My first book review for 2018…and it’s not what I’d hoped it would be. It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches. The first book I finished in 2018 is A Discover of Witches by Deborah Harkness, the first book in her All Souls Trilogy,…
Ernest Hemingway‘s The Sun Also Rises is one of his most well-known, and well-loved novels. Published in 1926, it is said to depict the life, ideals, and frustrations of the “Lost Generation” – intellectual young men and women enlightened during the years after World War I. Hemingway himself was one of the “founding” members of…
When Rosecrans Baldwin was offered an advertising job in Paris by a friend, he jumped at the chance and boarded the next flight to France. Nevermind that he knew next to nothing about advertising, and nevermind that he hardly spoke French. It’s Paris!! That’s probably how many Francophiles would react if offered to live and…
So despite my earlier rant about being in a reading rut and contemplating whether or not to give up on the two books I’ve been reading, I pushed on and eventually finished Richard Morais’ The Hundred Foot Journey. Though not exactly a great piece of literature, The Hundred Foot Journey, it is, at least, not the worst…
Exactly two weeks to go before I fly off to Paris and I’m a bit stressed out with preparations, not to mention having mixed feelings about the whole trip. I’ll be honest – Paris intimidates me. The food is intimidating, the language is intimidating and the fashion is intimidating. I’ve never been to Paris, and…
I’ve had to set aside the two novels was reading to make way for 2 other books I have to read for ‘research.’ In preparation for my upcoming trip to Europe, I have temporarily forsaken George R.R. Martin and David Mitchell to learn a thing or two from the Frommers – Arthur, Hope in Frommer’s…
Where we meet a saint, former convict, a desperate woman, a ruthless couple and a fanatic… “Fantine,” opens the novel. It is 1815 and amidst France’s restoration to monarchy and the impending downfall of Napoleon I , readers are introduced to Jean Valjean, a former convict who served 19 years in the galleys for breaking a window…
It took me over 15 years to finally decide to read Victor Hugo’s epic novel, Les Miserables. I first discovered Les Miserables from the music and lyrics of Claude-Michel Shonberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer’s highly acclaimed musical of the same name. Through the powerful and moving music and oftentimes heart-wrenching songs, I was acquainted…
