Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places!

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Bookish Places I’ve Visited (Share all the cool places you’ve been that are bookish or tied to books! This includes neat libraries, book stores, places featured in books, places inspired by books, author homes/places they’ve stayed, etc. You can also share your bucket list of the bookish places you’d like to visit someday.) (submitted by Susan @Bloggin’ ’bout Books). My post this week is a bit of a mix of all of those things

1. Last week we were in Ubud, Bali  and I saw this super cute bookstore mural. Monkey's are a pretty big deal in Ubud so there were quite a few monkey themed murals around. If we go to Bali again, I would be tempted to see if we could happen to be there for the Ubud Writers Festival

2. Earlier this year we visited Turkey. We saw so many amazing things in Istanbul including the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern. On one of the days we visited the Topkapi Palace. This was the library there.

3. There is so much history in Turkey, from WWI back to the Ottomans and further back to the Romans. One of the highlights was visiting Ephesus. This is the library at Ephesus

4. Last stop in Turkey, this time at Konya. which is the home of whirling dervishes and burial place of Rumi, famous poet. Recently I read The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak which tells the story of Rumi and the wandering dervish, Shams.

5. Earlier this year I visited Kolkata in India which is home to College Street. In the immediate area there are hundreds of booksellers, mostly selling secondhand text books but there were also some fiction books available. I also visited Chuckervertty Chatterjee &Co which is the first book showroom in Eastern India

6. One of the fun things about reading books is that you might get inspired to try something new. This was the case when I read Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa which is all about a doriyaki shop. When we visited the Japanese Garden in San Francisco and it was on the menu, I had to try it. I then had it a number of times when we visited Japan.  

7. I expect to see a number of mentions of visits to Shakespeare and Co in Paris in TTT posts today

8. One of my favourite places that we visited in Paris is Saint-Chappelle, which I had added to my bucket list after reading Die for Me by Amy Plum. 

9. When we visited London a couple of years ago, one of the things I wanted to do was to have a proper afternoon tea. We looked at lots of options but in the end, it had to be the Library at County Hall, which is across the river from the Houses of Parliament. And it wasn't just about the location. The food was delicious!  

10. I know that there are lots more places I could mention including Eilean Donan castle in Scotland, The Strand bookstore in New York and more but it would be remiss of me not to mention the State Library here in Melbourne. Visiting the library is one of my favourite things to do in the city. I just love the Reading Room with its soaring dome, the green lamps on the desks. Amazing place!



Have you visited any of these places?

Paris in July/Top Ten Tuesday: Books with the Eiffel Tower on the Cover

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Freebie/Throwback (Come up with a topic you’d like to do or go back and do an old topic you missed or just want to do again!). Given that today is the kick off for this year's Paris in July event (hosted by Emma at Words and Peace) how could I resist doing something Paris-y? My theme today is Books with the Eiffel Tower on the Cover.

That gives me another chance to share one of my favourite photos of the Eiffel Tower although deciding which one was a challenge!

Some are books that I have read earlier this year. Some are books that I found when I searched the word Eiffel on my blog. The reality is that I could probably do this topic again without too much difficulty.

A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont - I have really loved both of the books set in Paris by this author! I am looking forward to the next one which is out later this year. I will be sharing my review of this book at some point in July!

The Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted by Rebecca Raisin - This author actually has a lot of books that I could have chosen for this theme. I think this is her best book yet! (My review)

The Anywhere Hotel by Gisele Stein - Unlike the rest of the books on this list, only a tiny part of this book is set in Paris. However, I love the cover, and the Tower is there so it counts for this theme!

The Dressmaker of Paris by Georgia Kaufmann - Haven't read this one yet, but I love the way that the Tower is represented here.

Die for Me by Amy Plum - This is an older book which might count as romantasy these days. It features revenants and numas who are fighting their age old battle in the modern streets of Paris. And the cover is gorgeous! (My review)

The Last Train from Paris by Juliet Greenwood - A WWII story that I read and loved a couple of years ago now. (My review)

Twenty One Nights in Paris by Leonie Mack - The first book I read by this author. Now she is an auto-buy. (My review)

Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey - I have loved all of Gillian Harvey's books set in different parts of France. I read this one earlier this year and loved it. I think it is my favourite of hers so far! (My review)

The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain - Another case where I had my pick of several covers! And it's nice to have an actual French author on the list as well!

The Little Paris Toyshop by Lauren Westwood - I will take any opportunity I can get to talk about this book which I read and loved a couple of years ago. (My review)

I am pretty sure that there might be another French themed Top Ten Tuesday this month, but I haven't quite decided just yet! Who am I kidding! Of course there will be! It's just a question of what it will be!

Top Ten Tuesday: Places I visited which reminded me of books I have read

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Bookish Goals for 2023, I really only have two of those (and I am already behind on one of those) so instead I am twisting the topic to have the opportunity to share some photos from my trp!

