You’ve heard about the Eiffel Tower, right? Did you know it was a present from a husband to his sick wife?
What?? You didn’t know that? Well check out my video review of this adorable picture book!
For all the little Francophiles in your life!
You’ve heard about the Eiffel Tower, right? Did you know it was a present from a husband to his sick wife?
What?? You didn’t know that? Well check out my video review of this adorable picture book!
For all the little Francophiles in your life!
And here we are at letter Q. I know you’ve got to be thinking: What in the world are you gonna show us for Q? Well, if you look at the title, you’ll see Q is for Quasimodo!
Excuse the quality of the photo; I’m thrilled that I found this book at Goodwill for like $.49! Anyway, Here is why I”m chosing Quasimodo for today’s letter:
So if those last two facts don’t convince you that Quasimodo belongs in our multicultural a to z challenge, then nothing will. Â Granted, the Disney version is much sappier and cleaner and less horrifying but it still shows that Quasimodo had a kind heart.
Have you read The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
So last year year at BEA13 I became friends with Anne from Le French Book. She’s an expat living in France and we’ve enjoyed swapping books and stories over the past year. As a devout Francophile, I’m always interested in learning more about France and it’s beautiful environs. You can imagine how excited I was to learn that she publishes great French books in English!
In honor of our Book Expo friendship, I thought I’d feature one of her latest books: Treachery in Bordeaux.
Here’s a blurb about the book:
The start of a wine plus crime mystery series.
Immerse yourself in French countryside and gourmet attitude with two amateur sleuths gumshoeing around Bordeaux wine country.
In modern-day Bordeaux, there are few wine estates still within the city limits. The prestigious grand cru Moniales Haut-Brion is one of them. When some barrels turn, world-renowned winemaker turned gentleman detective Benjamin Cooker starts asking questions. Is it negligence or sabotage? Who would want to target this esteemed vintner? Cooker and his assistant Virgile Lanssien search the city and the vineyards for answers, giving readers and inside view of this famous wine region. Treachery in Bordeaux is the first of the 21-book Winemaker Detective series that delves into the underworld of a global luxury industry. The world of wine is no more respectable than the world of finance. There’s money, deceit, death, crime, inheritance, jealousy—all the ingredients needed to distill a fine detective series!
Sounds fun, right? I can envision a wine tasting book club enjoying this title. What do you think?
I’m beyond thrilled to present my new bestie Anne from Le French Book.com! I have goaded persuaded Anne to tell us a bit about herself and how she found herself living in France. And also? If berets are still en vogue.
Here’s what Anne had to say:
Just the other day, Pam asked readers of this blog if you love all things Paris and ever dreamed about living in France and eating baguettes and brie all day long. Well, let me tell you, if you are going to do that, get ready to enjoy the red wine too. And you had better hope you have the metabolism of a French woman, or to borrow a description from Lee Childâs The Affair, a metabolism like a nuclear reactor.
Do I sound like Iâve been there? I moved to France in 1985 with just those ideas of baguettes and brie in mind, and I never have been able to leave. A lot of people have these time-honored images of this country. I remember a picture from way way back in the day in what may have been a Time-Life book (or similar series) on France. It had a slightly hunched man, beret on his head, baguette under his arm, riding a bike down a tree-lined road in the middle of the countryside.
In the town where I now live in southwestern France, there is one of those roads, lined with tall plane trees all evenly spaced. But, those images need a little updating. Bikes are relegated to the bike lane, and every morning that road is back-to-back traffic (yes, with lots of Renaults and Peugeots). And berets are really passé here.
Over the years, I have learned that there is, in fact, much more to French culture to love.
- For example, the French respect a certain amount of tradition, but also are very innovative. They had the interactive, real-time interconnected Minitel before any of the Internet was widely available.
- They take a lot of vacation, but also rank among the most production nations (http://www.businessinsider.com/are-the-french-the-most-productive-people-in-the-world-2009-8).
- You can spend three hours eating a single meal here, and still be talking about food at the end.
- Ultimately, the French have a very unique sense of creativity that combines with pleasure seeking and a rather heightened concern for social justice.
And it is all of this that I wanted to share with people. So, I founded Le French Book (http://www.lefrenchbook.com). My idea was that people could get another view of France and experience it in another way through its entertaining, commercial fiction. We focus on translating the countryâs crime fiction and thrillers into English. We also recently put out a really fun collection of short stories as well. They are still available for free in either a weekly or daily newsletter (http://www.52serialshorts.com). Our motto is âIf we love it, weâll translate it.â
I would love to hear back from readers about whether a book or a story has changed the way you perceive another place.
How wonderful is that?? This will be very helpful when I move to France to work at Shakespeare & Company bookstore. I better brush up on my French.
How sad that the beret is passe?? Sad panda.
Baguettes are still en vogue though, so YAY!
And so…we’ve reached le fin, the end.
We’ve had some aventures (adventures); fought pirate (pirates); and found Queen Alice. We speak a lot of French.
Alice and Henry return to the present.
Strange and confusing things happen but most importantly…
a happy ending.
Wanna see what REALLY happened?
Follw here: Random Magic Tour Board!
Or you can click here
But jamais ( NEVER) Click here .
To follow along pictorially steer the ship over to Pinterest to see the goings on with Henry and Winnie.
Reminder: To follow along with this week’s Magic Pinning, look for the footer:
|| Chapters 41-46 || Part of Pins and Magic party – Live-pinning ‘Random Magic’ || Schedule/Join us (Jul. 15 through Sept. 15, 2012):
http://pinterest.com/iyampam/random-magic-live-pinning-book-tour/
|| Chapters 36-40 || Part of Pins and Magic party – Live-pinning ‘Random Magic’ || Schedule/Join us (Jul. 15 through Sept. 15, 2012):
http://pinterest.com/iyampam/random-magic-live-pinning-book-tour/
|| Chapters 27-35 || Part of Pins and Magic party – Live-pinning ‘Random Magic’ || Schedule/Join us (Jul. 15 through Sept. 15, 2012):
http://pinterest.com/iyampam/random-magic-live-pinning-book-tour/
|| Chapters 21-30 || Part of Pins and Magic party – Live-pinning ‘Random Magic’ || Schedule/Join us (Jul. 15 through Sept. 15, 2012):
http://pinterest.com/iyampam/random-magic-live-pinning-book-tour/
|| Chapters 11-15 || Part of Pins and Magic party – Live-pinning ‘Random Magic’ || Schedule/Join us (Jul. 15 through Sept. 15, 2012):
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|| Chapters 1-5 || Part of Pins and Magic party – Live-pinning ‘Random Magic’ || Schedule/Join us (Jul. 15 through Sept. 15, 2012):
http://pinterest.com/iyampam/random-magic-live-pinning-book-tour/
|| Chapters 6-10 || Part of Pins and Magic party – Live-pinning ‘Random Magic’ || Schedule/Join us (Jul. 15 through Sept. 15, 2012):
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Want more RANDOM MAGIC in your life? Tweet me (@Pamlovesbooks) and YOU can join the pinning party too!
And Tea, of course!