Saturday, July 2, 2022

Paris in July 2022



It's July already, the year is half over -- how did this happen? But for me July will always include the Paris in July reading challenge hosted by Thyme for Tea. I started participating in this event back in 2011 and I've posted my Francophile book reviews nearly every year since! 

As always, I'm trying to read mostly from my own shelves in my never-ending quest to empty the TBR shelves. Some of these can also count for the Back to the Classics and TBR Pile Challenges, and from my Classics Club List. I'm sure I won't finish all of them but reading goals are always good, right? 



First, the French books in translation: 

  • Claudine Married by Colette. The second novella in the Claudine omnibus; I'm sure I won't finish the entire series this month.
  • The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos. Found this whilst browsing in the library and it looked interesting (and short!). 
  • Maman, What Are We Called Now? by Jacqueline Mesnil-Amar. 
  • Renoir, My Father by Jean Renoir
  • A Fine of Two Hundred Francs by Elsa Triolet
  • The Bright Side of Life by Emile Zola

Books originally written in English but set in France: 

  • The Loved and Envied by Enid Bagnold
  • Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
  • Martha in Paris by Margery Sharp
  • The Golden Lion of Granpere by Anthony Trollope
  • Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner
So - mostly fiction and fairly short books - more than half of them are under 300 pages and a couple are under 200! The longest is the Renoir biography (not counting the Claudine omnibus but all three of the remaining novellas are under 200 pages). I wonder if I could actually finish the entire list? 

Bloggers, have you read any of these? Which are your favorites and should be read first? And what else do you recommend for Paris in July?

10 comments:

  1. Wonderful list. I haven’t read or heard about most. Curious to read your reviews on them.

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  2. Sorry, I forgot to change the anonymous.

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  3. i haven't read any of these -- I'd love to read the Renoir bio. I love his work. And is Margery Sharp the same woman who wrote the series about the mice "The Rescuers." Miss Bianca was my favorite mouse in the world and I still get funky about having mice in the house because I don't want them there but I don't want to hurt them either -- Miss Bianca (and Stuart Little, of course) anthropomorphized them too much to make me want a mouse trap! I must check that one out.

    Thanks for coming by my blog during Paris In July. I can't remember the street the Chase Plaza is on but it's quite near the train station and the art institute. The Chagall installation is large and it's really beautiful. I didn't seek it out -- just happened upon it and it was such a joy to discover. I hope on your next trip to Chicago you can find it!

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    1. Yes, it's the same Margery Sharp! She wrote 25 of novels for adults and some of them have been reprinted in the last few years. Several of them are available from the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint of Dean Street Press, and the ebooks are usually about $3 on Kindle. I've read eight of them so far and really enjoyed them.

      And thanks again for posting about the Chagall. I've been thinking about going back to Chicago, I had such a good time last year and didn't see nearly everything I wanted!

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  4. Thanks for your comment on my Paris in July list. I haven't read any of the books you listed although I have read a book by Colette. Some interesting literature there.

    Here's to a happy July.

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    1. I hope I can get at least half of them read! I always make up piles TBR and never finish them.

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  5. Yes, reading goals are always good... and I'll look forward to your rParis in July reviews!

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  6. Martha in Paris was a lot of fun! Once Jane at Beyond Eden Rock introduced me to Margery Sharp, I wanted to read everything she wrote.

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  7. 'Martha in Paris' is great, but it's the second book of a series. You need to read 'The Eye of Love' first, which is not set in Paris. The third book, also set in Paris, is 'Martha, Eric and George'.

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  8. The Mystery of Henri Pick is so good! And his latest in English as well, The Martins - review live on my blog tomorrow, Thursday, July 21

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