Book review of French Holidays and Traditions by Margo Lestz

It is the twelfth day of Christmas and the end of my Twelve Days review series, but don’t worry I still have plenty of books set in France to share with you this year.

French Holidays and Traditions by Margo Lestz

I thought it would be appropriate to finish this series with French Holidays & Traditions by Margo Lestz as this book starts with explaining the traditions behind the Galette des Rois that is eaten all over France today, but do you know what is different about the galette that is made for the President? I do, thanks to Margo.

This isn’t a long book, but it is an informative and a witty one. I learnt a lot, as despite knowing about most of the traditions behind the holidays, I didn’t always know where they had come from and why, and now I do. Written month by month and covering all public holidays, fêtes and other French traditions, this book is interesting, humorous and illustrated with funny cartoons. If you want to know about sticky paper fish, flying church bells and kissing bare bottoms, (and if you live in France or want to, you should know these things), this book will enlighten and entertain you. I've even learnt things that some of my French neighbours didn't know!

This book is the first in a series of curious histories and I can’t wait to read more from Margo. You can follow her blog here and find her on Twitter too. French Holidays & Traditions is available in ebook and paperback format and links to Amazon are below. I was sent a copy of this book by Margo for an honest review.

Book reviews of The Hugo Marston novels by Mark Pryor

It’s the eleventh Day of Christmas and you may have noticed that most of my Twelve Days of reviews have been for memoirs. This will come as no surprise when you realise I am a very nosy person and love to read about other people’s lives, but today, in order to redress the balance a little I’ve four fiction novels to share: The Hugo Marston novels by Mark Pryor. The Bookseller (A Hugo Marston Novel Series) The Crypt Thief and The Blood Promise are set in Paris and the prequel The Button Man is set in London and the Home Counties.

Let me introduce you to Hugo Marston, ex FBI, now working as the Head of Security at the US Embassy in Paris who speaks fluent French and likes nothing better than walking the streets of Paris and taking time for a coffee and croissant in a quiet Parisian café. He does seem to make a habit of finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and unwittingly becoming involved in the strange goings on of the underworld, but I found him to be a very likeable and believable character, an understated hero. I may even have a literary crush on him, if I’m honest. He is tall, with thick, light brown hair, warm brown eyes, a sharp mind and likes to keep himself in shape. I’d run the risk of drive-by shootings, kidnaps and other mysterious happenings to meet him for coffee in Paris any day. Here is my little synopsis of each novel:

The Bookseller, the first Hugo Marston novel.

Hugo has a soft spot for expensive books from the booksellers along the banks of the Seine and makes a friend of one of them, Max. When strange things and mysterious disappearances occur within the Bouquiniste community, no one is willing to talk and the police seem reluctant to look into it. Hugo seems to become involved by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but with his FBI training and his friend missing he can’t just leave and walk away. Piece by piece and with the right help he slowly starts to understand what is going on, but not before more dead bodies start piling up around him. Will time run out before Hugo gets to the bottom of it?

The Crypt Thief.

Bodies in a cemetery are not news, but when these are newly murdered bodies and bones from crypts around Paris are going missing, something needs investigating. As luck would have it the local police have the help of Hugo, as one of the victims is an American tourist. A friendship based on trust and respect forms between Hugo and Raul Garcia, the local police capitaine and they make a strong team along with Tom Green, Hugo’s friend from the CIA, that is sure to get to the bottom of the very dark mystery unfolding around them. Time is again of the essence, as the closer Hugo seems to get the more dramatic the situation becomes.

The Blood Promise.

The third novel in the series starts off a little differently than the others, in post-Revolution Paris when a dark secret is hidden in a compartment of a sailor’s chest. Two hundred years later, Hugo seems to have an easy assignment safeguarding a US senator who is in France on business. The situation soon spirals out of control when the senator disappears, a noble French family has it’s feathers ruffled and an old sailor’s chest seems to appear and disappear as often as the mysterious senator. The team are back, however and with Hugo, Tom and Raul answers will be found no matter who is trying to keep quiet. Like the other books this one is not without it’s body count by the time the mystery is solved.

There are many plot twists, lots of mysterious happenings and of course Paris in the first three novels and I especially loved the humour and rapport between Hugo and his secretary and his mate Tom, who pops up in more than one novel to offer him unofficial backup. These books were something a bit different from my usual reads and I thoroughly enjoyed them, being entertained and gripped by the plots in equal measure. Paris never disappoints as a location and if you are looking for something a bit different to new life in Paris memoirs, or chick-lit romance in Paris then do give Hugo a try.

