paris for One is vintage Moyes—as are the other stories that round out the collection.

=====> Looks like a good one for snippets of things french.

~*~

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Paris Style


For Parisien fashion and style I am getting some inspiration flipping through this...

Love x Style x Life
by Garance Doré
Amazon | Goodreads

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The guardian of all style” (The New York Times Magazine) shares stories on life, love, style, and career, from Paris to New York, and inspires readers to cultivate an effortless chic that is all their own.

Garance Doré, the voice and vision behind her eponymous blog, has captivated millions of readers worldwide with her fresh and appealing approach to style through storytelling. This gorgeously illustrated book takes readers on a unique narrative journey that blends Garance’s inimitable photography and illustrations with the candid, hard-won wisdom drawn from her life and her travels. Infused with her Left Bank sensibility, the eclecticism of her adopted city of New York, and the wild, passionate spirit of her native Corsica, Love Style Life is a backstage pass behind fashion’s frontlines, peppered with French-girl-next-door wit and advice on everything from mixing J.Crew with Chanel, to falling in love, to pursuing a life and career that is the perfect reflection of you.




Here is a new book for some imagery to color in. Love the whimsical element to it.

Paris Street Style
by Zoe de las Cases
Amazon | Goodreads

Adult coloring gets a makeover with these charming, fashion-forward illustrations from the world's most romantic city.

Wherever you’re off to, take Paris Street Style with you. Transport yourself to the corner pâtisserie, and give life to the stylish essentials laid out from your suitcase. Beautifully detailed outfits, accessories, and hairstyles complement the equally ornate cityscapes. Embellish whimsical, full-page patterns and classic dresses with your own style. Window shop the elegant stores of Paris while you give life to playful fashion.

Like a high-end journal, this sleek package has an elastic closure and a satin ribbon marker so you can dip in and dip out of your own French fashion week. With nothing more than some colored pencils, you'll be on your way to a stress-free, Parisian-chic day.



AND this one comes out November 8, 2016 and looks like a good one for the current trends. Definitely want to check this out for the eye candy ;-)

The New French Couture:
Icons of Paris Fashion
by Elyssa Dimant
Amazon | Goodreads

With more than 175 color high-fashion photographs, this stunning, comprehensive, and authoritative handbook on modern French couture, covering the finest Parisian houses of couture—including Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin, and more—and the creative directors who are redefining their legacies for the twenty-first century.

While trends emerge from New York, London, and Tokyo, the fashion capital of the world remains the City of Light. From Coco Chanel to Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Dior to Raf Simons, Hubert de Givenchy to Riccardo Tisci, the evolutionary arc of French fashion and its most revered houses grows richer with each season and with a continuous infusion of imaginative new talent.

The New French Couture identifies the fashion leaders whose longstanding ateliers have endured, and the creative pioneers who continue to reinvent and reinterpret their signature iconography, including Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, Raf Simons at Christian Dior, Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy, Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, Alexander Wang at Balenciaga, and Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent. Though haute couture remains the exclusive domain of a few houses, the Parisian fashion panorama is rife with gifted luxury establishments who specialize in hand-craftsmanship, exquisite design, precious materials, impeccable production, and a celebrity clientele.

The New French Couture provides a dazzling tour through the advertising, editorial, runway, and behind-the-scenes lives of these exclusive ateliers, revealing the evolution of each brand, their definitive looks, and fashion “moments.” Here, too, are profiles of those who have made Paris their home, reimagining contemporary French luxury more independently of the fashion conglomerates, such as Hussein Chalayan, Jean Paul Gaultier, Azzedine Alaïa, and Phoebe Philo for Céline.

Breathtaking in scope and vision, beautiful, sophisticated, and informative, The New French Couture provides a comprehensive glimpse at the breadth of the Paris’s impressive and abiding fashion authority.



~*~

* header image source: Black Hat

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)

Monday, October 24, 2016

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George
narrated by Steve West, Emma Bering and Cassandra Campbell

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Publisher
BookExcerpt
Website
Facebook
Twitter @nina_george

Published: 2015
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Genre: Contemporary, France
Paperback: 368 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence:
How on earth could I have let them talk me into it?
The two general of number 27 Rue Montagnard—Madame Bernard, the owner, and Madame Rosalette, the concierge—had caught Monsieur in a pincer movement between their ground-floor flats.

The international bestseller, translated from the German by Simon Pare. On a beautifully restored barge on the Seine, Jean Perdu runs a bookshop; or rather a 'literary apothecary', for this bookseller possesses a rare gift for sensing which books will soothe the troubled souls of his customers.

