Book Club: 5 French February Reads for Valentine's Day & Black History Month

It’s the first week of Février, which means it’s also the perfect time to snuggle up and catch up on some reading. Since this is the time of year best known for l’amour and Black history, why not revisit some favorites from last year’s French book club to fit both themes?

Book Club: 5 French February Reads for Valentine's Day & Black History Month

Famed Black expatriate James Baldwin brings us a moving, LGBTQ semi-autobiographical romance, set among the backdrop of the 1950s Paris nightclub scene, while notable Black actor and musician Gordon Heath shares a memoir of the illustrious career that brought him to Paris where he eventually finished out his life.

Women’s rights advocate Monique Y. Wells takes us on a tour of the rich Black history woven into the fabric of Parisian arts and culture, through a series of historical walking tours with co-author Christian Anderson.

Screen legend Olivia de Havilland’s juicy memoir recounts meeting her French husband at the Cannes Film Festival, seeing her days as an American suddenly Gone With the Wind as she relocates to Paris with her young son, while Kati Morton shares a touching tale of love and loss throughout chapters of her own life in France.

Giovanni’s Room

By James Baldwin
(Fiction)

“James Baldwin’s groundbreaking novel about love and the fear of love is set among the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris.

In the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin's now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.”

Deep Are the Roots: Memoirs of a Black Expatriate

By Gordon Heath
(Memoir)

“In these pages we meet a man, meet him as a child, an actor in training, an actor in performance. We meet a black man born in the United States in 1918 who fashioned a life for himself that kept him mostly abroad, mostly in Paris. Gordon Heath can be counted among such distinguished black expatriates as Ira Aldridge, Paul Robeson, Richard Wright, and James Baldwin. Their names have been written larger than his in the record books, but with the publication of his memoirs Gordon Heath moves from footnote status to deserved inclusion in the text itself.”

Every Frenchman Has One

By Olivia de Havilland
(Memoir)

”In 1953, Olivia de Havilland—already an Academy Award-winning actress for her roles in To Each His Own and The Heiress—became the heroine of her own real-life love affair. She married a Frenchman, moved to Paris, and planted her standard on the Left Bank of the River Seine. It has been fluttering on both Left and Right Banks with considerable joy and gaiety from that moment on.

Still, her transition from Hollywood celebrity to parisienne was anything but easy. And in Every Frenchman Has One, her skirmishes with French customs, French maids, French salesladies, French holidays, French law, French doctors, and above all, the French language, are here set forth in a delightful and amusing memoir of her early years in the “City of Light.”

Paris Reflections: Walks Through African-American Paris

By Christian Anderson & Monique Y. Wells
(Non Fiction)

“This guidebook takes the reader on six walking tours through the historic districts of Paris where, for more than two centuries, African Americans have lived, worked, and created a rich and vibrant legacy of achievement in art, literature, science, business, sport, social reform, and other fields. From the 18th to the 20th century, the Parisian legacy of African Americans has been shaped by such women and men as Sally Hemings, Ada Bricktop Smith, Jack Johnson, Josephine Baker, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Sidney Bechet, and James Baldwin.”

Paris: A Love Story

By Kati Marton
(Memoir)

“In this remarkably honest and candid memoir, award-winning journalist and distinguished author Kati Marton narrates an impassioned and romantic story of love, loss, and life after loss.

At every stage of her life, Paris offers Marton beauty and excitement, and now, after the sudden death of her husband Richard Holbrooke, it offers a chance for a fresh beginning. With intimate and nuanced portraits of Peter Jennings, the man to whom she was married for fifteen years and with whom she had two children, and Richard, with whom she found enduring love, Marton paints a vivid account of an adventuresome life in the stream of history. Inspirational and deeply human, Paris: A Love Story will touch every generation.”

Book Club | 5 French Holiday Reads for December 2020

Bonjour December! The holiday season is officially underway, the chestnuts are roasting on a proverbial open fire, and it’s the first weekend of the month—which means it’s time for a new round of French Book Club favorites.

Few things in the world are more beautiful than Christmas in Paris, and since it’s safe to assume that many of us won’t be seeing La Tour Eiffel under a blanket of niege this year, let’s bring the French spirit of Nöel to us, shall we?

From fictional holiday expat romances, a wartime tale of passion and human resilience, and an anthology of classic winter stories by acclaimed French literary luminaries, to a film critic’s 2008 memoir chronicling the daunting task of preparing a holiday banquet for his new bride’s large extended French family—‘tis the season for some holiday happiness.

