10 Upcoming Books to Get Excited For

As my to-read shelf on Goodreads is slowly getting bigger and bigger, so does my list of things to do. As a result, I have less time to read and more time to add books to my reading list. Oh well…

So, I thought I would round up 10 of the books that are coming up in 2015 and that excite me the most. Without further ado, here they are, in no particular order…

1.     The Accidental Empress by AllisonPataki 

First off, any book that is about Sisi, the Austro-Hungarian Empress, has my attention. Seriously, if you haven’t heard of her you really should. There are of course plenty of films, tv series, even a cartoon series, dedicated to the Empress, but reading a book about her is always a bit more informative. Anyway, reading the synopsis for The Accidental Empress already got me excited for this historical fiction:

“Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead.

Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world.”

2.     The Dream Lover: A novel of George Sand by Elizabeth Berg 

What I love equally as much as reading books, is reading books dedicated to the lives of novelists. After all, who wouldn’t want to know a bit more about the saucy/dramatic/tragic/funny lives of the people who have created hundreds of pages, to make us feel all those things? A novel about the ever so scandalous George Sand? Yes, please.

“George Sand was a 19th century French novelist known not only for her novels but even more for her scandalous behavior. After leaving her estranged husband, Sand moved to Paris where she wrote, wore men’s clothing, smoked cigars, and had love affairs with famous men and an actress named Marie. In an era of incredible artistic talent, Sand was the most famous female writer of her time. Her lovers and friends included Frederic Chopin, Gustave Flaubert, Franz Liszt, Eugene Delacroix, Victor Hugo, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and more. In a major departure, Elizabeth Berg has created a gorgeous novel about the life of George Sand, written in luminous prose, with exquisite insight into the heart and mind of a woman who was considered the most passionate and gifted genius of her time.”

3.     Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmer

Yet another piece of historical fiction and yet another book dedicated to a popular writer. What can you do… This one though quickly grabbed my attention as it is the story of Virginia Wolf told by her sister, Vanessa. Plus, some insight into the Bloomsbury Group. Cannot. Wait. To. Read.

“London, 1905: The city is alight with change, and the Stephen siblings are at the forefront. Vanessa, Virginia, Thoby, and Adrian are leaving behind their childhood home and taking a house in the leafy heart of avant-garde Bloomsbury. There they bring together a glittering circle of bright, outrageous artistic friends who will grow into legend and come to be known as the Bloomsbury Group. And at the center of this charmed circle are the devoted, gifted sisters: Vanessa, the painter, and Virginia, the writer.

 Each member of the group will go on to earn fame and success, but so far Vanessa Bell has never sold a painting. Virginia Woolf’s book review has just been turned down by The Times. Lytton Strachey has not published anything. E. M. Forster has finished his first novel but does not like the title. Leonard Woolf is still a civil servant in Ceylon, and John Maynard Keynes is looking for a job. Together, this sparkling coterie of artists and intellectuals throw away convention and embrace the wild freedom of being young, single bohemians in London.”

4.     The Little Paris Bookshop: A Novel by Nina George

Did you read the title of this book? Did you read the title of this blog? Ok, I am just going to drop the synopsis here:

“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.

   After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels down the river, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.”

5.     Mademoiselle Chanel by C. W. Gortner

I know I must be getting a bit repetitive with all those historic novels but I just love a bit of nostalgia (and a bit of French charm), so bear with me. Coco Chanel is just one of those enigmatic women that you always want to learn more about. Idolised, loved by many, questioned by even more, and always raising someone’s eyebrows, she is the epitome of style.

“Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to orphanage after their mother’s death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle’s exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.

 Transforming herself into Coco—a seamstress and sometime torch singer—the petite brunette burns with ambition, an incandescence that draws a wealthy gentleman who will become the love of her life. She immerses herself in his world of money and luxury, discovering a freedom that sparks her creativity. But it is only when her lover takes her to Paris that Coco discovers her destiny.”

6.     The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah  

Second World War. France. At this point I might just give up and leave you with the synopsis. There is no hope for me. I should have graduated in French and Francophone studies instead…At this rate, I might just be awarded the degree anyway.

