In the Shadow of Man (1971) by Jane Goodall #Reading1971 #20BOS26

 

🐒 "Previously man had been regarded as the only tool-making animal. Indeed, one of the clauses commonly accepted in the definition of man was that he was a creature who 'made tools to a regular and set pattern". That definition was to be redefined after a young girl called Jane Goodall arrived at Gombe Stream Reserve at Tanzania, Africa, to live with, and learn and observe about chimpanzees. Jane had had no knowledge whatsoever about animals, let alone chimpanzees. She had actually gone to secretary school, but she did have passion about nature and animals from childhood. It's rather funny, that her favorite toy as a child had been a stuffed toy chimpanzee, gifted by her father as substitute to teddy bear. Her mother's friends were horrified that the toy would give little Jane nightmares. Instead, her fondness of the toy had sparked her love for animals. 🐒 One day a connection of her family happened to offer her a life-changing career: to be an observer of chimpanzees. She was chosen particularly because she had no background previously; and that was what Louis Leakey, the palaeontologist who had offered Jane the job, had initially wanted - someone who has passion for animals. Jane arrived at Gombe in 1960, and for many years after, Gombe would be her home, where she would meet her husband, and had a son together. Jane wrote this memoir in 1971, recording all the difficulties she had to endure to begin the task. Jane had first lived in the Gombe with her mother (because the government refused to give permission to Jane unless she was accompanied by a chaperone). I have huge admiration for Jane's mother. Enduring the harshness of living inside a camp in Africa to satisfy one's passion is one thing; but sacrificing one's comfort for the sake of someone's else is entirely different. Jane's mother is indeed an exemplary mother. 🐒 At first the chimpanzees, as expected, were suspicious of her. But with patience (and certainly with tremendous courage), she slowly gained respect and acceptance from them. Jane named each chimpanzee in the group she observed; so that along the memoir we would be entertained with the eccentricity of many different characters like David Greybeard (the first one who accepted Jane, and the first who ever touched her, also the handsomest), Goliath (the alpha male - the highest rank male of the group when Jane first arrived), Flo (an old but coquettish and affectionate female), Fifi (Flo's daughter who inherited her mother's personalities when grew up), Mike (the next alpha male after Goliath - stern but also generous if needed), and many others. Sometimes I felt like reading an animal story book rather than a science-memoir, and it was equally exciting to follow the fate, struggles, and triumph of some of our favorites, just as in fiction. 🐒 To record chimpanzee's behavior, personalities, and social interactions, Jane and her growing team built a banana-feeding station. Every morning the provided bananas, so that the chimpanzees could come, and feed there. Sometimes they come alone, but more often they come in group - either a mother with her children, or adult male with their circle. With this arrangement, they didn't need to go long way to the chimpanzees habitation. Some believe that the feeding stations have altered normal foraging and feeding patterns and social relationships of the chimpanzees. I tend to agree with them. I personally believe that human interference in wild lives usually tend to disrupt the animals' natural behavior, and thus might put the animals in more danger than not. The chimpanzees were slowly accepting human's existence near them. Imagine, when people with malicious intent approached them, their instinct might not warn them properly to protect themselves. 🐒 And, with all due respects to Jane Goodall's tremendous effort in her researches for years, what good comes from for the chimpanzees' own sake in the end? Yes, we humans get to know more about the chimpanzee, and its 'closer than we have ever thought' similarities to human being. That's for our benefits, not to the chimpanzee. I must humbly confess that I might be wrong, but for now, that's my strong believe. Let the wild creatures alone is always the best move. Researches are good, if they were made from proper distance, and for a certain amount of time. Imagine what the chimpanzee's would feel when Jane or her team followed them closely to observe their mating, their sleeping quarter, their grooming - these humans were constantly in close proximity to them day and night. After all, Jane claimed, from her observations, that chimpanzee, similar to human, might have emotion. Don't we better keep respect to and preserve their 'privacy', and wildness? 🐒 All in all, this memoir is mesmerizing account of a wild creature, who is the closest to human being, in similarities of behavior and tool-making and using. The social strata is quite interesting, and just like human mothers, for instance, there are good mothers and bad ones, also, in chimpanzee. These interesting facts made the book very entertaining and mind opening. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

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20 Books of Summer 2026 hosted by Annabel @ AnnaBookBel

The Man Who Broke Out of the Bank and Went for A Walk Across France (2014) by Miles Morland #ParisInJuly2026 #20BOS26

 
🎒 The idea of, first, leaving one's job while one loves it; and second, going across France by walking, are two unthinkable things for me. Hence, my instant attraction to this memoir. It was the year 1989, and Miles Morland was forty five years old when he decided to retire from his high position in an investment banking company in Wall Street and London - the work he had grew to love in the last twenty years. So, why retired? Miles slipped a bit about this job - which he portrayed as "shouting down the phone" - and his subsequent decision, sandwiched in between his account of "the Walk". As a transition phase between active and post-retirement life - when Miles had no idea what he would do next - Miles and his wife Guislaine decided on taking a "mission impossible" adventure.   