My theme for this week is places I have visited which reminded me of books I had read. Obviously, I need to work on the title to make it a bit snappier, but it is what it is right now.

For context, I am currently in Italy, having visited The Netherlands, France and Italy. We will be travelling home via Singapore so there will be more, but for now, these are just some of the places where I found myself thinking about books I had read while I was away

Bayeux - There is so much history in Normandy, whether it be medieval or WWII or somewhere in between. I found my self thinking about Elizabeth Chadwick's books as well as Sharon Kay Penman's books. However, for the purpose of today, I am choosing to match with The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower

Saint Chappelle - Amy Plum introduced me to this place and it has been on my bucket list ever since.

St Malo - When we were planning our route we were looking for somewhere to stay between Normandy and the Loire Valley and I chose this place purely and simply because of Anthony Doerr's wonderful book All the Light We Cannot See.

Chennonceau - I first blogged about wantiing to visit Chennonceaux back in 2011! This book tells the story of Catherine de Medici who left her mark on this chateau.

Louvre - I have read a number of books now which talk about the saving of art from The Louvre. One passage which came to mind was from The Riviera House by Natasha Lester where they talked about the processs of getting The Winged Victory of Thamocrace out of the Louvre. Interestingly, at Chambord in the Loire Valley there is a new permanent exhibition which talked about saving the art from The Louvre during WWII.

Musee D'Orsay - We loved visiting Musee D'Orsay - we definitely did not have enought time thher. Whilst Renoir's painting Luncheon of the Boating Party is not one of the ones we saw, I did find myself thinking of this book while I was there.

Musee D'Orsay - I really wanted to get a photo of the clocks at Musee D'Orsay. They are on a number of covers but this it the one that comes to mind.

Naples - The obvious choice for Naples would be Elena Ferrante but instead I am choosing The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella

Puglia - As I started this post I was staying in a trullo in Alberobello. I was inspired to want to visit Puglia thanks to this book. We did a walking tour of the town and the guide asked why we chose to stay here and I shared the title!

Rome - We arrived in Rome late on Monday so our main tourist day is tomorrow so no pictures yet!

Six Degrees of Separation: From The Snow Child to The Bookstore Sisters

 

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz. 

 

This month the starting point is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

The Snow Child is a fairy tale retelling. I do love a fairy tale retelling, although I haven't read this one. The first book that came to mind was Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. I am aware that I have used this book before and when I looked at the next book, I realised that I am in danger of choosing the same books as I have before.

Therefore, for my second book I am going to twist a little and choose something a little different and choose a graphic novel. There are a whole series of graphic novels that feature well known fairy tale characters such as Snow White, Prince Charming and Old King Cole. Years ago, I read about 15 of these books but I chose Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham.

Another graphic novel author I have read and enjoyed is Marjane Satrapi. I have read her Persepolis books but this time I am choosing to focus on her book Chicken with Plums. I have watched the movie adaptation of Chicken with Plums. There is a section of the movie which is 20 minutes of montage and it is exceptional.

For my next book I am choosing a book called Die for Me by Amy Plum. This is a YA book featuring all sorts of paranormal characters. It also has an amazing cover. The book is set in Paris and you can tell that the author loves the city. In fact, there is one place that I am planning to visit in our upcoming trip to Paris because I read about it in this book.

A recent book that I read which had me salivating over the city of Paris was Twenty One Nights in Paris by Leonie Mack. And it had the added bonus of being set at Christmas.

Both of these books have an image of the Eiffel Tower, because let's face it there's not many books set in the city that doesn't. This is another.

Whilst I have a gazillion other books set in Paris that I could finish this chain with, instead I am going to choose a short story that I read last month by Alice Hoffman, called The Bookstore Sisters. I know that I really should read more of Alice Hoffman, but this is the only story I have read so far.

This month felt a bit harder than normal, but mainly because there were so many connections to books that I have already used before so I had to find different connectsion! I have, however, managed to get to the end!

Next months chain starts with Beach Read by Emily Henry, which I am super excited about because I love her books. I am not 100% sure that I will be able to do a Six Degrees post because I will be in Paris then, but let's see how we go.

Next month's 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Paris

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a freebie topic.

A couple of months ago, I did a TTT post all about books set in places I would like to visit. The surprising thing was that there were no books set in Paris on that list, but there as a reason for that. I already knew that for this freebie topic I was going to combine Top Ten Tuesday with Paris In July and feature books I've read set in Paris.

Die for Me and Until I Die by Amy Plum - These are the first two books in a YA paranormal series set in Paris. This is one of those cases where the cover gods smile on an author not once or twice. I did enjoy the books but haven't read any more.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - This is another YA book but no vampires or werewolves in sight. In this book a young girl moves to Paris to go to school. A while ago someone on a TTT post mentioned that there is going to be a special edition cover so I just had to buy it.