“In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.”

7.     The Mapmaker’s Children by Sarah McCoy 

This one I find interesting as it is one of those books that connect its characters through time, entwining past and present. The story sounds compelling, so let’s hope it was executed perfectly.

“When Sarah Brown, daughter of abolitionist John Brown, realizes that her artistic talents may be able to help save the lives of slaves fleeing north, she becomes one of the Underground Railroad’s leading mapmakers, taking her cues from the slave code quilts and hiding her maps within her paintings. She boldly embraces this calling after being told the shocking news that she can’t bear children, but as the country steers toward bloody civil war, Sarah faces difficult sacrifices that could put all she loves in peril.

Eden, a modern woman desperate to conceive a child with her husband, moves to an old house in the suburbs and discovers a porcelain head hidden in the root cellar—the remains of an Underground Railroad doll with an extraordinary past of secret messages, danger and deliverance.”

8.     Funny Girl by Nick Hornby 

Now, this is a bit more different to the previous titles (is that a sound of relief I hear?). Still set in the past but offering a refreshing concept, Funny Girl is a book I cannot wait to pick up from my local bookstore.

“Set in 1960's London, Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingénue to television starlet amid a constellation of delightful characters. Insightful and humorous, Nick Hornby's latest does what he does best: endears us to a cast of characters who are funny if flawed, and forces us to examine ourselves in the process.”

9.     The Unloved: A novel by Deborah Levy 

A group of tourists celebrating the holidays in a French chateau? Yes and yes.

“A group of hedonistic tourists--from Algeria, England, Poland, Germany, Italy, France, and America--gathers to celebrate the holidays in a remote French chateau. Then a woman is brutally murdered, and the sad, eerie child Tatiana declares she knows who did it. The subsequent inquiry into the death, however, proves to be more of an investigation into the nature of identity, love, insatiable rage, and sadistic desire. The Unloved offers a bold and revealing look at some of the events that shaped European and African history, and the perils of a future founded on concealed truth.”

10.  Hausfrau: A Novel by AlexanderEssbaum 

A good wife that gets her life complicated due to a number of secret affairs. Need I say more.

“Anna Benz, an American in her late thirties, lives with her Swiss husband, Bruno—a banker—and their three young children in a postcard-perfect suburb of Zürich. Though she leads a comfortable, well-appointed life, Anna is falling apart inside. Adrift and increasingly unable to connect with the emotionally unavailable Bruno or even with her own thoughts and feelings, Anna tries to rouse herself with new experiences: German language classes, Jungian analysis, and a series of sexual affairs she enters with an ease that surprises even her.

But Anna can’t easily extract herself from these affairs. When she wants to end them, she finds it’s difficult. Tensions escalate, and her lies start to spin out of control. Having crossed a moral threshold, Anna will discover where a woman goes when there is no going back.”

What books are you looking forward to? Do give me recommendations for some more modern novels by any means...would be most welcome and truly needed. In the meantime, will be stuffing my face with macarons, crisp baguettes and smelly cheese. Ta! 

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What to read: Books about Paris

I consider this as quite a popular type of post. Personally, I have read numerous articles dedicated to the best books situated in Paris, or more generally in France. However, I must admit I am purposely on the look for those kind of lists as reading about France has always been close to my heart. Unsurprisingly, one of my all-time favourite books is Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo – it is a classic, and if you have never read it, make sure you find the time – I thoroughly recommend it (do NOT rely on watching some Hollywood movie version of it as they like to completely alter the plot). I am definitely going to dedicate a post specifically for classic French literature as it is among my favourites. This is not that post. Here I offer some titles that you might have not heard of, but are still worthy of your attention if you want to read about Paris. Some of them are better in quality than others but all of them are good in their own means.

1.   The Girl at the Lion d’Or by Sebastian Faulks

Starting with the one of the highest literary quality. The name of Sebastian Faulks might ring a bell? That is due to his popularity because of another one of his novels – Birdsong. The Girl at the Lion d’Or has that same feeling of a timeless classic that you might get from his other work – it is a beautifully written story, full of utterly believable, engaging characters.