Click each of the titles below to shop, and take a look back on last month’s picks here.

Book Club | 5 French Holiday Reads for December 2020

Last Christmas in Paris

By Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Historical Fiction

“An unforgettably romantic novel that spans four Christmases (1914-1918), Last Christmas in Paris explores the ruins of war, the strength of love, and the enduring hope of the Christmas season.

August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris. But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…”

A Very French Christmas:

The Greatest French Holiday Stories of All Time

By Various
Anthology

“This collection brings together the best French Christmas stories of all time in an elegant and vibrant volume featuring classics by Guy de Maupassant and Alphonse Daudet, plus stories by the esteemed twentieth century author Irène Némirovsky and contemporary writers Dominique Fabre and Jean-Philippe Blondel.

With a holiday spirit conveyed through sparkling Paris streets, opulent feasts, wandering orphans, kindly monks, homesick soldiers, oysters, ham, bonbons, flickering desire, and more than a little wine, this collection encapsulates Noël and proves that the French have mastered Christmas. This is Christmas à la française―delicious, intense and unexpected―proving that nobody does Christmas like the French.”

Christmas in Paris

By Anita Hughes
Fiction

“Isabel Lawson is standing on the balcony of her suite at the Hôtel de Crillon as she gazes at the twinkling lights of the Champs-Élysées and wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake. She was supposed to be visiting the Christmas tree in the Place de la Concorde, and eating escargots and macarons with her new husband on their honeymoon. But a week before the wedding, she called it off.

When Neil suggested she use their honeymoon tickets, she thought it would give her a chance to clear her head. That is, until she locks herself out on the balcony in the middle of winter. Thankfully, her neighbor, Alec, a French children’s book illustrator, comes to her rescue. He, too, is nursing a broken heart at the Crillon over the holidays. With Alec by her side, she begins to enjoy Paris at Christmas. But after a chance encounter with a fortune-teller and a close call with a taxi, she starts to question everything she thought was important.”

Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas

By John Baxter
Memoir

“A witty cultural and culinary education, Immoveable Feast is the charming, funny, and improbable tale of how a man who was raised on white bread—and didn't speak a word of French—unexpectedly ended up with the sacred duty of preparing the annual Christmas dinner for a venerable Parisian family.

Ernest Hemingway called Paris "a moveable feast"—a city ready to embrace you at any time in life. For Los Angeles–based film critic John Baxter, that moment came when he fell in love with a French woman and impulsively moved to Paris to marry her. As a test of his love, his skeptical in-laws charged him with cooking the next Christmas banquet—for eighteen people in their ancestral country home. Baxter's memoir of his yearlong quest takes readers along his misadventures and delicious triumphs as he visits the farthest corners of France in search of the country's best recipes and ingredients. Irresistible and fascinating, Immoveable Feast is a warmhearted tale of good food, romance, family, and the Christmas spirit, Parisian style.”

One Christmas in Paris

By Mandy Baggot
Fiction

“Ava and her best friend Debs arrive in Paris just as the snow starts to fall. The Eiffel Tower glitters gold and the scent of spiced wine is all around, but all Ava can think about is Leo, her no-good, cheating ex.

Debs is on a mission to make Ava smile again, and as they tour the Christmas markets, watch lamplight glittering on the river Seine, and eat their body weight in pain-au-chocolat, Ava remembers there’s more to life than men... until they cross paths with handsome, mysterious photographer Julien with his French accent and hazelnut eyes that seem to see right inside her.

Ava can’t ignore the intense chemistry between them, but her fingers have been burned before and she can’t forget it, especially when her ex, Leo, starts texting again. Can Ava really trust Julien – and what exactly is his secret?”

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Book Club | 5 French Reads for Novembre 2020

it’s Novembre, and the beginning of a new round of lockdowns for nos amis around the world, specifically in France and the UK.

Whether you’re staying home by choice or by government order, enjoy the cozy weather of the pre-holiday season curled up with this mix of five French memoirs, nonfiction, and lifestyle guides.

Take a look back at October’s picks here, and September’s here.

Top 5 French Reads for November 2020

Why French Women Wear Vintage

By Aloïs Guinut
Style Guide

“Stylish women everywhere are realizing the environmental damage of fast fashion on the planet and looking for new ways to dress that don't involve cramming the wardrobe with clothes that may never get worn…French women have a lot to teach us about how to cherish the planet without sacrificing your style.”