🎒 Neither Miles nor Guislaine had ever walked long distance, or did trekking, or hiking, let alone a cross-country walk. Yet, they let themselves be challenged by the idea. Here I admired them both for undertaking such monstrosity. The most interesting part of this memoir, for me, is the preparation. For a newbie, you can imagine how many stuffs they must have researched, considered, and shopped for. And the fact that this had happened in the 1990s, when there were no internet or social media, made it doubly interesting. Miles is a 'map connoisseur', thus he armored himself with many maps, atlases, and guide books, before deciding what route they would take. Finally yhey agreed upon starting from Gruissan-Plage on the Mediterranean Sea, and finishing on the Atlantic coast at Capbreton, across France small towns and countrysides. 🎒 I loved the part of Miles' studying the maps, even pulling a thread to mark the route, to see the topography of their future journey; as well as how thoroughly he browsed from several different guides to find a recommended gîte or small hotel to stay the night. Guislaine then would call the establishment to make booking. They did all without at first knowing how the premise looked, nor how good (or bad) the service was. This was before the internet - you can google it nowadays. It reminded me of my own trip to Europe twenty six years ago. How exciting it was to browse for a small hotel - I browsed a guide from the library at the CCF in Surabaya (Centre Culturel Français), where I'd been taking a French course. Then one of the teachers helped me with the booking through facsimile. When I arrived in Paris - tired and hungry - lo and behold, the hotel didn't find any booking under my name! Apparently, a smaller hotel on the same street 'borrowed' my hotel's name for getting guests. The fax number was theirs (the impostor's), but the address wasn't. Needless to say, this hotel was not what I had expected, but I was too tired to complain or move (and the actual hotel was fully-booked anyway), so I stayed the night there anyway. Just like what the Morlands experienced during their Walk; sometimes the actual hotel or gîte was far from what they imagined, or advertised as; but when they were lucky, they'd get exactly what they have bargained for. And that, I think, was more fun and exciting than planning or booking hotels nowadays, when you can see photos and testimonies from fellow travelers - and yet, sometimes it wouldn't meet your expectation either! 🎒 On the whole, I loved this memoir. Sometimes travel memoirs tend to exaggerate things, and to make it less boring, adding dry humour or sarcastic comments. Miles Morland did neither. He didn't try to sound more exciting than his actual feeling, and didn't try to be funny. In fact, reading this memoir felt like listening to your friend, telling you of his adventure, from the beginning right to the end. It's not overly fascinating, yet, it isn't boring either. You just want to know what happens next, and curious of how your friend felt or cope with what he faced from time to time, be it a struggle when he's lost (out of his own fault or the map's), or a blissful rest when it's badly needed. One more thing worth noting, both Miles and Guislaine found that the Mephistos shoes are the perfect one for that kind of Walk (not sport shoes, to my surprise). As you might know, blisters are one of walker's nightmare. The memoir was dotted with, alternately, funny, disappointing, and blissful moments. Their routine might be boring, but for those moments. And Miles also slipped a bit of historical background that I would never have known, i.e. about the Black Prince. And all that makes this memoir an enjoyable read, which will take you through some of the eccentric or picturesque French countryside. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Paris in July 2026 hosted by Emma @ Words and Peace

20 Books of Summer 2026 hosted by Annabel @ AnnaBookBel

If Life is A Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? (1971) by Erma Bombeck

🍒 My second book for my personal project of #readingthe1971s is a memoir from Erma Bombeck, an American humorist, whose newspaper humor columns had entertained many readers from 1965 to 1996. She is even daubed as the best-loved humorist of her day (from A Biography of Erma Bombeck at the end of the re-published version of this book). We aren't lucky enough to be those readers, but we have this memoir to be equally tickled to uncontrollable laughter that could endanger your career (if you read this during office hours).

🍒 If Life is A Bowl of Cherries is about mundane situations every mother in the 1970s must have had on daily basis, related to children, marriage, motherhood, housekeeping; from game shows to family vacations, and anything in between. One reviewer in Goodreads said that this book is like a standup comedy, which I agree. Erma's views of her world is critical, without too much sarcasm. Here's a sample (from Introduction, page 9):

Children are becoming an endangered species, energy has reached crisis proportions, marriages are on the decline, and the only ones having any fun anymore are the research rats.
You cannot help but envy their decadence.
Throughout the years, these furry swingers have been plied with booze, pot, cigarettes, birth control pills, too much sun, cyclamates, caffeine, Red Dye No. 2, saccharine, disco music at ear-shock decibels, late nights, and a steady diet of snack food.
If people haven't asked themselves these questions, they should: How come there are still more rats than people?

 
🍒 Through all of these jumble of seemingly distressing stuffs that an overworked mom must have endured, we are entertained with nostalgia of that bygone era. My most favorite part is when Emma is talking about letter writing - an art that Gen Z and Alpha would never understand.

The letter-writers who really bug me, though, are the ones with the stationery whose paper matches the envelopes. Sure it's easy to write a letter when you have all the equipment, but for me, it's a real hassle finding clean paper, a pencil, and a stamp.

🍒 It warmed my heart with nostalgia. I remember those days of writing letters, buying stamps, the excitement of finding in the mailbox a letter from your friend, and more excitement still of reading your friend's response to your letter a week before. Ah, those beautiful days of the bygone era, how I miss it so much! Not mentioning the stationery papers; I remember vividly on my school days, of collecting those beautifully printed - and even scented - stationery papers which we were collecting just like our parents had been collecting stamps. Then the e-mail - nowadays chatting apps - came and killed it.

🍒 Beyond the hilarious everyday life - struggles, triumph, and anything in between - which Erma Bombeck illustrated perfectly, there's a layer of depth too. The chapter of "When Did I Become the Mother and the Mother Become the Child?" is very related to my own current personal struggle. It is saddening when your parents are getting older and becoming more and more dependent on you. The parents who you grew up thinking they are so strong and dependable, now are so weak and fragile - something that you never thought you would see, but that's it.
🍒 On the whole, this book is quite entertaining and in a way, nostalgic. I loved to be immersed into those bygone era, which I miss so much. Although what we were having here in Indonesia were not the same as Erma's American life, I felt it's relatable enough. This was the kind of book that I expect to read for my #readingthe1971 project. I wish the rest on the list would be as good as this!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Keeping A Nature Journal (2021) by Clare Walker Leslie

🌿 So, this is my first read for the new year. A surprise, because I don't usually pick a non fiction to go to on a Christmas holiday. However, I have been itching to start a nature journal, and the holiday seems to be the perfect time to do it. I would share my first ever nature journal later (yay!), but first of all, about the book. Clare Walker Leslie has been nature-journaling for forty years, and is now teaching students how to connect to the natural world and record the impression into diary or journal.

🌿 "The foundation for a naturalist's learning is curiosity and willingness to pursue learning in many different ways: watching, considering, recording, researching, asking questions." And that is what this book is about. First of all, Clare encourages us to take time noticing the natural world around us, wherever we are - in the backyard, taking stroll in the neighborhood, picnicking outside, or even when doing chores inside your house, take time to see outside your windows. Be curious, and record what interest you in quick sketches, even when you're not quite sure what animal or bird or tree you're looking at. In short, Clare instructs us to be more mindful. Clare always keep her journal very near her, so that if something interesting appears, she could instantly take a quick sketch, to be perfected later on.

🌿 Next, is the main topic, that is, the journaling. Clare gives us detailed instruction and many examples of how to keep a nature journal - what to sketch, what to write, what information to put in. There are steps to draw or sketch, from leaves, flowers, trees, insects, birds, larger animals, to tree and landscape. She also gives full instruction of how to scratch a layout from an object in several seconds. From which we can add the details later, with help from guide books, if necessary. We can use colors for shading, either by using coloring pencils, crayons, or watercolors. In many of her examples, Clare often uses pen too to do shading.

