The Content Reader

July is over. As usual it went very fast, probably because of the great event that takes places during this month, Paris in July. This year hosted by Tamara at Thyme-for-tea and Deb at Readerbuzz . Thank you so much for all the hard work that goes into this month. It seems that more and more people sign up and that is lovely. I went back to check out a book I reviewed for Paris in July, since Deb said she wanted to read it, namely Janet Flanner's Paris Was Yesterday. That is when I realised that I have participated in this event since 2014! Couldn't believe it. I started blogging in the end of 2013, so I was lucky to find Paris in July so fast. Times fly when you have fun.  Paris in July I only read two books about Paris this year. The Reunion/La jeune fille et la nuit by Guillaume Musso and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley Musso's book really good and, unfortunately the not so good The Paris Apartment. I have also listened to history pods about France, mainly the Frenc...

Time for my French dinner during Paris in July. We had invited good friends, one couple, to this special evening. Well, as we all know we are still in the grip of a pandemic and they had recently had covid. Although they had recovered, they were still not feeling well and had to cancel. That left Martin and me all on our own. I had prepared a menu de dégustation with some nice wines to go with it (menu below). It turned out to be a very long French dinner, probably like they do it in France. We started slowly at around 3 pm and ended some time in the late evening. I cooked as the menu went ahead so very relaxing.  With such a menu I needed a little bit of help with the serving. Let me present Arnaud! To start with an amuse bouche: Chèvre Chaud With Pumpkin Seeds followed by a Crème Ninon soup. To this I served champagne. Both dishes were excellent. I have done the soup before but not the chèvre chaud.  Apart from the soup, the other dishes were all new to me.  The third...

We are entering into the fourth week of Paris in July .  Thank you to Deb at Readerbuzz and Tamara at Thyme-for-tea who are co-hosting this year's event. I have still to read some of your posts, and are enjoying the variety of topics.  I have read The Paris Apartment  by Lucy Foley for this event. I loved her novels The Guest List and The Hunting Party  and it was with great anticipation I started this Paris story.  "Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there. The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbours are an eclectic bunc...

So, the big day for the French is here. I am sure there are many celebrations in Paris, and France, today. We (Swedes) also have something to celebrate today. It is the birthday of our Crown Princess Victoria. She usually celebrates her birthday on the island of Öland, on the east coast of Sweden, where the royal family has a 'summer house'. It seems it will be the same this year, after restrictions for a couple of years. There will be a concert at the old castle ruin, close to the summer palace. This ruin is a magic place, so a very nice place for the celebrations. I wanted to place a photo, but am unsure about the copyrights. If you are curious, you can have a look at Borgholm Castle ruin under link.  As you might know the royal family has French ancestry. The first Bernadotte (on the Swedish throne) was Jean Baptiste. He was born in 1763 in Pau in southern France, and died in 1844 in Stockholm, Sweden. He joined the French Royal Army as rather young. After the French revolu...

Continuing my journey through the books I save on my shelves, and have arrived at letter B. That is, authors whose surname starts with B.  I organise my books in alphabetical by surname. There seem to be many more books with authors on B than on A. Hm... Bailey, Anthony - A View of Delft, Vermeer then and now Bagerius, Henric & Berglund Louise (ed) - Politik och Passion, Svenska kungligheters äktenskap under 600 år (about Politic and Passion, Royal Swedish marriages during 600 years) Bart, Istvan - Den olycklige prinsen i Mayerling (The unhappy prince in Mayerling) Backman, Margareta - Kungar, drottningar, älskare och älskarinnor (Kings, queens and lovers) Blom, K. Arne & Moen, Jan - Försvunna städer i Skåneland (Lost cities in Scania) Barker, Juliet - The Brontës Bremer, Fatima - Ett jävla solsken, biografi om Ester Blenda Nordström (A bloody sunshine, a biography of Ester Blenda Nordström) Burton, Nina - Gutenberggalaxens nova, berättelse om Erasmus av Rotterdam, hu...

I used to participate in this meme, but somehow lost it. Now I am reminded of it by Emma and Marianne  and decided to join in again. It is hosted by Jo at  The Book Jotter  (head over there for more details. Jo explains the idea: "The idea being that as the end of June approaches and we are then halfway through the year, let us share the books we have read in those first 6 months. In fact let’s share 6 books in 6 categories, or if time is of the essence then simply share just 6 books. Whatever combination works for you as long as it involves 6 books. Of course the same book can obviously feature in more than one category." There are a lot of categories so visit her page for inspiration. I have chosen the following six categories with authors and books. I list all of them alphabetically.  Six new authors to me Honoré de Balzac Maja Lunde Madeline Miller Sally Rooney Joseph Roth Jennifer Saint Six authors I have read before John Banville Tana French Arnaldur Indridaso...

How wonderful to enter Paris in July again. Thank you to  Readerbuzz  and  Thyme-for-tea  who are co-hosting this year's event. Some of you have already posted many interesting things about Paris/France. I start this year's challenge with a review of a book by Guillaume Musso. I might have got it from a common bookcase at my parents place. I have never heard about the author before, but it seems he belongs to one of the most popular authors in France. So much for keeping up with what is going on in other countries. I read it in Swedish which have the same title as in English, The Reunion.  In French it is called La jeune fille et la nuit. " The French Riviera – 25 years ago An elite prep school frozen in the snow Three friends linked by a tragic secret One girl taken by the night One freezing night, as her campus is paralyzed by a snowstorm, 19-year-old Vinca Rockwell, the most beautiful and glamorous girl at her prep school, runs away with her philosophy teache...

Another month has past and it is time to have a look at what I read in June. There are still outstanding non read books from earlier months, but I leave them in peace and will get back to them when there is time.  Being on holiday and travelling around, I took with me some smaller pocket books. These are books i know I will not save and I leave them behind in a camping where, hopefully, other readers might enjoy them. Summer and all, I go for easy reads, and often thrillers or detective stories. Reading while Martin is fishing Summary June I have read seven books in June (one non-fiction), and in total 42 books from my shelves. Pleased with that. Three books by Håkan Nesser - Carambole, Flugan och evigheten and Halvmördaren. They are not his usual van Veeteren stories but separate from any series. I still enjoy these books where he goes more psychologically into the characters mind. Ordinary people who did something that totally changed and affected their whole life. Very interest...