Backlist Fiction/Nonfiction Mini-Reviews: The Parisian Edition

My dream one day is to go to Paris, so of course I love to read books set in or about this beautiful city!  Although I wasn't crazy about these books, my love for Paris is still going strong.

The Paris Wedding by Charlotte Nash (2017)

Rachael is invited to the Paris wedding of her ex-boyfriend, Matthew, and while there, she realizes she needs to make some changes in her life.

Although Rachael is sweet, she was frustrating as a character - she's one of those characters that is just *too perfect*.  More than one man is in love with her; she makes her own clothes that everyone mistakes for expensive couture; and she is offered jobs by people who don't even know her when she doesn't even have any experience.  Plus, she spent 10 years taking care of her mother until she passed away.  At 28, she is worried that she is too old to start over - please!  I appreciated, though, that Rachael grew somewhat as a character through the story.

Anyway, the premise of a wedding in Paris is so romantic, and I loved the descriptions of the city.  But I felt like the story didn't know what it wanted to be.  It was sort of a romance, sort of about friendship and family, but it was also trying to incorporate this small-town feel. 3 stars

How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are by Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, and Sophie Mas (2014)

I have this idea in my head that Parisian women are elegant, chic, cultured, and sophisticated, so of course a book that proclaimed to teach me how to be more like that was very appealing.  Unfortunately, this one was a huge miss for me.

There were some sections I enjoyed - ironically, if you know me, the parts about clothing and taking care of oneself resonated the most.  Parisian women are simple with their clothes, preferring one stand-out piece, and nothing too revealing.  They choose a signature perfume and don't rely greatly on plastic surgery.  Natural beauty is most important.

However, that's really where my enjoyment ended.  I wasn't crazy about the writing in this book.  Sometimes it seemed there were more pictures than words.  The chapters were very short, sometimes only a couple paragraphs, and the writing was trying to be... I don't know, elevated or high-class but came across as pretentious.  My biggest problem is that I didn't really feel like the authors were describing specifically Parisian women in the book.  The descriptions sounded like they could be any woman, anywhere.  Having a bad day at work, not feeling like going to the gym - that's me, and I'm not from Paris.  Perhaps I just didn't "get" this almost totally forgettable book.  2 stars

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Flatshare

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

The Flatshare
Beth O'Leary
Expected publication date: May 28, 2019

Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.

After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly colored mold on the walls counts as art.

Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.

Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes – first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more.

But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea…especially if you've never met.

What if your roommate is your soul mate? A joyful, quirky romantic comedy, Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare is a feel-good novel about finding love in the most unexpected of ways. - from Goodreads

I think this one just sounds adorable!

Top Ten Tuesday: Cover Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is things that make me pick up a book.  I've done a similar list of things that will instantly make me want to read a book, so I thought I would take this week's topic in a more literal direction and list some aspects of book covers that draw me in.  Generally the cover is our first impression of a book, and there seem to be a few commonalities that will make me want to know more about a book as soon as I see it.

Simplicity: Sometimes a simple cover in a bold color is all that's needed.

   

Pops of color: A black and white cover punctuated with a pop of color is so striking!

The Eiffel Tower: I am obsessed with Paris, so if I see the Eiffel Tower on a cover, that immediately makes me want to know more about it.

 

Interesting typography: I love a good font, particularly if it evokes a certain time period.

A pretty dress, particularly if it's period dress: I love historical fiction, and seeing an old-fashioned dress on the cover is a surefire way to make me want to know more about a book.

What are some things you love to see on book covers?

Month in Review: March 2019

I took a little blogging break at the end of March, but now I'm back!  March was such a busy month!  Our Project Linus Chapter held its annual Make a Blanket Day, so we went to help out for a couple hours.  Our group was able to make or collect, label, and bag 120 blankets, ready to be delivered!  We, of course, saw Captain Marvel.  While it wasn't my favorite of the Marvel movies, it made me even more excited for Endgame - only a couple more weeks!  St. Patrick's Day is one holiday that Tom gets into every year, so he made his corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes (with some Guinness to drink) and we had some family over.  Our new furniture finally arrived!  It's so nice, and we are terrified of ruining it.  No more eating dinner on the couch!  I know nothing about men's college basketball, but that didn't stop me from submitting a March Madness bracket and joining the office group.  Unfortunately, the two teams I picked for the finals have already been eliminated, so I have basically no chance of winning.

I actually won four giveaways this month!  That must be some sort of record for me.  Thank you to Christina from Confessions of a Book Addict for an ARC of A Touch of Gold and Jennifer - Tar Heel Reader for a copy of Blood Orange, in conjunction with the publisher.  Thank you to Dani at The Restricted Section for a $20.00 Amazon gift card that I used to order The Girl He Used to Know at her recommendation.  The last was The Perfect Girlfriend from Goodreads, and I'm still waiting for that one.