🌿 All in all, this book is a perfect one to get anyone starting nature journaling. It is not overly technical, and Clare is humble enough to encourage anyone, even if one never draws, to try nature journaling. It's not the drawing that matters most, anyway, but the mindfulness and the connection to the natural world. The only drawback, for me personally, is Clare's instruction on seasonal sketching. For someone who lives outside America, or at least the West, these sections are a wasting of time. However, the rest is instructive enough, and it really encouraged me to do the hardest step: to produce the first nature journal. And I have done that on the first day of my Christmas holiday. I have planned to go outdoor every day, but alas, I caught a terrible fever on Christmas Day, followed by intestinal cramps that forced me to rest in bed for several days. But I have achieved the hardest thing - to start the nature journaling - so I'll just repeat it on any weekends ahead.

It's not perfect, but I'm proud of myself nonetheless. I am even thinking of creating a blog for these nature journals. Will update about it soon!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1961) by John Steinbeck #NonFicNov25

🐩 When the itch of travelling came to John Steinbeck in the 1960s, he began a plan for a road trip journey around America. A camper-truck was made specially for him, which he named Rocinante - after Don Quixote's horse. For a companion, he brought Charley, his old French poodle (his real name was Charles - pronounced in French). The purpose of the trip, is to get to know more of his country, which he has written a lot, but not quite sure he has captured the true nature. Steinbeck started from Long Island, New York, then followed the outer border of the United States. In total, he encompasses 10,000 miles.

🐩 After furnishing Rocinante with everything he might need to be comfortable during the journey - he ended up bringing way too many - he started right away. The first transit was Maine. From there, he headed towards the Pacific Northwest. One of his (and mine) favorite is White Mountains 'with the prettiest villages in the whole nation'. While in Maine, Steinbeck observed that mobile homes was a new trend, he found many of them, parked on the open country (immune from town taxes). The park men only charged small ground rent plus fees for water and electricity. Steinbeck invited one of his 'neighbor' camper, a performing street actor, for a cup of coffee, and they had a very interesting conversation. He did that several times during the road trip, conversing with people, to get to know their views on many things.

🐩 Another interesting observation made by Steinbeck was how the writing of city signs reflected the character of the city. But his more important discovery was the lost of regional speech with local accents. He blamed television and radio broadcasted to the whole nation as the cause. People everywhere heard the same accent, and it immersed in theirs. "For with local accent will disappear local tempo. The idioms, the figures of speech that make language rich and full of the poetry of place and time must go. And in their place will be a national speech, wrapped and packaged, standard and tasteless." 

🐩 Although Steinbeck's main desire was to learn about America, he also made a not less important discovery. It's about Charley. I loved Charley! For me, he is the main attraction of the book (sorry, Steinbeck!) I loved the way he said 'Ftt', while waking up his master or attracting his attention. A truly French gentleman he is, always polite, gentle, and dignified. It was painful for him (physically and mentally) when he got prostatitis. It must have been humiliating for him every time he needs to pee, poor Charley! Anyway, Steinbeck got to learn an unknown side of Charley after an encounter with bears on Yellowstone National Park. It was a quite tensed moment. I, too, have had an interesting discovery. If you have read East of Eden, you might remember a secondary but not the least important character: Lee - the household old Chinese intelligent servant. Lee was actually the name of Steinbeck's childhood cook!

🐩 At last, Steinbeck's travels with Charley went beyond Steinbeck's dream (whose travels ever match one's expectation, right?) He wanted to learn about America, but could he conclude in the end, who, what, or how America was? It's not that easy. Steinbeck experienced one last shock before ending his travel; he experienced first hand the intense racism towards Negroes in the South. The amount of hatred he felt was enough to disgust and enraged him to, finally, soured his journey to and end, long before he arrived home. For me, the travels provided a first hand glimpse to America in the 1960s, but what pleased me the most is John Steinbeck's writing - incisive, eloquent, and witty.

Some quotes:

"It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur. The scale is huge but not overpowering."

- John Steinbeck fell in love with Montana!

"You can't go home again because home has ceased to exist except in the mothballs of memory."

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (1991) by Bill Bryson #NonficNov25

🎒 Bill Bryson is an American journalist and writers; he wrote a lot of travel books, and Neither Here nor There is his travelogue focusing on Europe. Bill had been backpacking to Europe twenty years before, as a student, together with his friend (disguised as Katz in this book). And this journey he took in the 1990s was partly retracing his former one. Along the journey, he'd stopped at the same place he had visited, comparing notes (then vs now), observing the people or city's characters, tasting the foods, visiting the landmarks, and sometimes elaborating a little on the historical, cultural, or political sides of it. Then he wove them into a caustic hilarious narration.

🎒 Bill started his journey from the north, in Hammerfest, in Norway, to catch the Northern Lights. It appeared to be my most favorite part of this book. Looking at it from Bryson's point of view, I think I would love to visit Hammerfest. The people might be slightly cool, keeping-themselves-to-themselves kind of manner, towards tourists. But hey, you go to Hammerfest for the atmosphere, not the people, right? I say, the Northern Lights would be one of the most serene and magical experiences I would have ever had in my life. It would be an unforgettable one. And I think I would love to stay in Hammerfest for a while.

🎒 This book was daubed as funny by some people, and though I don't appreciate Bryson's caustic humor, the early part of the book was indeed funny. The funniest one is when in Oslo, he found a bottle of chemical liquid at the hostel, confused of its function, and decided to wash his clothes with it. Apparently that was a toilet-bowl cleaner! People who're passing him said to each other: "You know, that man smelled like toilet-bowl cleaner" - and that's the kind of humor Bryson should have kept in the book, not by putting minor 'slights' to places he visited after that. One of these is when he grumbled about Brussels - he found nothing interesting there, and all he could say about it was: "The best thing that can be said for Brussels is that it is only three hours from Paris". Isn't it rude? He also observed "Thousands shops selling chocolates or lace (and they appear to sell nothing else in Brussels)". I wanted to yell at him: that's because they are famous for that! I would love to go window shopping for the lace, or is there a live demonstration of lace making one can watch or even try? And maybe buy some for me or souvenirs for my friends (who would appreciate the artistic beauty of handmade lace). And I'd love to suggest him to have a day of Comic Strip Trail - it would have been fun! Fortunately he loved Bruges and Spa (would love to visit those two if I would ever set my foot in Europe again!)

