Juste avant le bonheur by A. Ledig

What I love the most about a lot of French contemporary books is how poetic, simple and beautiful they can be. This one is probably one of my favorite book I've read in July. The story is beautiful, devastating, ordinary and extraordinary by the beauty of the characters. Agnès Ledig gives a real life story with beautiful characters. They are unique, "normal" and human. Yes, what strikes you the most in this book is humanity. You don't see the bad side of the human race, you see the good. And that sometimes is the only thing you want to see because you can't just have bad and unkind people. You have to have faith in others in order to be happy and be surrounded by good people. This book shows that in a tragic and beautiful way.

 

  

In order to live by Y. Park

Another of Polly Florence's book club. I was not disappointed by this choice for the month of July, it was such an interesting book! We follow the journey of Yeonmi in North Korea, her childhood there and how she fleed her country to try and find a better home to grow up and simply be free and happy. Her road was bumpy and terrifying. It was so hard to imagine someone your age living in the same years as you experiencing such a different lifestyle (might not be the right word...). I thought I was reading about the end of the XIXth century, and not our century. This book is important to understand a bit more of what's going on in North Korea, but we have to keep in mind that it's one testimony and there are plenty more to read and see to understand the bigger picture. 

Little fires everywhere by C. Ng

I started this book before watching the show. I disliked it, stopped it and watch the show (because Reese Witherspoon people!). The show was great and had so many interesting topic that I wanted to have more, so I started the book again. I won't say that I still dislike it, but it was not great compare to the show. The show was different but also showed more things, especially about the characters. In this book, they are not developed and are just passing in the story. They are simply not interesting and not "used" enough. I wanted more depth, more complexity and not dull characters. For once, the show is better than the book in my opinion.

The girl with the dragoon tattoo by S. Larsson

Don't read this book if you want something light and easy. This thriller is amazing and pretty hard to read sometimes. Not in the complex way but in the violences. I had to put the book aside from time to time because it can be really, well, violent. But above all, this book is great. You have an interesting story with lots of digging, investigating and an intriguing plot (even though some twist at the end can be easily guessed). I was not a fan of the other part of the story with the scandal of the journalist, I was more interested in the Harriet case. 

Boomerang by T. de Rosnay

Family mysteries can be my favorite type of story, especially to read. So many unsaid things, so many discoveries and suspense. This one was simple yet beautiful in its own way. The way it was written added so much to this book. I know I say it quite often but French writers have such a beautiful way to write. I'm probably more mindful of that because it's easier to see as it's my native language but I love it. It adds a poetic side to the story. 

Tell me what you've been reading lately!

I started June with the new Hunger Games book, desperate to read it as I love the series so (so) much. In the end, I haven’t even finished it yet (too long to get started, not interesting enough for the moment – what do you think?), but I still read great books.

Quand nos souvenirs viendront danser by V. Grimaldi

You might remember her from my previous post as I read plenty of her books at the beginning of the year.  They all became all time favorite, and this one as well. It’s a story about old people, of memories, friendships, family and love. Plenty of love. You may cry and laugh with this book, but your heart will do that with you. It’s beautiful as we are in the end of an 80 year-old woman with a lot of memories to remember and a big full life. This is just a book about the beauty of a simple life, through the eyes of the people we never normally see.

Les gens heureux lisent et boivent du café by A. Martin-Lugand

You can see a French pattern here. But those kinds of books are always the ones I tend to read when I want a beautiful and meaningful story through simple things. This one starts with a crushing story. It becomes beautiful, sad yet hopeful. It’s really short – too short, so you might feel like some bits are missing or everything is happening quite fast. It’s still beautiful. Oh, and there is a second book, so I might read that one day.

An American marriage by T. Jones

As part of the #pollyflorencebookclub for June, An American marriage was the book chosen. I thought it could be something interesting and really catchy. And, nope. It wasn’t. One black man got arrested for something he didn’t commit (interesting), but we only follow his marriage (not interesting). The characters were mostly strangers towards another as I didn’t notice any connection. I was waiting for some fight and justice story, and that did not happen either. I was really disappointed with this book, especially because it was written in a way that it was difficult to see who was talking as they all had the same way of talking. Well, the characters didn’t have any character. So the writing style was disappointing. Anyway, you get it. Not a winner for me.

That’s mostly it for June as I only read 5 books. I’m still planning on reading French books so get ready for that next month! Now, tell me what you’ve been reading and if you’ve read any of those books I mentioned.

A chaotic and stressful move, the heatwave and an almost broken rented van. The Sacré Cœur, Eiffel Tower and Panthéon. Walking along the Canal St Martin or La Villette. Finding new friends and seeing older ones. Léo, early mornings and lots of tea. Grumpy faces in the metro, late trains and strikes. Lots of walking along the Seine, sight seeing and touristic visits. The stairs of Montmartre, late summer pictures and love. Lots of love.

 

Today, I took the tube and I got out of the metro at Opéra. I went out, and the Opéra Garnier was just sitting there, right in front of me. I’ve seen it plenty of times now, but I was still amazed. Me, I was standing in the middle of Paris. I city I now call “home”. I still smile and have those big bright eyes whenever I see something as majestic as this. The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Sacré Cœur. It’s magic. Today has been one year since I live in Paris, since I’m part of those grumpy French. It’s been a year since I live in this beautiful city and can now call it home. It feels right, I am exactly where I need to be, with whom I want to be.

 

But bloody hell, I miss fresh air!

I’m doing this blog post because I took this picture the other day of the second book of the Game of Thrones series and I thought, wow, that’s a book I thought I would read straight away. It’s now been sitting in my bookshelves for two years. And I still haven’t read it. Yep. So, it got me thinking of all the books I started to read without finishing them, even though I really thought I would have enjoyed them. Oh and by the way, I’m learning to stop reading a book when I don’t enjoy it. I don’t want to waste my time if I can read something more interesting. Yet, it’s way harder for physical books. I can’t have a bookshelf and see books that have not been read. Is it just me?

The Schindler’s list

Because I loved the movie and I just love history books in general, I thought this one would be a winner. I was prepared for a heavy read and … nothing. I did not finish it, well I even stop quite at the beginning. The fact that it was just about (or at least starting with) the entrepreneur part of the character, how he created his successful business was just deeply boring to me. I don’t know if I should have continued a bit more to have the full story. Please tell me if I should keep going or not if you have read it.

The heart goes last

Atwood is a genius, and I thought this book would be amazing. I read about half of it and I started being bored. The beginning was quite promising and interesting, but it just got too long. I could not see the end of it so I just stopped. I did like the story, the sort of dystopia where there is something not quite right. So, I guess I needed something more?

Little women

Well, this one. I have a complicated relationship with classic books. I can like them, or just be bored by them while thinking I just don’t get them. They are seen as great books by so many people over many centuries, therefore I have to like them, right? I started the book before seeing the movie (which I loved), but I was quite intimidated by the number of pages. And then, I was not really interested. I honestly don’t know what to do with this one because I see that it’s everyone’s favourite at the moment. I don’t normally like a book because everyone else did but I feel like I’m missing something with this one. What do you think?

There are many more books that I just stopped reading, but I don’t want to put too much over here. I don’t know, I might finish them one day! But now tell me, which books have you stopped reading because you didn’t like it even though you thought you would?