The Button Man.

This is the forth book to be released, but is a prequel with events taking place in the UK prior to Hugo’s posting to Paris, although Paris does make a brief appearance too. An American movie star couple hit the headlines when their reckless driving kills a local landowner in rural England. We have more disappearances, more bodies and more suspicious circumstances, as well as an elite club Hugo is desperate to gain access to. The killer is clever, but again piece by piece Hugo puts the puzzle together just in time.

The Hugo Marston books are published by Seventh Street Books and available in paperback and ebook format. Links to Amazon are below. 

Book review of Ten Trees and a Truffle Dog by Jamie Ivey

It’s the tenth day of Christmas and so it seemed a good idea to review Ten Trees and a Truffle Dog: Sniffing Out the Perfect Plot in Provence by Jamie Ivey today. This is Jamie’s forth memoir about his life in France and follows on from his Rosé trilogy. I really enjoyed his first book, Extremely Pale Rose: A Quest for the Palest Rose in France where Jamie, his wife Tanya  and friend Peter set off on a tour of France to find the palest rosé wine they could, following a bet made in a Provencal restaurant. This led to them falling in love with Provence where they tried to make selling rosé wine their livelihood. I really wish I could tell you that I’ve read all of the books, but unfortunately I can’t. I’m missing book two La Vie en Rose and don’t want to read book three Rose En Marche: Running A Market Stall In Provence before it. Twice a year I visit a local second hand book sale with close to 40,000 books to rummage through and although books one and three are always popping up, number two is proving impossible to come by. Having spoken to Jamie via social media it seems unlikely the Rosé trilogy will be released in ebook format, which is a big disappointment to me.

However, Ten Trees and a Truffle Dog is about a new chapter in Jamie’s life and I just couldn’t resist jumping ahead of myself. Now that they have a baby on the way, it is time for Jamie and Tanya to put down roots and settle into family life in Provence. What could be more perfect than a plot of land in a perfect location, giving them the chance to build the perfect house and that comes with it’s own prized truffle oak trees? Well, without giving too much away, let’s just say they hadn’t bargained on health issues, building (and especially dodgy builder) issues, puppy training issues and poachers. Jamie was able to turn these issues into an amusing read and he also included lots of delicious food delights of the region, washed down with a generous supply of rosé wine and I was in my element.

If you enjoy a memoir about the ups and downs of family life in Provence, are interested in the food and wine of France and you want to learn more about the delicious truffle and how to find it, I can recommend this book. I am also pleased to say that unlike the first three books this one is available in ebook and paperback, published by Summersdale. Links to Amazon are below.

Book review of A Pig in Provence by Georgeanne Brennan

It’s the ninth day of Christmas and my review today is for A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France by Georgeanne Brennan. This is a memoir of life in Provence, but before you think to yourself ‘Oh no, not another one’, this is a little bit different, I promise. This book is a tale of Provence from yesteryear and shares exactly what it says in the title – the good food and simple pleasures of life in Provence.

Georgeanne Brennan memoir

The author is a well-known food writer (in the States) but I will be honest and say this book was my first experience of her work and I really enjoyed it. Georgeanne shares her family’s adventure when they move to Provence in the 1970’s to get back to basics, raising pigs, goats and chickens and learning how to make traditional goats cheese. I was surprised to read that at that time there were very few family farms still making their own cheeses, but with a bit of research and a lot of trial and error, Georgeanne discovers a gap in the market and begins to sell her cheeses.

Along with their family journey she explains many Provencal dishes and describes lots of meals with French neighbours and extended family. In doing so she takes us back to a forgotten time when food was simple, fresh and local and family time spent eating together was just as important as what was served. The long, simple meals with local wines, seated under large trees in summer and by warm firesides in winter are in her words “the essence of the good life well lived”. I couldn’t agree more.

A Pig in Provence is available in ebook format and a link to Amazon is below. It may also be possible to get a second hand copy of the hardback and paperback versions too.

Book review of Journeys Through France and Life by Glenda De Vaney

It’s the eighth Day of Christmas and I am working my way through twelve  days of reviews of books set in France. My review today is for Journeys Through France and Life by Glenda De Vaney, a memoir that reflects the New Year/new start theme. This book starts as an enjoyable travel memoir of extended holidays in France, albeit often under the cloud of her husband’s erratic behaviour, but turns into a very readable life story the week her life changed forever. When her son is diagnosed with schizophrenia, her husband wants no involvement and something (call it maternal instinct) kicks in and gives her the courage to walk away from the emotional abuse she has lived with for twenty years and start her life again.