🎒 Bryson didn't appreciate France too. When in Paris, he grumbled about rudeness of the people. And that made me think about what John Steinbeck wrote in Travels with Charley: In Search of America (currently reading): 'Two people can be in the same city at the same time, yet the city that A had seen is completely different from B's version.' He's totally right, because my experiences about Paris was totally different from Bryson. I went there in 2000 (only several years after Bryson), and the French people I met were mostly amiable - at least in three occasions during my three days visit to Paris. People at the bistro when I had my dinner on the first night were very friendly, they politely asked me where I'm from, and things about Indonesia. We had a friendly chatting during the meal (though I'd have preferred to be left alone while tasting the first steak I've ever had in France). Maybe the key is always trying to speak in French, though imperfect (I spoke half in French and sometimes in English when I couldn't find the right word; which they patiently listened to me, and corrected me if I pronounced it wrong). I also didn't like how Bryson's friend Katz grumbling when they visited the Louvre - that it's paintings and paintings. Well, what did you think you'd find in an art museum? clothes?? That attitude always annoys me in people - but I let it go because Bryson and Katz were too young at that time. 

🎒 All in all, this is a book you'd like to read if you want to travel in Europe. Bryson did not plan the journey at all, and just following his instinct and needs with go-with-the-flow attitude. I think it only works when you're young and carefree. For a man his age, you'd need at least a little planning, booking the hotel in advance, for instance. But honestly, I won't give this book more than casual browsing, since I think Bryson isn't a person who would appreciate European as it deserves. He's too American at heart. Anyway, from the countries he visited - Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Yugoslavia (as green as England and as stunningly scenic as Austria, but almost wholly untouristed), Bulgaria, Switzerland, and Turkey were among them - I think the place I was most attracted to are Bern in Swiss (cultured town with antique shops, art galleries and antiquarian bookstores, fine homes and small parks), Capri in Italy (would have wanted to visit if I'm not middle aged; the hike up the hill would kill me), and Bruges and Spa (would love to visit those two I'd I ever step my foots in Europe again).

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by: Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Seven Years in Tibet (1953) by Heinrich Harrer #NonficNov25

🗻 If you've been following my blog long enough, you might probably know that, besides France, Tibet is a country which I've always been fascinated. And so, for my second read for #NonficNov25, I picked Seven Years in Tibet, which I've been excited to read after three times watching the movie adaptation, starring Brad Pitt. If I have loved the movie, I loved even more the book from which it's been adapted. The book is a far cry from the romanticized version of the movie. Only bits of real facts that actually penetrated into the movie; the rest is Hollywood's doing. Believe me, if you want to know about Tibet and the early life of the Dalai Lama (yes, the current one), just start by reading this book!

🗻 The book expands from Heinrich Harrer's escape from the British war-prison in India, at the outbreak of Second Word War. Then he was an Austrian Nazi SS sergeant and a world renowned mountaineer, who always loved mountains and freedom. After several failed attempts of escape, with several different companions, he at last succeeded to flee towards Tibet. Harrer had read many books about Tibet before, and was fascinated by this mysterious country. But succeeding to flee did not bring automatic safety for these men (he was with several friends when starting the journey). One by one the member collapsed, either from physical or mental weaknesses. In the end, it was only Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter, an Austrian mountaineer, agricultural scientist, and geographer, who made it across Tibet after grueling hikes in the roughness of Himalayan cold weather and high altitude. But the simplicity and generosity of the people they've got to know along the way, compelled them to take whatever way to reach the Forbidden City of Lhasa.

🗻 Following Harrer and Aufschnaiter's journey for the first half of the book, I was fascinated by the Tibetans' kindness and generosity. They received these two strangers clothed in rags and must looked like tramps, with warmth and sincere. True, there were some who're malice, but mostly they were pure-hearted, merry people, almost childish at heart. Their devotion to their religion was a striking feature of these people. And they smile and laugh a lot; they could even laugh at themselves, and were rarely offended by other's mimicry, for instance.

🗻 Tibetan's respect for all religions is also an admirable feature. The biggest monastery in Tibet is The Tsug Lag Khang, and while inspecting it, Harrer found a bell hanging from the roof with inscription "Te Deum Laudamus". The building had been a Catholic chapel many centuries ago, and only due to their  respect of other religion, that it was preserved. Christianity and Buddhisn have much in common, anyway - this is from Harrer's view. "They are both founded on the belief of happiness in another world and both preach humility in this life".

🗻 One of the most attractive features in Tibetan life is a habit of going to meet, and seeing one's friends. "When anyone goes away, his friends often put up a tent on his road several miles out of the town and wait for him there with a meal to speed him on his way. The departing friend is not allowed to go till he has been loaded with white scarves and good wishes. When he comes back the same ceremony is observed. It sometimes happens that he is welcomed at several places on his way home. In the morning, maybe, he first catches sight of the Potala; but on his way into the town he is held up at tent after tent by his welcoming friends, and it is evening before he arrives in Lhasa, his modest caravan swollen to stately proportions by his friends and their servants. He comes home with the happy feeling that he has not been forgotten."

🗻 The second half and the most interesting part of the book is of course, when Heinrich Harrer has finally got to meet the Dalai Lama, then a fourteen-year-old boy. Here we could see the Dalai Lama not as a God-King, but a mere boy. An exceptional and very intelligent boy, as Harrer shared his observation when the Dalai Lama asked him to build a home theater: "I observed then, for the first time, that he liked to get to the bottom of things instead of taking them for granted." Though the 14th Dalai Lama used to be boyishly excited about new stuffs, his passions are not of the usual things that fascinate boys; but always ones for the improvement of his people. From this we learn from the very beginning that he IS the perfect choice for Dalai Lama. His "appointment" was of another amazing story that Harrer had got to learn. Strange as it was for us, the boy proved to be the perfect Dalai Lama. And how wonderful it is that the 14-year-old boy that we read in this book IS the Dalai Lama we currently see on news or television.

🗻 I have found a 1992 YouTube video of an interview between the Dalai Lama and Heinrich Harrer, many years after their first meeting at Potala. They kept their friendship, and Harrer kept being a Tibet enthusiast until he died in 2006, aged 93. Here's the link to the video.