THE SHARPER YOUR KNIFE, THE LESS YOU CRY

Kathleen Flinn
Memoir

“Kathleen Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old middle manager trapped on the corporate ladder - until her boss eliminated her job. Instead of sulking, she took the opportunity to check out of the rat race for good - cashing in her savings, moving to Paris, and landing a spot at the venerable Le Cordon Blue cooking school…Filled with rich, sensual details of her time in the kitchen - the ingredients, cooking techniques, wine, and more than two dozen recipes - and the vibrant sights and sounds of the markets, shops, and avenues of Paris, it is also a journey of self-discovery, transformation, and, ultimately, love.

L’APPART

By David Lebovitz
Memoir

“When David Lebovitz began the project of updating his apartment in his adopted home city, he never imagined he would encounter so much inexplicable red tape while contending with perplexing work ethic and hours. Lebovitz maintains his distinctive sense of humor with the help of his partner Romain, peppering this renovation story with recipes from his Paris kitchen. In the midst of it all, he reveals the adventure that accompanies carving out a place for yourself in a foreign country—under baffling conditions—while never losing sight of the magic that inspired him to move to the City of Light many years ago, and to truly make his home there.”

LUNCH IN PARIS

By Elizabeth Bard
Memoir

“Lunch in Paris is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs -- one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine…She learns to gut her first fish (with a little help from Jane Austen), soothe pangs of homesickness (with the rise of a chocolate soufflé), and develops a crush on her local butcher (who bears a striking resemblance to Matt Dillon). Elizabeth finds that the deeper she immerses herself in the world of French cuisine, the more Paris itself begins to translate. French culture, she discovers, is not unlike a well-ripened cheese -- there may be a crusty exterior, until you cut through to the melting, piquant heart.”

THE LIBERATION OF PARIS

By Jean Edward Smith
Nonfiction

“Following their breakout from Normandy in late June 1944, the Allies swept across northern France in pursuit of the German army…Charles de Gaulle, the leading figure of the Free French government, urged General Dwight Eisenhower to divert forces to liberate Paris. Eisenhower’s advisers recommended otherwise, but Ike wanted to help position de Gaulle to lead France after the war…Neither man knew that the German commandant, Dietrich von Choltitz, convinced that the war was lost, schemed to surrender the city to the Allies intact, defying Hitler’s orders to leave it a burning ruin.”

Book Club | 5 French Reads for Octobre 2020

Escapism is the new travel in 2020, which means we’re turning to our literary friends to take us where we need to go, ces jours.

Since my personal collection of French reads—memoirs, novels, historical fiction and nonfiction—is ever growing, I’ve curated a book club selection to share personal favorites and newer titles that top my never-ending “To Read” list.

I hope you’ll enjoy curling up with one—or all—of these, and taking a journey to France through the eyes of these wonderful writers.

I welcome you to share vos pensées, as well as any suggestions for next month!

Take a look back at September’s picks here.

Top 5 French Reads for October 2020

The Seine: The River that Made Paris

By Elaine Sciolino
Nonfiction

“Elaine Sciolino came to Paris as a young foreign correspondent and was seduced by a river. In The Seine, she tells the story of that river from its source on a remote plateau of Burgundy to the wide estuary where its waters meet the sea, and the cities, tributaries, islands, ports, and bridges in between.”

Provence 1970

By Luke Barr
Memoir

“Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now.”

The Little Paris Bookshop

By Nina George
Fiction

“Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.”

My Good Life in France

By Janine Marsh
Memoir

“One grey dismal day, Janine Marsh was on a trip to northern France to pick up some cheap wine. She returned to England a few hours later having put in an offer on a rundown old barn in the rural Seven Valleys area of Pas de Calais…Janine eventually gave up her job in London to move with her husband to live the good life in France. Or so she hoped.”

Somewhere in France

By Jennifer Robson
Historical Fiction

“Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford wants to travel the world, pursue a career, and marry for love. But in 1914, the stifling restrictions of aristocratic British society and her mother’s rigid expectations forbid Lilly from following her heart. When war breaks out, the spirited young woman seizes her chance for independence. Defying her parents, she moves to London and eventually becomes an ambulance driver in the newly formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps—an exciting and treacherous job that takes her close to the Western Front.”

French Book Club | 5 French Reads for Labor Day Weekend

5 French Reads for Labor Day Weekend

Believe it or not, this isn’t even half of my French book collection.

Whomever once claimed that reading is the best form of escapism, clearly lived through a pandemic.

There’s something decidedly medieval about life in 2020. It’s given us a glimpse backwards, showing us what daily existence must have felt like for William Shakespeare and his contemporaries during the times of pestilence and the Bubonic Plague—with the added comforts of Netflix and Youtube workouts, of course.

