Bon jour!!
Usually by this time in a year, I will have read about 20 books. But this year, I've spent much less time reading. Most of my reading this year took place during the cold, gray winter.
Reading is EVERYTHING during a cold, gray winter. In France. When you hardly know anyone.
Since the warm weather rolled around there's been a lot less reading going on and a lot more socializing, getting out and reveling in the warmth and fresh air. People here really grasp at these warm sunny days. In New York, we have cold and snow, but we still have sunshine a lot through it all. Not here. Winter sets in gray and stays that way. Cold rain and no light.
I'm not complaining...just reporting!
It makes up for it in the 10:30 pm summer daylight. Days are getting shorter now, mid-August...so now it's getting dark about 9:45-10.
Come winter, I will be reading again. (Oh, but I will be back in New York again, too!)
While planning the trip, just before arriving here I read
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner an excellent memoir, beautifully written, very thoughtful
I can't remember if I read this just before or just after arriving:
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson unusual novel, clever and absorbing
Also just before Gone Girl by ......oops, forgot......well, you'll find it on any current bestseller list
In France:
Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming, a sort of hippie-chick off to find herself
A History of France by William S. Davis......dense, informative, much needed
Biography of Jane Digby "a Scandalous Life" by Mary S. Lovell, wonderful read, amazing woman living out a life of wild, exotic adventure in the 19th century Europe and beyond
Rosa and the Prince by Kathryn Bround
read this after watching a movie called "Sissi" starring Romy Schneider...the book is about Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria and the scandal surrounding his life and death
The book is not very well written, but I was fascinated by the story
And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini the author of The Kite Runner (which I loved)
this one not so much. Kind of dragged along.....I don't think I even finished it....
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan forlorn story of the dancers depicted in Edgar Degas impressionist paintings of ballerinas. A novel based on some factual background. Fascinating
Anne of Brittany "Twice Queen of France" by Mildred Butler a brief biography of Anne. She was duchess of Brittany and then married to the Duke, to be Queen of Brittany....when widowed, she made a deal with the King of France, to marry. She was a much beloved figure in her history. She was born in Nantes, and is featured in many areas of Brittany today, even in commercial products.
Pretty Woman Spitting by Leanna Adams good look at Americans teaching English in China (seems to be a popular vocation lately)
And finally....The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin, which I am reading now. Enjoying it very much.
There were a few others which I struggled with and set aside, so they aren't mentioned.
I'm not even sure why I'm posting this list here, except on the outside chance you may be interested in what an American in Josselin reads. Although there is an English Book store here in Josselin, I have only bought a couple of items there and those related to site seeing in the region. All of the above I have on my Kindle. Like Magic. It boggles my mind. That books can be had and captured and contained through the air, appearing on a magic slate before me.
I do promise to post a review of our trip to Normandy soon. It's a powerful topic and requires some intensity. Amanda covered it nicely in her blog. With great pictures. Much of what I will write in the future will repeat. check out her blog's latest entry: www.Hudsonvalley-Love.com
"Hudon Valley Resident Moves to France" ha! that's me!
OOPS!! I left out 2 important ones!!!
Little Princes, by Conor Grennan a great memoir of his travels and volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal. Beautiful story.
Cotton Tenants by James Agee, this caught my attention as was written by James Agee who wrote "A Death in the Family" a great play that I came to love when I saw a college production of it back in Ohio. It is also called "All the Way Home" and was made into a movie starring Robert Preston. It had a theme song that was very haunting.
Agee wrote this narrative of 3 Cotton Farmers in the south, sharecropping and trying to survive and provide for their families during the Depression 30's. This got my attention as my grandparents lived that very life in Tennessee before going to Ohio. My mother and her siblings picked cotton for 50cents a bushel.
This is a cold hard look at that life. He uses the "N" word a lot, as was common in those days. There are brutal portraits, both in word and picture. I could add much to it, but I won't.
Can't believe I almost forgot to include these 2 books!! and so, "fini".
So, until we meet again, Au revoir!!! Bientôt!! Kah-tee (my name in French)
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