🗻 Needless to say, this book is going to be my all time favorite nonfiction book. Not only that it is about Tibet, but also due to the profound depiction of the serene and peaceful way of Tibetan by Heinrich Harrer, combined with his concise but beautiful writing style. It is a wholesome book; realistic, but with a magical sense.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Nonfiction in November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Notes from an Island (1996) by Tove Jansson & Tuulikki Pietilä #NonficNov25 #NovNov25

🐚 For thirty years Tove Jansson, the Finland author who's famous for the Moomin series and The Summer Book, spent her live together with her partner on an island. This 96 pages book is a memoir of that phase of her life, illustrated by her beloved partner Tuulikki Pietilä, or Tooti, a graphic artist.

🐚 Tove and Tooti, who longed to have a simple and peaceful live, decided to move onto an island. The first island they chose, Bredskär, was a perfect one, 'leafy and welcoming'. The way Tove described it, you'd think they have lived in paradise; 'with a little forest with a woodland path, a little beach with a safe place for the boat, even a little marsh with some tufts of cotton grass'. But unfortunately, they boasted about it to friends and relatives, and soon enough, people were coming to their island on holidays, and their live began crowded once more. The only solution is to find another inhabited island which would give them the solitude they had been craving. They found it in Klovharun, a skerry in the Gulf of Finland, that's 'shaped like an atoll', complete with a lagoon in the middle. For me, it is less inviting than Bredskär, and I wonder whether Tove and Tooti had not regretted that they didn't keep secret about it in the first place - I would! Anyway, to make Klovharun habitable, they need to build a cabin. Problem aroused, they need permission from the Government to build, so they erected a tent meanwhile - it could be long to come, or didn't come anyway.

🐚 Then enter Brunström, who would help them building the cabin, and proved to be their true friend for thirty years. Brunström told them not to wait for permission, but start building anyway, which they did. The book consists of logs by Brunström and Tove, telling us how the cabin progressed. Midway building, the permission finally arrived, which they celebrated together. Later on Tove brought her eighty-year-old grandmother Ham to live with them on the island. I was afraid at first, it's hard for an elderly to live a rugged living on the island. But Ham is a bad-ass grandmother. I chuckled reading how, when the tent where she lived was flooded, she just laughed while wading ashore. 🐚 My favorite part is when Tove and Tooti took a helicopter to another part of the island to experience the breaking-up of the ice - 'Unbelievable tabernacles floated by, driven by a mild south-west breeze, statuesque, glittering [...] And they changed colour whenever they felt like it - ice blue, green, and in the evening, orange. Early in the morning they could be pink'. It must have been a once-in-a-life-time experience, and it felt serene and magical. Pity they didn't witnessed the moment when the ice did crack. But maybe it would have been too much for them. They lived on the island until their seventies, when Tove realized that she was becoming afraid of the ocean and its power. It's time to say goodbye! Though living on that island doesn't seem attractive for me - too demanding - this little book is realistic and unique, written and illustrated wonderfully.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Novellas in November 2025

hosted by Cathy and Rebecca

Garlic, Mint, & Sweet Basil (2003) by Jean-Claude Izzo #ParisInJuly2025 #20BooksofSummer2025

🧄 This short book is an essay written by Jean-Claude Izzo, a native Marseilles poet and writer. The main theme of the essay are his love of Marseilles - its sea, its cuisine, its people and culture; and the subject that made him famous: Mediterranean Noir. Izzo wrote three noir novels of the Marseilles Trilogy: Total Chaos (Total Khéops), Chourmo, and Solea. 

🧄 You would get how Izzo loved and was proud of his Marseilles from what he wrote in this essay. I loved how he described the view of the sea from uphill; but especially how he described the food! He titled this essay garlic, mint, and sweet basil not for no reason. To Izzo, the three ingredients symbolized the simple unpretentious dishes you'll love in Marseilles: "I like to feel Marseilles pulsating beneath my tounge." Family atmosphere in restaurant is what Izzo looked forward to. He talked a lot about fish and vegetables, Boullabaise, pizza on the sea, and bread rubbed in garlic.

🧄 Izzo loved garlic and talked a lot about it! First girl he kissed smelled of garlic, one summer, when he's 15 years old. Garlic reigned supreme in Izzo's kitchen, because:

"Garlic welcome all the flavors."

"Nothing goes better with garlic than wine. Preferably red wine."

"[It's] like the intoxication of first kisses."

🧄 Imagine reading about mouthwatering food in the poetic beauty that poets usually writes. That's what this essay is about. Of course Izzo talked about mint and sweet basil too. Can you imagine mint as a love potion? Well, reading what Izzo wrote will change how you see mint. "Spread mints around you. Breath in those peppery smell, and you'll add 1001 nights to your dreams."  And do you know that basil frighten away insects? Putting it on your kitchen's window sill, will keep the insects away. But will that make you house full of basil's fragrant? Well, believe Izzo when he said: "An excess of basil is like an excess of love, (it) will not damage the heart." He's a sweet dear, wasn't he?

🧄 This essay might be light and and short, but I guarantee, you'll want to go to Marseilles right away! A tip from Izzo: The best time to arrive in Marseilles is by sea, in the morning, in certain sunshine. Because Marseilles plays with perspective. And remember to visit the markets when you're there, because it's in the markets where Izzo had found "the wonders of the world" - "Here's where you'd find basis of taste... Pleasure of the day - the happiness of living in the south." What a refreshing read this had been for me - loved every single sentence in this little essay! - and what a perfect read for #ParisInJuly!

Read for:

Paris in July 2025

hosted by Emma @ Words and Peace

20 Books of Summer 2025
hosted by Annabel and Emma

A Year in Provence (1989) by Peter Mayle #ParisInJuly2025 #20BooksofSummer2025

🍷 A Year in Provence became my first entry for #ParisInJuly2025, hosted by Emma @ Word and Peace. It's the first of a series of memoir written by Peter Mayle, an American guy who moved to France with his wife and two dogs in the 1980s. My initial choice had been Toujours Provence (the second book in the series) - planning to read it for A Century of Books project, but unfortunately I couldn't find any available ebook. So, I picked the first book, which was available, and someone has commented that it was slightly better than the second. In the end, I'm quite happy with the book - it was an entertaining read.

🍷 The premise is quite cliché - a foreigner found Provence a charming place, fallen in love with the Francophile life, decided to move in, then struggle to adapt at first, but loved the adventure anyway. There are more than a dozen books similar to this, I believe. And so, it's the narrative that would make one book different from the other. In this case, I loved Mayle's witty and humorous prose, with steady pace, alternating between frustrating and triumphant moments.

