Saturday, July 27, 2019

French Salons, Clafoutis aux Pêche, and Twenty-One Books Read and Reviewed


Since I finished nothing last week, it is to be expected that I finished a lot this week. But when I say I finished a lot of books, I mean a lot of books. Twenty-one books read and reviewed.

Paris in July Books




Children's Books


Miscellaneous Books



The links below take you to my reviews posted on Goodreads.


The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan (cookbook)


Maigret by Georges Simenon (mystery)
No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre (play)
Barefoot Books Solar System (children's book)
Here and There (children's book)
My Hair (children's book)
I'm Worried (children's book)
The Okay Witch (graphic novel)








I'm down to four books: Citizen by Claudia Rankine; France in the World: A New Global History edited by Patrick Boucheron; Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya; and The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne. I am also listening to a collection of Anton Chekhov's short stories, read by Stephen Fry.





Paris in July is almost over, sadly, but what a wonderful time we have had. This week I was delighted to read a post from Lisbeth at The Content Reader about French salons. She shares a definition of salon from Wikipedia as "a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: aut delectare aut prodesse)." I'm fascinated with the idea of a salon as a place to either please or educate. That's a goal I would aim for with our Sunday Salon. And I certainly wasn't aware of all the various types of salons. Take a look at Lisbeth's post here.


One of my favorite children's book bloggers has to be Travis at 100 Scope Notes. I was intrigued with his repost of an old favorite, Enthusiasm at the Edges: Thinking Aloud About Book Reviews. Travis ponders whether, because the Zones of Enthusiasm are so alluring, we tend to push our reviews there, to the edges of I-love-this, I hate-this. Do I do that? I wonder.




I was happy to receive two books from Bryan from his Big Five-O Book Giveaway, celebrating his 50th birthday on his blog, Still An Unfinished PersonClaudia Rankine visited Houston last January, so I will be glad to read her book Citizen now that I have heard her speak. I’ve seen many raves about The Heart’s Invisible Furies. Thank you, Bryan!





We loved spending time with family, our two wonderful sons, their beautiful wives, and our two fabulous grandchildren last week. We hope to see our son and daughter-in-law in Chicago again soon.



I made my first clafoutis last week. I shared it on my blog post, Clafoutis aux Pêche (Peach Clafoutis) from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan.





How was your week?

Did you read any good books? Please share them with us.

What other bookish things did you do? What else is going on in your life?

I'd love to have you to link up here and/or at the Sunday Salon page on Facebook each weekend (Saturday-Sunday-Monday) and let us know what you have been doing. I hope you will visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. If you have other blogging friends, I wish you would invite them to link up here and join us.

Other places where you may like to link up are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.


My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 



50 comments:

  1. Wow, that is an impressive number of books. Not to to talk about other things done. How did you manage! Thank you for highlighting my post on French salons.

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  2. Wow, that's a lot of reading! Your family is beautiful!

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  3. Amazing! So many books in just one week. And love your family photo. What a charming group. Thanks for sharing. For my last Paris In July 2019 entry, I’m posting some French paintings I saw at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Hope you enjoy.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I will head over and see what you have posted.

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  4. That's neat about salons. I'll have to go read that, but I like that definition too. And it seems to fit a Paris in July theme.

    Catfulness looks like a book I'd like :)

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    1. I always have loved the idea of Sunday Salon. It was fascinating to read about great salons of the past.

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  5. 21 books that is a lot to get through and review in a week I am very impressed. A regatta is a race as such, they have quite afew along the Thames durning the summer and Henley is the most famous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley_Royal_Regatta

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for explaining "regatta" to this non-Brit. I bet it's something magnificent to watch.

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  6. I made cherry Clafoutis the other day. Cherries are in season and cheap for a change. But, oh, the pitting! It took forever. I topped it with sliced almonds, and it was good. Do you use milk in yours? I had some heavy cream on hand and used it. Don't know if it made a bit difference though becuse I've never made it before. I used the recipe in the Kroger magazine.
    Yourpictures are great (as usual).
    Have you started Loves The Hearts Furies yet? I have a copy and might read it with youif I can put my hands on it.
    Have a good week ahead.

