Living French

I am wellnigh obsessed with France. I like to read about France, watch French movies, & listen to French music. If only I spoke French, my life would be complete. (Someday, maybe I'll actually take a class at Alliance Française d'Albuquerque.) In the meantime, here are some of the France-related items that have helped me maintain my joie de vivre.



Books about France
Almost French: Love And A New Life In Paris by Sarah Turnbull

Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier

C'est La Vie: An American Conquers the City of Light, Begins a New Life, and Becomes-Zut Alors!-Almost French by Suzy Gershman

Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbag by Michael Tonello (technically not about France, but the Birkin bag is by Hermès, a French high fashion house)

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't be Wrong: (Why We Love France but Not the French) by Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow

French by Heart: An American Family's Adventures in La Belle France by Rebecca S. Ramsey



Books by the French
French Women Don't Get Fat byMireille Guiliano

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

I Wish Someone were Waiting for Me Somewhere by Anna Gavalda

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

French movies
Summer Hours

Man on Wire

Séraphine

Paris

I've Loved You So Long

Tell No One

Persepolis

Paris, Je T'Aime

La Vie en Rose

2 Days in Paris

The Page Turner

Avenue Montaigne

French music
One Step Forward by Les Nubians

Comic Strip by Serge Gainsbourg

Dimanche à Bamako by Amadou & Mariam (they are from Mali, but sing mostly in French)

For Kids of All Ages

Also consider the Asterix & Tintin graphic novels; both are translated from the French.

Books & Blogs

Last year my reading list was full of books written by bloggers. Here are some of my favorites! (Warning: most of these will be about food and/or France...both are kind of idée fixe with me.)

• A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, who blogs about food at Orangette



• Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France by Kristin Espinasse, who blogs at French-Word-a-Day



• Julie and Julia : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell (OK, technically I read the book before the blog, but don't you want to see what the original blog looked like?)



• Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson, who blogs about life in Paris at Petite Anglaise



• The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond, who blogs about country life, food, photography & homeschooling at The Pioneer Woman (We recommend the "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" section!)



• Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier, a Parisian woman who shares her passion for all things food-related at Chocolate & Zucchini



• Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely life by Quinn Cummings, who blogs about life at The QC Report
  



• Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado, who blogs mouthwateringly at Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker



• Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously by Adrienne Martini, who blogs on Martinimade



• The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight's Dinner by Jaden Hair, who blogs at Steamy Kitchen



• Make it Fast, Cook it Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking by Stephanie O'Dea, who blogs at A Year of Slowcooking



• Free-range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who blogs at Yarn Harlot



• Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl by Anonymous. Belle du Jour was the pen name of Brooke Magnanti, who blogged at Belle de Jour. This blog became a book which became a ShowtimeTV series!

Glass Castle Readalikes

Did you enjoy Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle? Check out these similar titles!

Gal: A True Life by Ruthie Mae Bolton *

All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory

Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan
by Elizabeth Kim

There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America
by Alex Kotlowitz

Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found by Jennifer Lauck

All Souls: A Family Story from Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald

Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah

The Color of Water by James McBride

This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas

Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught between Cultures by Kyoko Mori

Like this list? It's from the Morton Grove Public Library's Webrary. I found a link to it on a list called Nonfiction Readers’ Advisory Toolbox.


*not in the ABC Libraries catalog

National Tie One On Day

"Women clad in aprons have traditionally prepared the Thanksgiving meal, and it is within our historical linkage to share our bounty.” ~EllynAnne Geisel

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Maybe you are thankful for getting together with friends & family...maybe you are thankful that the food is finally cooked & you get a chance to sit down! Whatever you are thankful for, perhaps you would like to use this holiday to share your bounty with another less fortunate. Consider National Tie One On Day!

As it is explained on the Apron Memories site, "Put the give back into Thanksgiving. Participation is simple. On the day before Thanksgiving, November 24th this year, pause in the preparation of your own meal, wrap a loaf of bread or other baked good in an apron, tuck a prayer or note of encouragement in the pocket, and tie one on…an apron, of course! and deliver the wrapped bundle to someone without your bounty… a neighbor, friend or family member in need of physical or spiritual sustenance, a bit of recognition or just a kind word." Apron Memories also provides you with a printable National Tie One On Day notecard to go with your gift.

Top 10 Reading Lists

Library Journal's Top 10

•American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of our Woods, Water, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen *
•By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
•Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
•How to Live, Or, a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell *
•Room by Emma Donoghue
•The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
•The Passage by Justin Cronin
•The Tiger by John Vaillant
•The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

•Walker Evans: Decade by Decade by Hatje Cantz *

Publisher's Weekly Top 10

•A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
•Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
•Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
•The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
•The Big Short by Michael Lewis
•The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
•Just Kids by Patti Smith
•Man in the Woods by Scott Spencer *
•The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
•The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

*not in the ABC Libraries catalog

Geography Databases

Our Resource Center-which offers free 24/7 access to databases containing articles from encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers and more with your valid Albuquerque/Bernalillo County library card-has a couple of great new databases, particularly if you're planning on traveling anytime soon!

A to Z Maps- is one of the world’s largest online sources for world, continent, country and state maps. In A to Z Maps you’ll have access to proprietary maps, games, images and puzzles developed by World Trade Press — plus public domain maps and images culled from hundreds of resources worldwide. Available maps include earthquake maps, climate change maps, bathymetric & fishing maps, Holy Land maps & NASA maps.
Tip Sheet /Find it!

Global Road Warrior -As a “one-stop” source for country, geographic, cultural, social, business and travel information, Global Road Warrior presents robust, practical and continuously expanding content of interest to all ages. Easy-to-navigate interface and intuitive browsing features help users to find information quickly and concisely. For instance, a search of Finland will give you the title Republic of Finland /Suomen Tasavalta, & you can look up its climate, internet details, look at city views, check out a security briefing, & view travel essentials. There are also printable reports on Finland's business culture, banknotes & coinage, points of interest, & more!
Tip Sheet /Find it!

Keyword Searches, or More Books About Books

I tend to search by keyword in the library catalog. Some librarians will tell you that subject heading searches are more accurate, & they probably are, but then you have to know the subject headings, which I don't always find straightforward (for instance, when I'm looking for a biography of Elizabeth Taylor, the subject "Motion picture actors and actresses -- United States -- Biography" just doesn't come naturally to my brain). If you're interested in checking out subject headings, each book in the catalog has a list of them under the "Find Similar Items" tab. If you click on the subject headings, you will be directed to books with the same subject. However, using a keyword search of part of a subject heading for Jane's Fame-using just the word "appreciation"-brought up a couple more books I'm considering reading. I have often used pieces of subject headings to find books I'm looking for-in my chick lit phase I used combinations of "chick lit", "London" (I like English authors), "single women", & "humorous stories" to search in the catalog for more titles to read.

-The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People who Read Them by Elif Batuman
-Blue Arabesque: A Search for the Sublime by Patricia Hampl

The following two books I have read & highly recommend! Winterson's book is more about art & theory, & Thurman's essays-many of which were previously published in the New Yorker-range from performance art to literature to fashion. Both these books made me want to read more books!

-Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery by Jeanette Winterson
Cleopatra's Nose: 39 Varieties of Desire by Judith Thurman