The Books

Foe // The Paris Wedding (review to come) // How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are (review to come) // Game of Crowns

Here and Now and Then // When Katie Met Cassidy // The Balcony // Every Note Played

Mr. Rochester // Relish (review to come) // The Au Pair (review to come) // Between Sisters

Broken Things (audio) // The Knockoff (review to come) // Fitness Junkie (review to come) // The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

The Last Battle (reread) // I Capture the Castle (reread)

The Posts and Reviews

Royal Mini-Reviews
Out of This World Recommendations 
Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Mother-in-Law 
Review: The Dead Queens Club 
Down the TBR Hole #1 
Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Passengers 
Backlist Fiction/Nonfiction Mini-Reviews: A Storm is Coming 
How Do You Manage Your Blogging Time? 
Top Ten Tuesday: My Spring TBR 
Can't-Wait Wednesday: Stepsister 
Blog Break + Review: Foe 

The Posts I Loved

Amy at A Magical World of Words lists her favorite fictional female characters in honor of International Women's Day

Susie at Novel Visits gives us her spring book preview 

Erica at Erica Robyn Reads details her potential dealbreakers in books 

Dani at The Restricted Section curates a list of 30 books to change your life 

Aj at Read All The Things! talks about what authors get wrong about high school

How was your March?  Did you do anything fun?

Blog Break + Review: Foe

Just a quick scheduling note that I'll be taking a brief break from the blog next week!  I'm hoping to get some fun stuff ready for the coming weeks, so I'll talk to you all in April!

Foe
Iain Reid
Published September 4, 2018

A taut, philosophical mind-bender from the bestselling author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

We don’t get visitors. Not out here. We never have.

In Iain Reid’s second haunting, philosophical puzzle of a novel, set in the near-future, Junior and Henrietta live a comfortable, solitary life on their farm, far from the city lights, but in close quarters with each other. One day, a stranger from the city arrives with alarming news: Junior has been randomly selected to travel far away from the farm...very far away. The most unusual part? Arrangements have already been made so that when he leaves, Henrietta won't have a chance to miss him, because she won't be left alone—not even for a moment. Henrietta will have company. Familiar company.

Told in Reid’s sharp and evocative style, Foe examines the nature of domestic relationships, self-determination, and what it means to be (or not to be) a person. An eerily entrancing page-turner, it churns with unease and suspense from the first words to its shocking finale. - from Goodreads

The thing that ran through my mind the most while reading this book was, WTF WTF WTF?!? This sci-fi story is a thriller, but not in the typical action-packed sense.  It's a character-driven, atmospheric, and psychological thriller.

Junior and his wife Henrietta ("Hen") live on a farm in the middle of nowhere.  One day, Terrance, a representative of OuterMore, a quasi-government organization that is researching space exploration, visits their farm and announces that Junior has been entered into a lottery to be a part of the expedition to the space station.  Some time later, Terrance returns to inform Junior that he has been chosen.  The trip could last years, but Hen won't be alone back on Earth - OuterMore will provide her with a very familiar companion.

One of my first thoughts when reading was, well, this seems unfair - Junior didn't ask to be part of this expedition, and now there's a chance he could be taken away from his home?  What if he doesn't want to go?  The lottery process takes so long that it's actually a couple years before Terrance comes back to tell Junior he's been chosen, so now he's been stewing about it for all this time.  Then once he's been chosen, the process to prepare him and Hen for the mission starts, and things get even weirder.

In the midst of all this, we have three major characters.  Junior is the narrator; he's a pretty simple guy.  He loves his wife, loves his home, goes to work everyday.  Hen was not super-likable.  There were several times she attempted to tell Junior how unhappy she is in their life together, how she feels smothered by him, how she wants to see more of the world, but she would never come out and say she wanted to leave him.  And then there's Terrance.  It was hard to know what to make of him, to know if I could trust him.  He's so invested in helping Hen and Junior prepare for the mission, but his methods were strange.

Just when I was wondering how this would all work out, boom - MASSIVE twist I didn't see coming!  It totally changed the way I looked back at the story.  I really liked the ending of the book, too - even though it felt slightly heavy-handed, for me it was the only logical conclusion.  I loved the writing; it was very straightforward, but also had an eerie and ominous undertone to it.  If you're looking for a sci-fi story that's a little different, definitely give this one a try!

4.5 stars

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Stepsister

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

Stepsister
Jennifer Donnelly
Expected publication date: May 28, 2019

A startling, fiercely feminist re-imagining of Cinderella from the bestselling, award-winning author Jennifer Donnelly.

Isabelle should be blissfully happy – she’s about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince’s heart. She’s the ugly stepsister who’s cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s shoe ... which is now filling with blood.

When the prince discovers Isabelle’s deception, she is turned away in shame. It’s no more than she deserves: she is a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a feisty girl in a world that wants her to be pliant.

Isabelle has tried to fit in. To live up to her mother’s expectations. To be like her stepsister. To be sweet. To be pretty. One by one, she has cut away pieces of herself in order to survive a world that doesn’t appreciate a girl like her. And that has made her mean, jealous, and hollow.

Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

Evoking the darker, older versions of the Cinderella story, bestselling author Jennifer Donnelly shows us that ugly is in the eye of the beholder, and uses her trademark wit and wisdom to send an overlooked character on a journey toward empowerment, redemption, and a new definition of beauty. - from Goodreads

I love that this dark Cinderella retelling is from the stepsister's POV!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Spring TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is our spring TBR.  I had a hard time narrowing this down to ten books.  Everything has been looking good lately, and I never have enough time for it all!  This spring, I'm hoping to finally catch up on some books that I've been wanting to read for a while.

Have you read any of these?