For the King by Catherine Delors - I read this book years ago and enjoyed it. It is set in Paris when a police inspector must investigate a failed assassination attempt against Napoleon.

Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas - A New York girl moves to Paris for a year and goes on the hunt for the perfect dessert! This is one book that made me yearn to go to Paris.

The Chocolate Kiss by  Laura Florand (or really any of her books)- I mentioned The Chocolate Thief last week, but all of her books are set in France and often feature lots of food. If you like a bit of romance featuring hot French guys with delicious food, this is an author for you!

French Milk by Lucy Knisley - This is a graphic novel about a young woman's trip to Paris with her mother. It's not my favourite Lucy Knisley book but it did make me want to visit. Then again, you're possibly noticing that is a theme for all the books in this post!

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin - A bookseller swaps her life in small town America for a busy bookshop in Paris. This was my first novel by Rebecca Raisin, but I have read another couple since, and will read more.

Almost Paris by Sarah Turnbull - An Australian woman makes an implulsive decision to move to Paris to live with the French man she has just met. This book explores the cultural differences that she encountered. (review here)

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B by Sandra Gulland - Sandra Gulland has written a number of historical fiction novels set in France. This is the first in the trilogy focussing on the life of Josephine Bonaparte.(review here)

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - I am not sure what I need to say about this book other than it is a story of the French revolution.

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Somewhere up high in the book heavens, the cover gods see that Amy Plum has a new book coming out and decides that once again it is time to bless her! The cover on this book is gorgeous, especially in real life. It doesn't hurt that purple is my favourite colour, or that the buildings are meant to represent Paris!

What about inside the book though? I mean, after all, a gorgeous cover is great to catch the eye but it is really what is inside the cover that matter.

The book is good without being excellent, and in some ways felt very much like the middle book in a trilogy, which is what it is.  We had the set up of the world in the last book, and in this book a lot of time is spent arming the characters for the big finale in the next book.

In the last book we met Kate and Vincent. She is a young American girl who has come to Paris to live with her sister and her grandparents after the death of her parents. Vincent is a revenant - a paranormal creature who dies over and over again saving human lives. Each death regenerates him enabling him to basically stay a young man forever.

Whilst it is not unheard of for a human and a revenant to fall in love, it is a difficult road to travel, particularly because one person ages and the other doesn't. For Kate, it is also difficult to contemplate watching her love die over and over and again. She therefore starts to try to find other stories of those who were like them by reading some of the mythology about revenants and seeing if she can follow some of the clues hidden within those texts.

Due to the events in the last book, the head of the revenants also feels the need to find out more about their history to be better prepared to face the revenants enemy, the Numa, who are currently quiet, but are generally believed to be preparing themselves to once again do battle on the streets of Paris. We therefore get to meet two new members of the family, Violette and Arthur, and once again Kate has to justify her place within the inner sanctum to people who question her right to be there.

Whilst Kate tries to find answers, Vincent is also trying to find another way, by basically denying himself the renewal that he needs. He is growing tired, battered and bruised and is gradually looking worse and worse. Of course, in true novel fashion, neither is completely honest with the other about what they were up to and this, of course, leads to misunderstandings and more importantly danger.

Whilst the idea of the revenant is a welcome change from the more normal vampire paranormal story, the other thing that really makes this story stand out for me is the Paris setting. The author takes us to both familiar scenes from Paris and those more unfamiliar to those of us who do not spend a lot of time in the city.

In other ways, you do some standard tropes - the idea of a lonely girl becoming a kick ass heroine, an older but still teenage hero, and oh yes, the cliff hanger ending which had me gritting my teeth saying you can't possibly be ending the story there!

I, for one, am looking forward to the next book so that we can see how Kate and Vincent deal with the responsibilities and challenges that face them both!

Rating 4/5

I thought that in addition to the review, I thought I would mention a couple of other things related to the book.

One of the places that the author took us to in the pages of the book was a wedding that was held in La Sainte-Chappelle, and she has shared a video where we get to visit this church with her, and it is totally gorgeous! I want to go there. When I was finding the link to this video again, there are quite a few videos where Amy Plum introduces different places in Paris that are used as locations in the books!

The trailer for the book also takes advantage of the awesome setting.



Synopsis

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Kate has chose to leave the comfort and safety of her human life in order to join Vincent in the dangerous supernatural world he inhabits. For his part, he has sworn to go against his very nature and resist the repeated deaths that are his fate as a revenant - even though it will bring him immeasurable suffering.

Desperate to help him, Kate's search for answers takes her from the glamorous streets of Paris to the city's squalid underbelly. But when she stumbles across a secret that could help to overthrown their enemies for ever, Kate unwittingly puts everyone she loves at risk. And puts herself in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, not as a bystander ..... but as a target.

P.S After I had finished this post, I went back to read my review for the first book and noticed that I started that review with a glowing reference to the cover too! Oh well. Just have to hope that the third book in the series gets given a gorgeous cover too!