The only person he is unable to cure, it seems, is himself. He has nursed a broken heart ever since the night, twenty-one years ago, when the love of his life fled Paris, leaving behind a handwritten letter that he has never dared read. His memories and his love have been gathering dust - until now. The arrival of an enigmatic new neighbour in his eccentric apartment building on Rue Montagnard inspires Jean to unlock his heart, unmoor the floating bookshop and set off for Provence, in search of the past and his beloved.


My two-bits:

A story of love and loss and love in Paris.

There is a road trip feel to this story (via boat) with each port of call that introduces characters and their individual stories of love and relationships.

Loved the concept of prescribing books for emotional ailments.

Also, loved the idea of a floating bookshop. Actually, there is a book barge in the U.K. that is currently floating around and selling books (here). It would be fun to visit someday...

About the author:
Nina George works as a journalist, writer, and storytelling teacher. She is the award winning author of 26 books, and also writes feature articles, short stories, and columns.

The Little Paris Bookshop spent over a year on bestseller lists in Germany, and was a bestseller in Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands. George is married to the writer Jens J. Kramer and lives in Hamburg and in Brittany, France.

--~ Book Giveaway ~--

WIN my review copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: October 31, 2016

TO DO:

TELL me the name and location of your favorite local book shop.

AND, leave your email.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - (winner is here)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* review copy courtesy of Blogging for Books

* part of Audiobook Challenge

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Paris: schedule

Paris
a virtual book event
October 23-28, 2016

BON JOUR!

Paris, is one of those cities that oozes romance and adventure. It is a magical place that I want to visit every year if not physically then through books. Join me this week for a Paris themed virtual book event to celebrate this City of Light aka City of Love.

Schedule:
details and links will be filled in after posted
per usual links are also on the sidebar


Teaser
Paris Style
Waiting on Wednesday: Paris for One by Jojo Moyes
Paris Inspired Treats
Zombies in Paris
End Credits
Announcement of Winners

Complete list of books featured and mentioned:
there may be more... final list will be updated at the end of the event. Giveaway links will light up when available

An Alphabet of Paris Zombies:
When the zombie apocalypse starts in Paris, this is who you'll be running from
by Amy Plum
-Photos, Travel, Zombies
just released: September 16, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads

Inspired by Paris:
Why Borrowing from the French Is Better Than Being French
by Jordan Phillips
-France, Travel
Amazon | Goodreads | my review

The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George
-Paris, Books, Romance
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | giveaway

Love x Style x Life
by Garance Doré
Amazon | Goodreads

My Paris Dream:
An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine
by Kate Betts
narrated by the author
-France, Memoir
Amazon | Goodreads | my review

The New French Couture:
Icons of Paris Fashion
by Elyssa Dimant
Amazon | Goodreads

The Only Street in Paris:
Life on the Rue des Martyrs
by Elaine Sciolino
-France, Travel
Amazon | Goodreads | my review -coming

Paris Sketchbook
by Fabrice Moireau, Mary Kelly
-France, Art, Travel
Amazon | Goodreads | my review

Paris Street Style
by Zoe de las Cases
-coloring book
Amazon | Goodreads



Die For Me by Amy Plum
Amazon | Goodreads

Until I Die by Amy Plum
Amazon | Goodreads

If I Should Die by Amy Plum
Amazon | Goodreads


V O I L A !

To start the event here is something to add to the France section of your bookshelves...

--~ Book Giveaway ~--

On Rue Tatin:
The Simple Pleasures of Life in a Small French Town
by Susan Loomis
-France, Cooking, Travel
Amazon | Goodreads | my review

Beguiling, aromatic memoirs of a cookery writer, settling in a small Normandy town, very similar in flavour to Under the Tuscan Sun.

The second house that Susan Hermann Loomis looked at in the small town of Louviers was perfect. Dilapidated, rambling, crumbling walls which were covered with faded paper, it had been a convent. So Susan, her husband, luckily a sculptor and builder, and small son, moved in – to spend a year and more, rebuilding, finding new hidden treasures of their house, and discovering their neighbours, and the life of a small French town.

Some of the great pleasures of the book come from sharing in Susan Loomis’ daily journeys: to the market, to the butcher and the baker, talking to the shop keepers and the teachers at the school, and meeting the clergy who tramp through their garden. As her son joins the local school, as Susan’s cookery work gets underway, so the reader is part of all the human – and gastronomic – experiences that shape this very French town.


WIN my review copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: October 31, 2016

TO DO: (2-parts)

LEAVE a comment about something you like related to Paris or France.

AND, leave your email.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - (winner is here)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* image source: event badge cover of Inspired by Paris: Why Borrowing from the French Is Better Than Being French by Jordan Phillips

* What is a virtual book event? a celebration of books and authors that are in keeping with a theme which may include guest posts and giveaways. Audience participation is encouraged and most welcome.

 
Imagination Designs
Images from: Lovelytocu