August 2016

Back from vacation. Looks like I missed everything. The book blogosphere exploded while I was gone, swap events multiplied, new blogs launched. Catching up now and honestly? Feels good to be back in the chaos.

Everyone's heading back. I'm heading out. Chasing sun down south where it's supposedly been hiding all summer. If you're reading this, I'm probably already there soaking it up. Summer part two starts now.

A house in the dunes on a tiny Dutch island. Spring to autumn, it's rented to vacationers. Each season, a neighbor cleans it thoroughly before the next batch arrives. What she finds tells stories the renters never meant to share.

Summer catch-up reading. This Italian novel slipped past me when it dropped, but everyone treats it like essential reading now. Finally got to it. Turns out they were right. Some books become classics for a reason.

Ever since I discovered Wodehouse's brilliantly British humor, I grab every book I can find. Bertie Wooster is a London dandy, not exactly bright, constantly getting himself into ridiculous situations. Good thing his valet Jeeves is a genius.

5 rue de la Doulce-Belette, Paris 9th. Bourgeois building on a quiet street. Anonymous facade hiding simple lives. Peaceful haven where life just hummed along. Until last night. Who could've imagined horror would strike there?

Young librarian gets hired by a mega-rich Japanese fashion designer to organize his library. This library fills an entire floor of a gorgeous 18th arrondissement townhouse. The catch? Every single book is about clouds. Only clouds.

My summer Scandinavian reading surprise. Not much risk though when everyone already loved it. This Finnish novel is a wild mix: coming-of-age tale meets absurd comedy meets ecological manifesto. Nordic weirdness at its finest.

Yesterday in Paris. Parc de Bercy, which is stunning by the way: green, shaded, water features, ducks, pigeons everywhere. The big event all us bloggers waited weeks for finally happened. The great book blogger picnic. It was everything.

This wasn't on my reading list at all. But you know how it goes. Walk into a bookstore with a tight budget and specific targets. Two minutes later you've forgotten the list entirely and you're walking out with something completely different.