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    1. Cherry Clafoutis is apparently the more common clafoutis. I saw one recipe where the pits did not have to be removed! Ouch. That could be painful. I hope you took pictures!

      I just finished Heart's. Such a good read.

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  7. What a lot of books, I'll have to check some of them out. Family time is the best!

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    1. Yes, a lot! Retirement has certainly helped my book totals.

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  8. I am surprised that Arsène Lupin finished in children's classics list... I like it to the point but was not impressed.
    So many books and reviews! Well done!

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    1. Emma at Words and Peace also felt like Arsene Lupin should not be considered on the children's classic list, but it's one of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up.

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  9. I am in awe of the number of books you read and reviewed! That is amazing. Hooray for family time... I always love visits with family. The clafoutis looked fantastic! And so did the peach pie. I don't have much of a sweet tooth but those have me craving something now. :)

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  10. It's always fun when loved ones are in town. Memories are exchanged and life feels a whole lot fuller.

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    1. I wish they lived closer, but it certainly makes it magical when they come to town.

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  11. Wow 21 books is no mean task. Here I am so happy that I read 2 books a week. Ok I know it is not a competition but still WOW! kudos to you. I hope you have a great week ahead.

    Gayathri @ Elgee Writes

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  12. You had a great reading week! Paris in July sounds so lovely. Your family is beautiful. Have a great week!

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  13. Wow 21 books is great. I've been wanting to read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath since forever. The family time sounds great and the clafoutis and peach pie you made look delicious.
    Enjoy your week!

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  14. Im jealous. I barely managed three books, and three reviews last week.
    What a happy family photo!

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  15. Spending time with family is always fun. Glad you got some time together.

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  16. Confession: I didn't read either of the books I sent you. I wanted to read Citizen, but just didn't get to it. The Heart's Invisible Furies: I have/had no desire to read, but when I saw two of them come in as a donation for our library book sale/bookstore, I knew I had to pick up in case someone wanted, because of the buzz surrounding the book when it came out. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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    1. What?! I'm completely surprised. You really can't miss Heart's Invisible Furies. It's wonderful.

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  17. That's a beautiful picture of your family; it's lovely spending time together like that.

    You weren't kidding with how many books you've read! Lol! Here's my Sunday Post
    Flora x

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    1. Thank you! We were so happy we got to spend time with all of them together.

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  18. I love Ann Hood's books, so Morningstar is now on my list.

    How great to have family time! Enjoy!

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  19. 21 books is amazing for a week!
    I'm glad you had a nice time with your family, it's a nice picture.

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  20. Wow! Lots of great books you have here! Glad you got to spend some time with your families!

    Here’s my Sunday Post!

    Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog and join in this week’s Book Photo Sundays

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  21. That is a lot of books!

    I've got Citizen high on my stack, but haven't started it yet. I'm looking forward to see what you think. I looked with envy at the peach clafoutis earlier...

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  22. Oh my, A Place to Stay looks good. This one is new to me so I'm adding it to my list. I'm also looking forward to reading I'm Worried and I'm adding My Hair to my TBR list. Thanks for all the shares, Deb!

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  23. What an amazing number of books finished and reviewed. Sounds like you had wonderful family time too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  24. Morningstar is a favorite of mine, as is The Heart's Invisible Furies. I just finished Night of Miracles (Elizabeth Berg), which was wonderful.

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  25. Awesome book like up -- and yay to spending time with your family.

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  26. You seem to have much in common with Ann Hood. I would like to read her and see which books she writes about. Your summer seems to be full and lovely. Enjoy.

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  27. Aww that of you and your family is precious! Your grandchildren look adorable!! And I'm happy you're having a productive week in reading. I did have a crappy week last week too that this week for me was such an upgrade. *high-five*!!

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  28. 21 books - that's amazing.
    It's so nice that you got to spend some time with family too.

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  29. I love the family photo. I wish I could read as fast as you! My whole TBR shelf would be empty in about 2 weeks.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  30. Don't mind me, I'm just taking note of those children's books you mentioned. Cute family portrait!

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