🍷 The Mayles chose a small and remote Southern French country called Lubéron as their new homeland. They found a 200-year-old dilapidated stone farmhouse, and bought it. And this book is a yearlong story of their introduction to the new Provençal life. They not only endured the mistral or frosty winter, but also with the fact that living in a farmhouse means never-ending repair works to be done. And with the Provençal laissez faire way of life, it may frustrated town people on their first arrival in Provence, but little by little Peter and his wife got used to it. Mrs. Mayle even came up with a clever way to get the repairmen worked their house faster - a gentle kick it was - and very efficient, and wonderfully hilarious!

🍷 On the whole, it might not be an enlightening book (you'll read many of these kinds), but if you are yourself a Francophile, this would be a charming and delightful book to read. It'd transport you to Provence, And together with the Mayles, you'd experience the charm and beauty of living in a Provençal farmhouse. You'd be imagining harvesting your own grapes, or hunting your own truffles, or cooking your own French cuisine. I loved this book, and enjoyed every page of it. It's rather difficult to convey the nuances I got from this book, but I found a passage that might describe it well:

"And, as for the oil, it is a masterpiece. You’ll see.” Before dinner that night, we tested it, dripping it onto slices of bread that had been rubbed with the flesh of tomatoes. It was like eating sunshine.”

Well, can you imagine what I have felt, and why I think his is a perfect book to read for #ParisInJuly2025, n'est-ce pas?

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Paris in July 2025

hosted by Emma @ Words and Peace

20 Books of Summer 2025
hosted by Annabel and Emma

Never Cry Wolf (1963) by Farley Mowat #NonFicNov24

🐺 A nonfiction that reads like fiction - that's how I describe Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves. Farley Mowat is a Canadian writer and environmentalist. Published in 1963, this is Mowat's memoir (some regarded it as fictionalized account of his experiences, but I'd treat it as nonfiction) during his appointment as Canadian Wildlife Service officer to investigate the cause of the declining Arctic caribou populations, and whether wolves are the culprit.

🐺 Mowat left for the Keewaton Barren Lands near Lake Manitoba in 1948. His inexperience in the field (he was a new recruit) provides some of the hilarious accounts; from his arrival by small private airplane, to his first encounter with the wolves. He first stayed with a Canadian named Mike who lives with his huskies in an Eskimo hut. But Mike soon left the hut, leaving him alone.

🐺 As soon as he found a perfect point at Wolfhouse Bay as his quarry, he started his job by following through binoculars, the movements of a family of three adult wolves and their pups who live inside a den not far from Mowat's quarry. He even named the three adults: George and Angeline as the father and mother, and Uncle Albert for the other single male who lives with them, and often share the caring of the pups when their parents are gone. Mowat soon fell to the family routine; George and Uncle Albert are usually go hunting in the evening, and take their leisure naps during the day.

🐺 One day he followed the family approaching a group of caribou who were grazing peacefully, without showing any signs of agitation, though the wolves were only some feet away. Mowat was surprised to witness this; he had expected to see some voracious hunt, but none happened. The wolves just walked away nonchalantly around the edge of the caribous circle. What's happening? That didn't tally what Mowat, what people used to to imagine about wolves - the cunning beasts who ate little innocent children while walking alone, and etcetera (Little Red Riding Hood came to mind). Mowat's observations taught him a rather unsettling truth, that the fast declining of caribou's population isn't caused by wolves, but by men!

"Whenever, wherever men have engaged in a mindless slaughter of animals, including other men, they are often attempted to justify their acts by attributing the most vicious or revolting qualities to those they would destroy. And the less reason there is for the slaughter the greater their campaign of vilification."

🐺 Contrary of common opinion, when they're indeed hunting for caribou, wolves only take the weakest, or most ailing from the pack. The caribous do feed the wolves, but the wolves strengthen the caribous in return, by getting rid of their weakest. In a way the wolves are reserving, rather than endangering, caribous.

🐺 All in all, this was an eye opening, hilarious, but also touching (especially in the end) read about wolves. Some of my favorite moments with Mowat's wolf family are when George saw Mowat when he lowered his pants to pee; then there's Uncle Albert's amorous adventure with a Husky bitch named Kua. Mowat's hilarious moment with Angeline, is when his hungry stomach's loud rumble bemused, then disgusted, her. I just loved how Mowat treated the wolves with respect; that's how we must treat all creatures, flora and fauna.

*I listened to the audiobook, very well narrated by Adam Sims.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2024 #NonFicNov24

hosted by: Liz, Frances, Heather, Rebekah, and Deb

The Golden Mole: and Other Vanishing Treasure (2022) by Katherine Rundell #NonFicNov24

🦒 In The Golden Mole, Katherine Rundell introduces us to some of the world's most exotic creatures which are also endangered. Among these animals, some are no strangers to us, like the crows, wolves, bear, or elephant. We often hear or watch about hare, giraffe, or hedgehog, though we might not see them physically. But how many of us are familiar with wombat, lemur, narwhal, or pangolin? This book talks about all of them, and several others.

🦀 However, this is not some kind of encyclopedia about exotic animals, it's much more interesting. Rundell slips stories, myths, or anecdotes related to each animal, sometimes even concerning prominent historical personages whose stories had been linked to certain animal. The most fantastic is that of Coconut Hermit Crab. You must have been familiar with Amelia Earhart's story of disappearance over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumnavigate the world in 1937. One of the many theories believed that some Coconut Hermit Crabs must have eaten Amelia Earhart's body. She was probably stranded on Nikumaroro island, known as home of these crabs. Some human bones were found there many years later, but they're lost on the way to investigation, so we still don't know the truth. But it's an interesting fact nevertheless.

🐨 Another interesting story is involving Wombat. The creature - some says it's a mixture of capybara, koala, and bear cub - was a favorite pet of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the poet. He had sketched Mrs. Morris (Rossetti's model and muse) taking a wombat on a leash, both with halos over their heads. A wombat had also been gifted to Napoleon's wife, Josephine, by a ship's captain. Speaking of gifted exotic animals, do you know that Cleopatra had once gifted a giraffe to Julius Caesar who then brought it to Ancient Rome?