This is not an easy period in her life, but with time she learned to live alongside her son, giving him the space to cope with the voices in his head and ensuring no matter what her mothering instincts were, she didn’t fuss over him. Sharing their difficult journey was very brave and very insightful. From her previous holidays, France had weaved its magic and despite the change in her circumstances it was never far from her mind. Creatively she used her many photos taken in France to make and sell original framed prints as well as giving animated talks to share her love and photographs of France. She soon found she needed to return and bravely set off on road trips to France alone; hiring a car, battling directions, traffic and driving with the French to visit many lovely villages and chateaux over a number of years.

Glenda writes an honest and emotional book, whether she is sharing a delicious French meal, a troubled episode with her son or a panic on foreign soil when things don’t go to plan. Despite her love of France, I felt there were irreconcilable differences between her way and the French way and there were times, especially on her final trip, when I failed to grasp whether it was her tongue-in-cheek humour or if she really was blaming ‘France’ for getting lost. Although I can’t agree with all of her opinions of France and the French I did enjoy her book.

Journeys Through France and Life is available in ebook and paperback format and links to Amazon can be found below. I was sent a copy of this book by the author for an honest review.

Book review of Revolutionary French Cooking by Daniel Galmiche

It’s the sixth day of Christmas and my review today is for Revolutionary French Cooking by Daniel Galmiche. This is his second French cookbook, you can see my review for French Brasserie Cookbook: The Heart of French Home Cooking and a recipe here.

The motto of the French Revolution: Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité form the three main sections of this book. In the first section, Liberté, the recipes are released from the shackles of traditional French cooking methods. In part two, Egalité, Daniel brings democracy to the recipes by elevating humble ingredients to take on the starring roles. In the last section, Fraternité, he celebrates the traditional brotherhoods, bringing innovation to classic combinations of ingredients. Daniel shares the twists and innovative touches that he uses to rejuvenate and energise the traditional French cuisine. He shows how wonderful French food can be when used as sound foundation on which to build on, taking quality
ingredients and treating them with care and respect to create a range of delicious dishes.

I really enjoyed reading my way through his ideas and he grabbed my attention from the off by including homemade stock at the start of the book, perfect. I also liked the useful sections on home drying foods (without professional dehydrators) and smoking foods. As usual with a new cookbook, I have made a list of the recipes I want to try and they include:

Pot-roasted cider and paprika chicken – I might substitute Piment d’Espelette (my new kitchen friend after our trip to the Basque region).

Butternut Squash and saffron risotto – I’ve never thought of mashing the squash in a risotto before.

Jerusalem artichoke velouté - we have loads that are ready to harvest.

Pumpkin and goats cheese lasagne - using thin slices of pumpkin for the lasagne sheets.

Red onion tarte tatin – I love cooked onions.

Chocolate cookies – what can I say by yum, yum!

This is probably not a book for traditional French food lovers, but one to try if you like the idea of a more modern look at French cuisine.

Both of Daniel’s books are available in hardback and ebook format and links to Amazon are below. At the time of writing this the kindle version of Revolutionary French Cooking is only £1.02.

Book review of Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

It's the Fifth day of Christmas and my review today is for Lunch in Paris: A Delicious Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard. This memoir is a delicious look at life in Paris, seen through the eyes of Elizabeth, an American, who falls for Paris as well as a Frenchman.

Lunch in Paris

Elizabeth sets a lovely scene as she takes us through the special times spent around the dining table learning the French way, from simple daily lunches to large family get togethers. She shares her daily visits to her local market and if you have seen the film Notting Hill (and if you haven't you should) you may remember when the lady walks down the market and the seasons change around her. I love that film and I could visualise Elizabeth doing the same in her little corner of Paris.

As her life in Paris develops, she adds her own family food to her French dining table and includes her French family in her Jewish celebrations, often giving them a French twist. This book includes some of her favourite recipes and I have marked out some that I will be giving a go, although none of them seem too complicated. Although food is important, this book is also about language, love and making a life for yourself in a new country.

At the end of the book Elizabeth offers a reading list and I will certainly be looking up some of her suggestions as if there is one thing I love it is reading! 

