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Saturday, May 24

Place des Vosges - Contest

I am sewing up a STORM! Do I owe you something? I have an enormous amount of packages going out on Tuesday.
I haven't been able to sew but 30 minutes a day, and that is barely enough time to cut out a sleeve at the rate I go. Now, however, I have 3 whole days of clear sewing time.

I leave for France on Wednesday morn. I will be in Paris 3d/2n, and then I am off to
Moutas to assist with cooking classes. After that, back to Paris for 4d/3n. This will not be a shopping adventure... that was last year.

This is the year to sit around Place des Vosges, and read a book.

I feel a contest!

Whomever suggests a book, that I should read, and do, while sitting around in Paris (doesn't HAVE to be P.des V.), and it's AMAZING will win a really nice short sleeve linen top from the catalog. It isn't in there yet, but trust me!

Two suggestions per person, and if more than one person reccomends the same book, and I read it, the winner will be the first person.

The winner will be announced when I return. FUN! Interesting! been done before....

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

street of crocodiles by bruno schulz! or baron in the trees by italo calvino. have fun!

la belle fille said...

Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (the movie is a mere shadow of the book!) or Madame Bovary by Flaubert (gotta recommend something French)...enjoy your trip!

C.L. Davis said...

I love getting book recommendations myself. I have two which are very different. First is The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll by Jean Nathan (they even mention the home-sewing that was done) and for light-hearted fun, Caramba! by Nina Marie Martinez. Have a good trip!

Anonymous said...

oh..."madame bovary" by flaubert...."letters on cézanne" by rilke.
nancy

kelly said...

hey there lisa...
i'm going to recommend kafka on the shore by haruki murakami. i just think it's strangely beautiful (as are most of his books) and although it's been a while since i read it, i still can't get it out of my head.

Erin said...

Found your blog recently and was delighted to see a contest! I would definitely recommend Fall On Your Knees by Ann Marie Macdonald, and Full Moon Feast (amazing book about food) by Jessica Prentice. Have a great trip!!

Rusulica said...

Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita
Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar

enjoy your stay. i loove to go to a foreign city/country and not to act like a tourist..

Anonymous said...

1)Tuesdays with Morrie
2)Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of curious character)

Have a wonderful holidays!

Unknown said...

when in paris...the many lives and secrets sorrows of josephine bonaparte by sandra gulland(you might want to bring the other two that follow..tales of passion, tales of woe, and the last great dance on earth). my 2nd suggestion...the year of magical thinking by joan didion.

Anonymous said...

Water for Elephants or The Time Traveller's Wife. Have a glorious time!

Anonymous said...

Water for Elephants or The Time Traveller's Wife. Have a glorious time!

Julie, Lee, Noah and Neve Machen said...

Camille Claudel: A Life by Odile Ayral-Clause

Read it in the Rodin sculpture garden and then venture inside the museum to take in her work as they have a large showing of it right now. Have a wonderful trip.

Caterine said...

i am belgian and i speak french so i can advise you wich novels are a hit for french speaking ladies.
the two books have been read and approved by a lot of friends of mine as well as myself :)
a quick but -oh wow!- more than amazing read is Silk by Alessandro Baricco.
another marvelous novel is Oedipe on the road by Henry Bauchau.

Kelly said...

A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (Amy Bloom), short stories perfect for a little reading, a little people watching. -kb

Anonymous said...

1. Almost French by Sarah Turnbull
2. Hunting & Gathering by Anna Gavalda. Both are light reading & good for a holiday.
If it's raining nice to places to eat and read are L'Estiminet in the Marche des Enfant Rouge (organic market) off Rue de Bretagne & Rose Bakery, 46 Rue des Martyrs.
Bon voyage!

Anonymous said...

since you are an adventure..Eat, Love, Pray...this is like food for your soul, oh and some beautiful poetry by the great Charles Baudelaire...since he is French. He has a book with all his best.
Bon Voyage!

Hyena In Petticoats said...

love this competition!

mine?

Life: A Users Manual by Georges Perec,

or

The Passion by Jeanette Winterson.

Have fun in Paris!

Leah xxx

Alix said...

I once spent a summer in a garret room in Place de Vosges. Me and a potters wheel!
I recommend "Ali and Nino" by Kurban Said (Lev Nussimbaum)
Get lost in this dramatic romance set in Azerbaijan... then suddenly remember where you are, sip your tea, and Paris will seem more amazing.

Pan said...

1 - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (She's absolutely brillant. Who would have thought a graphic novel could be so witty, insightful and touching? Plus her work studio is located at Place de Vosges. Who knows, you might spot Marjane sipping an espresso and puffing away at one of the local cafes!)