🐻 A funny anecdote came from the inimitable Lord Byron concerning bear. He used to keep a tamed Bear while studying at University of Cambridge, as dogs were forbidden. When he was asked what they should do with it, his answer was, "It should sit for fellowship" 🤣

🦔 But two animals resonated more to me personally than others. The first is Hedgehog. Whenever I hear the word 'hedgehog', an image from my first picture book, which my mother introduced to me when I was very little, comes immediately to mind. It's a hedgehog with an apple stuck on his spikes, stealing it from two animals who picked it from the tree (the apple falls right to its spikes). That image stuck with me, that I always assume hedgehog eats fruits. But this book taught me that it's just a myth, its diet actually consists of insects and worms. Another animal from my childhood picture books about flora and fauna (my parents bought me a lot of these), is Pangolin (Trenggiling in Indonesian). Its name came from a Malay word 'panggiling' which means roller, from the way it rolls its body while in danger. Their scales were used for Chinese medicine.

🕊 Some more interesting bits from this book:

• The unihemispheric sleep in swifts (birds), they are able to shut up half of the brain at a time, while floating in the air inside the clouds. Amazing, right?
• The reclusive creature of Lemur who's able of changing eye color, is another wonder. One of the species is even superstitiously believed to be able to prophecy death.
• I didn't remember this, but the Seal has capacity of learning language. Ahab in Moby Dick recognized the seals' voices.
• The Narwhal's tusk were once mistakenly thought as unicorn's horn. Queen Elizabeth I was presented at least two narwhals by some voyagers.
• The Crows are the Einstein among birds. On an experiment, they punish some boys who're wicked to them, but were known in real life to have rewarded those who fed them.

🐘 Elephants are actually afraid of bees, they sting elephants' soft tissues inside their trunks. Elephants are gentle and caring creatures. When finding bones of dead friend, they will salute it by lightly touching their bones. An elephant returning to its group would get a ceremonial embraces by intertwining their trunks. Seahorse is the only creature that it is the male who gets pregnant (a fact I learned from TV series F.R.I.E.N.D.S, when Ross wants to calm the pregnant Rachel down by pointing this fact out. What about the Golden Mole, who lent its name to the title? As a species, it's nearer to elephant than ordinary mole. It is the most mysterious animal from all that is discussed in this book. We know almost nothing about it, other than its iridescent quality, from which we called it 'golden' mole.

⭐ All in all, it's a wonderful book about nature and its wonder, told in an interesting and sometimes funny way that will interest non-biologists reader like me.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2024 #NonFicNov24

hosted by Liz, Frances, Heather, Rebekah, and Deb

Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy (1996) by Frances Mayes #NonFicNov24

🌞 Under the Tuscan Sun is a memoir by Frances Mayes, an American university professor, who were just through a divorce. She'd been in love with Italy, and accompanied by Ed, her current significant other, she began to hunt for a house in the countryside. Tuscany was their final choice, in particular an abandoned villa called Bramasole, in a hill town of Cortona.

🌞 Bramasole was named from two Italian words: braemar (to yearn for), and sole (sun); which literally means something that yearns for the sun. What a proper name for an Italian house! Like any other memoir of foreigners who move to European country, Under the Tuscan Sun follows, first the many doubts and indecisive moments Frances and Ed must have endured before finally deciding to buy the house. That part was the easiest, really. After that, came the relentless struggles to make the house and land to be habitable, while they are adapting with new culture, new language, and all.

🌞 The renovating of the rural abandoned villa took them years of dealing with Italian people, with their habits and eccentricities. But this memoir isn't entirely struggles, there are triumphant moments too, like when they found an ancient slab of stone while digging for a well (they finally use it for garden table). Or when renovating walls, they unexpectedly found a beautiful fresco. But maybe the most triumphant moment was when Frances realized how Italian she has been becoming at one point, and how Tuscany and Bramasole become, eventually, her true home that she loves.

"When you're falling in love, everything is lit from within."

🌞 Besides describing how much energy Frances and Ed had poured to make Bramasole home (they loved doing it), Frances also entertained us with her travelling journals - the small town they visited, complete with little historical background, local churches with their religious fervor, local cafe, and landscape. Last but not least, Italian food. Dishes Frances has becoming expert of cooking, and wines they taste and collect, what they serve for visiting guests. Frances even include several recipes in between chapters.

🌞 In short, it's a pleasant memoir to read with perfect proportions between struggles and pleasures, historical background and daily life, and between their personal routine with the interesting characters of their neighbors.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2024 #NonFicNov24

hosted by Liz, Frances, Heather, Rebekah, and Deb

The Cornwall Sabbatical (2023) by Jonathan E. Cox: A Non Fiction

Thanks to The Book Guild and NetGalley for providing me review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

🔶️ Subtitled as 'Observations Through a Returning Pirate's Kaleidoscope', this is the debut book of Jonathan E. Cox, former journalist who returned to his mother land of Penzance, Cornwall, to study for a postgraduate writing degree at Falmouth University.

🔶️ Jonathan Edward Cox left Cornwall in his teens, and for thirty years he built a career in journalism and financial analyst abroad. Then, Covid-19 came, and, like for most of us, changed the direction of his life. As he returned to Cornwall with his Swiss wife, Cox realized that Cornwall had taken a huge change, some to the better, but some not so welcomed. This book chronicled his new view of his beloved changing Cornwall.

🔶️ The book opens with his first day at the university. It's a pity, that Cox doesn't explore more on this subject. I would have loved to get more glimpses - only tiny glimpses - of the university life. Cox mostly explores places - cities, villages, landmarks, beaches. During these travels, he reminisces his childhood, what the place had used to be, what it had meant to him, and how it becomes today. And with that, he would present some history and statistics on related subjects. I have nothing to complain about the travels - those are what I picked this book to read for, to get into places I've never been before, to breath in the atmosphere - but I would be more pleasant with less statistics; I never like statistics. One or two is okay, it is a non fiction anyway, but this book has too many for my taste.

🔶️ What I cherished most is the local folklore stuff like The Hal-an-Tow during Flora Day, a festive event in Helston. Flora Day is a spring festival to celebrate the end of winter and mark the arrival of the new vitality and fertility with the trees and flowers bursting into life. [helstinfloraday.org.uk] Tradition has it that early on Flora Day morning, youths go to the neighbouring woods to collect branches of sycamore. On their return, they are joined by other young people, dressed to represent the characters in the Hal-an-Tow song. [helstonhistory.co.uk] I think it was the culminating moment of Cox's growing emotional re-attachment to Cornwall and his mother land. His two daughters visited Helston for this particular event, and it was an heartwarming family moment for them.