I know from following her on Twitter and Facebook that her French life has moved on, but food is still very important to their family life as they now run Scaramouche, an ice cream and sorbet shop in Cereste, Provence. She will also be releasing her second book very soon, Picnic in Provence: A Tale of Love in France, with Recipes and I can't wait.

If food and France are your thing, you will really enjoy this book.

Book review of My Grape Village by Laura Bradbury

My Grape Village, Laura Bradbury

It's the forth day of Christmas and my review today is for My Grape Village: Uncorking la belle vie in France with my family the second memoir about life and renovations in Burgundy by Laura Bradbury. You can read my review of her first book My Grape Escape here. Although I would recommend starting with book one, it isn’t essential.

Laura and French husband Franck are back in Burgundy to work on another semi-derelict rental project with a tight deadline, however, this time they have the added complication of two daughters under five to settle into a new life and school in France. I really enjoyed Laura’s writing style in her first memoir as she writes in a very readable and honest way and is not afraid of telling the bad along with the good. Her openness shows us a slice of real Burgundian life and I’m pleased to say her second book did not disappoint. It was lovely to be back with them and sharing in their new plans, the excitement, the stress, the worry and the celebrations, of which there were a few.

We are not all able to marry into a French family like Laura, but she gracefully shares the French way and traditions of her French family. These often involve large family gatherings where good food and local Burgundian wine play as important a part as the people. I did wonder, with all the social niceties to be observed, how there would ever be time for renovations, but I’d quite like to have been at their kitchen table for aperos too. There are many differences between the life in Canada the girls were used to and their new life in France, but the children adapted really well, although I could sympathise with the worries Laura was experiencing. She also often made me laugh when she was describing the challenges she faced, like learning to drive a geared (stick shift) car in the narrow streets of Beaune and finding a proper sized tree for their first family Christmas in France.

Both of Laura’s books are available in paperback and ebook format and links to Amazon are below.

If you would like to experience their Burgundain life firsthand, or see the finished product of all their hard work, you can check out their rental site here. I know Laura is working on her next memoir and I can’t wait.

Book review of Take Three Birds by Jilli Lime-Holt

It’s the Third Day of Christmas and here is my review for Take Three Birds by Jilli Lime-Holt.

Take Three Birds is a group memoir of a short trip to the Auvergne region in France. This book is different. It is a modern day social (media) history experiment written by three authors who decide to leave the security of the Internet, meet in person for the first time and write about their experiences honestly.

I found this book funny from the outset as included alongside their individual humorous writings are copies of their planning email and text conversations that portray them as plain bonkers and left me wanting to read more. Their plan to meet isn’t without a few problems; namely they live in three different countries (the UK, Italy and France), none of them are the travelling types and they really don’t know each other, just the image portrayed from the words their fingers type on their keyboards. Add in an 18 year old Fiat Punto as their main transport between Italy and France, with no contingency plan and there is plenty that could go wrong. In truth they really had no idea what they were getting themselves into; from taking a first ever flight, turning up at a strangers house, taking an unknown road trip in a foreign land and inviting strangers to stay in your house. If this book was written by, or for, teens it could be dangerous, but it also shows just what is possible with a bit of hope and a sense of adventure. Be brave and just go for it, things may go wrong, but you may also find laughter and friendship that raises your spirits and your soul.

This was a quick read that often had me giggling along with their antics, but I was already on-line friends of two of them and enjoy their writing, so it was like being in the company of friends. This made me think of the appeal of this book to readers who have no idea of the world of social media or who are new to the writing of these three ladies. Would they get it?  Well all I can say is that I hope so as it is very entertaining and as I haven’t yet read all of their respective memoirs, reading this made me want to carry on reading more from them.

Take Three Birds is available in ebook and paperback format and links to Amazon can be found below. Tottie Limejuice is the author of three memoirs set in France and you can read my review of her first book Sell the Pig: a travel tale with a twist (Sell the Pig series Book 1) here. You can also read my France et Moi interview with her here. Jill Pennington is the author of The diary of a single parent abroad a memoir about her life in Italy. Janet Holt shares her unusual life in her memoir The Stranger In My Life. You can follow the Three Birds on their Facebook page here, where you can see the photos taken when they got together.

Book reviews of Bon Courage and Bon Chance by Richard Wiles

It’s the Second Day of Christmas so it seemed a good idea to post a double review today for Bon Courage!: A French Renovation in Rural Limousin and Bonne Chance!: Building a Life in Rural France by Richard Wiles, his memoirs of renovating and settling into rural Limousin life.