International travel is still at a stand-still for the time being, meaning that—for now—we’ll have to travel to France the way that our forefathers did: through our imaginations, and the immortal pages of contemporary scribes.

Check out this fascinating New Yorker article about the history of pandemics, or if you’re looking something a little more uplifting to read on your holiday weekend, behold a list of some of favorite novels, memoirs, and historical perspectives on life in France. I’ve always been a reader, and I love experiencing ma belle ville through different eyes.

So pour thee a glass of thine blackberry wine and buckle up m’lady, because I’m about to share five French favorites from my collection.

5 French Reads for Labor Day Weekend

Paris Dreaming

By Katrina Lawrence
Memoir

“How the City of Light gave her lessons in life: an Australian beauty journalist shares her obsession with Paris - the city that has been her guide through a lifelong journey of self-discovery. Taking us on a journey around Paris's most spectacular sights, hidden secrets and most beguiling nooks and crannies, Katrina tells us the story of why this city has been her constant inspiration through all stages of life.”

How to Make a French Family

By Samantha Verant
Memoir

“Take one French widower, his two young children, and drop a former city girl from Chicago into a small town in southwestern France. Shake vigorously... and voilá: a blended Franco-American family whose lives will all drastically change.”

Dress Like a Parisian

Aloïs Guinut
Style Guide

“Bring a Parisian je ne sais quoi to your style, wherever you live. Dress Like a Parisian is a wise and witty guide to finding your personal style, taking inspiration from how real Parisian women dress. With personal stylist and fashion blogger Aloïs Guinut as your guide, you can explore which colors, shapes and styles work best for you, whatever the occasion.”

A Paris Apartment

By Michelle Gable
Semi Fiction

“Based on the fascinating true story of a treasure-stocked Parisian apartment opened for the first time in seventy years. April Vogt, Sotheby's continental furniture specialist, is speechless when a Paris apartment shuttered for seventy years is discovered in the ninth arrondissement. Beneath the cobwebs and stale perfumed air is a goldmine…”

Seven Ages of Paris

Alistair Horne
Non Fiction

“In this luminous portrait of Paris, the celebrated historian gives us the history, culture, disasters, and triumphs of one of the world’s truly great cities. From the rise of Philippe Auguste through the reigns of Henry IV and Louis XIV…Napoleon’s rise and fall; Baron Haussmann’s rebuilding of Paris…the Belle Epoque and the Great War that brought it to an end; the Nazi Occupation, the Liberation, and the postwar period dominated by de Gaulle--Horne brings the city’s highs and lows, savagery and sophistication, and heroes and villains splendidly to life.”

L'Hôtel | Madeline Memories at the Oceana Hotel

“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines…”

It may not be old, or in Paris, but I’ve always loved the aesthetic of the Oceana Hotel in Santa Monica. Greenery engulfs the entire façade, reminding me of the Madeline children’s book series I adored so much as a child. The story centers on the adventures of a precocious little girl in a Parisian boarding school with eleven other enfants and their chaperone, Miss Clavel.

Madeline, the book that launched a thousand spin-offs.

The original story was published in 1939 by Ludwig Bemelmans, and has developed into a full media franchise—including sequels, spinoffs, an animated 1990s limited tv series narrated by Christopher Plummer (aka the studly Captain Von Trappe from The Sound of Music), and a 1998 major motion picture— ever since.

On a different note, I’m also loving the romantic elements of this silky Bardot midi dress, which reminds me of a refreshing scoop of glâce de pistache, or the interior of Ladurée.

Le Peignoir | A Robe By Any Other Name

Few things in life feel more luxurious than slipping into a plush hotel robe.

Fun fact: our English word “robe” (short for ‘bathrobe”) actually translates to “dress” in the French language. I’m wearing un peignoir here, which is the French word for “bathrobe,” but we actually use it in English to refer to a nightie of sorts. The kind you’d imagine worn by, say, Blanche Devereaux from the Golden Girls.

Confused yet?

If so, imagine how weird it sounded when my French ex would ask for his peignoir!

If anyone needs me, I’ll be curled up like this—why yes, I always curl up in a pair of stilettos—getting lost in Australian Francophile Katrina Lawrence’s version of Paris, via her newest memoir, Paris Dreaming—which she so kindly sent to me—and waiting for room service to bring me my hamburger—or as the French pronounce it: ham-bur-jay.

Bonne journée from Phoenix, Arizona.