2- Oran, langue morte by Assia Djebar (The Tongue's Blood Does Not Run Dry is the English title if you don't read French)

Anonymous said...

I'm a french librarian, so i feel inclined to answer your call ;o)
Have a good trip !
Life: a user's manuel by PEREC
and
A woman's story by annie Ernaux

Anonymous said...

Would be lovely to sit outside with a Coca Cola and lemon and
the Alabama Stitch book by Chanin,
Stuken, Rausch. also Words in a French Life.

marj

gnoriep said...

Wish You Well
by David Baldacci

Have a great trip! Bon Voyage!

Unknown said...

Hi Lisa,

I recommend Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and The Linnet Bird by Linda Holeman.
Have a great trip.

theaftermathkitchen said...

The Architecture of Happiness or The Art of Travel
Alain de Botton

Perfume
Patrick Suskind

so said...

THE LITTLE FRIEND by donna tarte
i couldn't put this down...

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL by anthony bourdain
you will laugh out loud (at least i did!)

have fun in paris lisa!
(nutella crepes!) :)

...i'm so envious!

Anonymous said...

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

jennifer said...

I'm currently carrying around a copy of The Flaneur by Edmund White for reading in the parks here in Brooklyn, but I can only imagine how heightened the experience would be in Place des Vosges.

From the book jacket:

"A flaneur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles through the city streets in search of adventure and fulfillment."

Secondly, maybe Practicalities by Marguerite Duras.

tyler said...

'nadja' by andre breton, among the first french surrealist works. romance to the point of haunting and delicious to read over and over again.

oh, and love the theatre jacket below. quite sweet. safe travels...

Stan Wiechers said...

distant star by roberto bolano

Bon courage!

Shayna said...

i gotta say, if you like food writing the teeniest bit, nothing is more fun than julia child's "my life in france"...easy, lazy and completely satisfying

Unknown said...

hmmm....how's about some nonfiction: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman is a good one or for fiction maybe: Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison), Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke) or Charles Palliser's Quincunx....
Anyagirl

nuttnbunny said...

What a brilliant idea! Can't wait to peruse all these offerings. My suggestions:

All the Days and Nights - William Maxwell

American Journals - Albert Camus

Travel well!

Jessica said...

Julie and Julia by Julia Powell. A witty and fun adventure in French cooking.

Catherine said...

I must admit I haven't read this in its entirety yet but what I have read is captivating (just like Sofia Coppola's film):

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber

Bon Voyage! (unoriginal but well meant)

Republic of Candy said...

Bonjour Trieste by Francoise Sagan, and
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Anonymous said...

How about "Ariel" by Plath or "Ethan Frome" by Wharton? Both are short, moving reads, I think! By the way, I love your blog and your clothing is amazing. I love it all!

tiffany... said...

oh... am i too late?
i hope not...

an excellent book to read... especially in paris...

my life in france (about julia child)

and, another one of my favorites is sputnick sweetheart by murakami

have a lovely trip lisa!

Anonymous said...

THE SLEEPING FATHER
by Matt Sharpe

I win!!!!

Signed,

W*I*L*D*C*A*T

Unknown said...

1) a widow for one year - john irving
2) the secret history - donna tartt

and...

3) valley of the dolls

have a lovely trip!

Anonymous said...

i would have to recommend siri hustvedt's 'what i loved'- my all-time favorite book. have a wonderful trip.

Jessi Halliday Mesalic said...

Hi Lisa,
I suggest:
No One Belongs Here More Than You. By:Miranda July. It will make you laugh out loud.

- Jessi

rebecca said...

Middlesex - by Jeffrey Eugenedies
and
My Family & Other Animals - Gerald Durrell

Bon Voyage!

fleur_delicious said...

hmmm...

1.) how about "Eureka Street" by Robert MacLiam Wilson? I'd liken the smart-alec humour to Trainspotting, balanced with a gravity that only becomes apparent later in the book. There's a particularly wonderful love letter to the city of Belfast, but I won't tell you which chapter - you'll know when you're there.

2.) How about Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" - I read this or Mrs. Dalloway every summer, trading off years. I'm not sure which is my favorite, but this may be particularly apt, given its narrative of people and place - a family and their vacation home in Scotland. Like Mrs. D, it's exquisitely wrought.

MJ said...

I am getting to this late, but I recommend Learning to Love You More -and- No One Belongs Here More Than You, both by the outstanding performance artist, writer, screenwriter, actress, and director, Miranda July.

Learning to Love You More is a collection of projects that were offered online and to which people responded. It's creative and striking and interesting on many levels.

The other is a collection of short stories. I find her to be interesting in the same vein that Raymond Carver is interesting -- clear-cut views of many different lives.

Let me know if you like them!