Bon Courage!

Richard and his wife Al want to put down some roots in France and fall in love with a large barn in the Limousin that comes with enough land to fulfil Richard’s dream of owning llamas, as well as plenty of renovation work to keep them busy, once they have evicted the rats. This is a gently paced, enjoyable memoir written in a friendly style with a great mix of renovation tales from the good and the bad, to the tricky and the leaky. Richard has been writing about home renovations and DIY projects for many years and is also the author of Dictionary of French Building Terms: Essential for Renovators, Builders and Home-Owners so he was quite detailed when describing the work they were carrying out. This makes the memoir useful and informative as well as entertaining.

As they settle into their rural French renovation, family issues in the UK slightly shadow the excitement, but their relationship came across as strong, fun and able to withstand the pressures of working, renovating and living apart for long periods of time. We learn alongside them about some of the local fêtes and traditions and we meet the characters who welcome them, hear about the disputes in the hamlet and the generosity they find, including the odd shaped vegetables that appear at their front door.

This is the first of two books and sets the scene nicely with just enough tasters as to where they wanted their French life to go. It left me ready to read more, so I jumped straight into Bon Chance!

Bon Chance!

With the rats gone, the neighbours cows evicted and the barn looking and feeling more like home Richard and Al are settling into life in France together and enjoying sharing their new entertaining space. The time is right to add the new members to their family which gives him the opportunity to entertain us with his tales on llama farming.

Life in France ticks over despite the worst the weather, French bureaucracy and life in general can throw their way and Richard is able to write a very funny account of rural French life even when things don’t quite go to plan. Through his love of hot air ballooning and marathon running, that earn him bemused looks from his French neighbours, we get to share in life outside (and above) the hamlet too. As well as his descriptions of the nature he loves, I especially enjoyed his chapter on the city of Limoges. I just wish I had read it before the rather damp morning I spent there this year where I now realise I missed most of the best bits.

I felt a little bereft at the end, as I’d finished two great memoirs, I'd enjoyed his writing style and I’d love to read more from Richard.

Book review of One Day Ahead by Richard Grady

One Day Ahead Richard Grady

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day and that you've got some time to relax between now and the New Year. If so, I’ve got some great books lined up to whisk you away to France for a mini book-holiday. Today is the first post in my Twelve Days of Christmas series where I will be sharing some more of my favourite books set in France. We will be touring the whole of the country, stopping off in the Limousin, Auvergne, Burgundy, Paris and Provence as well as visiting the French overseas departments. There will be novels, cookbooks and memoirs; where the authors share their travelling, renovations, gardens and food.

If you are sitting comfortably, I will begin.

It’s the First Day of Christmas and so appropriately my review today is for One Day Ahead: A Tour de France Misadventure by Richard Grady.

This book follows a team of four charity bike riders who set themselves the challenge to ride the complete 2012 Tour de France route, one day ahead of the pro-riders. It is written by Richard, a sometime cyclist, but for this trip part of their small back-up team and the driver of Motorhome 1. It would be true to say that from the beginning Richard was a reluctant team member, but his general grumpiness gave some real humour to the writing and I enjoyed this book from the outset.

It was never going to be an easy three week, 5000km trip around France and Richard writes a very funny account of their daily routine; the squabbles, the issues, the pain and the suffering and he often had me laughing at his quips. He certainly highlights the issues that arise with lots of people working hard to follow a gruelling schedule and living together in small spaces. The cyclists might have had the mountain passes to climb and over 200km in the saddle each day, but the back-up teams had the driving, shopping, cooking and washing to do, plus had to ensure there was always enough water onboard and that the motorhome toilet was regularly emptied. Richard would say the cyclists had it easy!

Interspersed with the events of their day Richard gives us just enough information on the Tour rules and the history of the event to add interest without it becoming a history fact book and as each day comes to a close, he includes a brief summery of events on the real 2012 Tour and the positions of the pro-riders. Delivered in his humorous style, this gave the book a well-rounded feel and helped me to relive the excitement of Bradley Wiggins winning the Yellow Jersey. I was sorry to get to the end of their adventure.

If France and cycling interest you and you like a book to make you laugh, this is a perfect book.

One Day Ahead is available in paperback and ebook format and links to Amazon are below. You can find Richard at his website, on Twitter and on Facebook.