Set in a little French village between the two world wars, the story is about a passionate love affair between a young girl, whose life is marked by abandonment, and a rich married man, a veteran from the Great War. Both of them have been affected by the war in two very different ways, and in their eternal struggles they find another person to care for. Faulks is great when it comes to historical fiction and this is not an exception – the narrative is so flawless, it removes the ideas of time and space, and suddenly rural France in the 30s feels like the most natural and well-known place that the reader could find himself in. The descriptions of the people, the landscape, the tiny streets of Janvilliers, all of it comes to life under the hand of a masterful artist – Faulks paints the perfect picture of a time, when people are still trying to come in terms with the greatest war they have seen – yet, the feeling of a new threat is on the horizon, and there is still some air of uncertainty about the future.

The perfect read if you want to know something deeper about France – not just the prettiness of Versailles, but the history that defines a nation.

2.    The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Keeping it in the past with the second novel I highly recommend: The Paris Wife is set in the best time a book about Paris could be set in – the roaring twenties! The times when Paris is more in than ever – everyone wants to be there and run into the great bohemians of the age in a charming café in the Latin Quarter. And this book is dedicated to no other wife, but Ernest Hemingway’s first wife – Hadley.

Paula McLain beautifully writes this from first person – so, as a result the reader witnesses everything from Hadley’s perspective. We are there to meet Hemingway for a very first time, we are there being besotted by his persona, we are with him when he moves to Paris. But most of all, through Hadley, it is easy to see all the struggles that come with being a genius – a literary master, whose books are today sold in millions around the world, but whose beginnings were quite humble. This is the perfect read to get to the heart of his story – through his first marriage, it is easy to gain some idea of his character and even to understand more thoroughly, why decades later, he would be the man to take his own life. Furthermore, the book offers a wonderful insight into the period when Hemingway was writing The Sun Also Rises, making this a valuable read for literary buffs. But above all, this is a story about Hadley – a woman that might be overlooked when considering Hemingway’s life, but who should definitely not be easily forgotten.

3.    Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

Fast-forward to Paris in the 21^st century and you get Elizabeth Bard’s Lunch in Paris. Now, this is a more practical read as it gives you the idea of the Paris of today (plus some insight into the places to visit). I rank this book very highly as it is a perfectly charming read that can easily transport you to the city of lights due to the lightness of the language, and the effortlessness of the narrative.

In this book, Bard tells us her very own story of meeting her French husband, and deciding to completely change her life by moving to Paris with him (honestly, who can blame her?). What makes the book utterly delicious is the inclusion of French recipes at the end of each chapter – duck, goat cheese, sardines, trout, scallops, macaroons – there is something for everyone. But what really makes this book a must is that it proves to me that a modern author can write a beautiful, true story set in Paris, full of emotion. That is, in an age where we are constantly bombarded by chick-lit of low quality, and constantly reminded that the authors are usually women…it is quite refreshing to know there is a woman who can write in such a beautiful way without falling into the clichés of the trade. Give Lunch in Paris a read and you won’t regret it.

4.    The Art of French Kissing by Kristin Harmel

And here is something that definitely falls in the aforementioned category of the chick-lit. The Art of French Kissing is for the women who want a quick escape to Paris but have no time for it, or the ones who are, indeed, going to Paris in a few weeks, and want some more ideas into places to eat and drink. No, this is not a guidebook, but yes – it gives some good insight into where to go to enjoy the best coq au vin or tart tatin in Paris (the characters visit quite a few restaurants and bars along the pages of the book, and their whereabouts are conveniently shared with the reader).

As for the story, it is nothing ground-breaking in the chick-lit genre – a good-looking American girl just loses her fiancé, her job and her place in the matter of a couple of days, so she jumps into the opportunity to visit an old friend who lives in Paris. There, she is included in her small PR company, handling a new big French rock star. The story is charming, but the author does underestimate her readers – for me, the ‘big’ twist is visible from miles away, even without wearing glasses. Nevertheless, you can easily enjoy this short novel for what it is – charming, easy to read and fabulously set in Paris. 

My favourite quote from The Art of French Kissing - spot on

And what is your favourite book set in Paris/France?

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