🔶️ Second of my favorites is when Cox explaining about some landmarks which have literary significance. Godrevy Lighthouse, for instance, was Virginia Woolf's inspiration behind To the Lighthouse. In Landewednack village, there is a cottage called The Mariners', whose window is the inspiration of E.M Forster's A Room with a View. And in Bolventor, we get the legendary Jamaica Inn, on which Daphne du Maurier had titled her book published in 1936. 

🔶️ All things considered, this was quite an exciting book to get to know Cornwall. Cox wrote it straightforwardly with some dry, sometimes wry, witty humor. You'll feel quite refreshed by the sea breezes after finishing the book. And if you plan to have a Cornish holiday, this book is the perfect guide for you, especially to warn you about the seagulls. What about seagulls? Well, you need to read the book to get at it, hint: they are quite funny! ;)


Rating: 3,5 / 5


**The Cornwall Sabbatical: Observations Through a Returning Pirate's Kaleidoscope was published on 28th September 2023.

How to Look at a Bird: Open Your Eyes to the Joy of Watching and Knowing Birds by Clare Walker Leslie

Thanks to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for providing me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

🦜 I don't know when exactly it was when I realized that I've always been fascinated by birds. I am an early riser, and I love to go outside on my apartment balcony in the morning, to feel the crisp air, watching the golden light of sun touching the tips of the trees, smell the freshness of the pines or flowers, and...the chirps and songs of the birds. No matter how rough I have felt the day before, a few minutes of these rituals always bring smile on my face, and warmth in my heart, ready to start the new day. In fact, watching the birds itself always make me happy. And that's why I was very excited to get to read and review this book.

🦜 Clare Walker Leslie is both an author and illustrator. In this little book, she encourages beginners at birdwatching to take the first step in taking this hobby into next level. It doesn't require one to be scientist or naturalist. First the joy of watching birds around where we live, be it in the country, suburban, or even in a busy big city like where I live. From there, you'll get curious to what bird that is, what they are doing, why they're doing it, and so on. That curiosity will make one a better observer.

🦜 This book hooked me from the first because apparently Clare has been staying at an apartment building, as I do. She shares how she attracted birds by hanging some feeders on the balcony. It made me realize that one CAN do birdwatching without having to travel in the country or visiting a forest. Clare also shares how to choose our binoculars. I like this kind of practical tips when reading a "how to" books.

🦜 If you imagine this book would be boring and full of technicality or specifications of birds, you were wrong. It feels more like talking with a longtime birdwatchers who's glad to tell you of her love of birds and birdwatching. She wasn't an expert too when she began, but when you do what you love, I believe you'll find ways to learn more. You'll search for it on the internet, you'll find people with the same hobby to talk too, and so on. The possibility would be endless. What you need is to take the first step. And that's what this book will inspire you without being condescending.

🦜 Another pleasant part of this book is the sketches and colorful illustrations of birds and birdwatching. My favorite is the feeder hung on her apartment balcony – maybe because I can relate to it, living in an apartment myself. Clare even shares the step-by-step of sketching a bird. You needn't be good at drawing, by the way. There's this technique which she called blind contouring – doing rough-sketch while focusing on the object, without looking at what you’re doing – which seems quite doable. I can't wait to try myself!

🦜 Do you love birds, but find the word "birdwatching" intimidating? Read this book, and you'll see that it's actually not that scary! Clare described in details several species of birds (with illustrations) which you'll find in some parts of the world (mainly the US), but like she said in this book, wherever you live, there are always birds around you. Moreover, you’ll learn some interesting things about these birds, though you might perhaps never see them. Like the story of Rocky, the saw-whet owl which made headlines in 2020 because she was found in the giant Christmas tree of Rockefeller Center which has been brought from Canada, that's amazing!

🦜 I am so lucky to have found this book, it inspired me to start a new hobby, which might perhaps be useful after my retirement! If you love nature and birds, you'll find this book a helpful guidance.

Rating: 4,5 / 5

**How to Look at a Bird: Open Your Eyes to the Joy of Watching and Knowing Birds will be published on 6th February 2024.

 

Dear Paris: The Paris Letters Collection by Janice MacLeod: A Review for #ParisInJuly

🎨 It's all started when Janice MacLeod sent illustrated letters about her beautiful Paris to her friends years ago. Then she started a letter subscription service in Etsy, through which, her subscribers monthly receive her illustrated letters. This book is a selected collection of 140 of those letters, written within the span of  eight years, from 2012 to 2020.

🎨 These letters are addressed mostly to her friend named Áine, and only one is addressed to another woman. They celebrate the day-to-day of Parisian's life, as well as Janice's growing love of the city. She met Christophe, her future husband, there. She lives in an apartment on Rue Mouffetard, and while sitting at the cafe watching the world goes by, she used to make sketches. What an unexpected business future lays await for her from these seemingly idle occupation! This book contains those snippets of things that makes Paris dear to many people - citizens as well as tourists. It's a real joy to read, especially for anyone who loves Paris, like I do.

🎨 Besides some usual landmarks like Montmartre, Shakespeare and Company, or Jardin du Luxembourg, Janice also wrote about interesting facts or hidden gems that ordinary tourists might seldom know. The Zouave statue, for instance. I didn't know there's such statue located at the foot of Pont de l'Alma which Parisians use to gauge the water level in case the Seine was rising. Or, the fact that there were already 35 permanent carousels in Paris before the city added 20 more when Janice wrote her letter on January 2013!

🎨 If you have watched Midnight in Paris (I have, perhaps five times!), you'd probably remember the steps where Gil Pender is sitting while the clock strikes 12, and a vintage car which brought him to the 1920s era appeared? Thanks to Janice's February 2014 letter, now I know that the legendary steps belong to Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church! If I ever go back to Paris one day, I'd certainly visit this church, if only just to sit on those steps!

🎨 I loved Janice's writing, but much more than that, her gorgeous paintings! She really captures the true heart and soul of the city. In futile I have searched for favorites, I loved them all! But if you need a few peeks, here are two of them:

🎨 This might not be her best, but I think it captures the Parisian soul perfectly. It's about an old lady, Janice's neighbor, who said that "at my age I could "expire" at any moment". Janice's been keeping an eye on her ever since, but one day she saw her dancing at the Sunday market with a handsome man. "Every Sunday on Rue Mouffetard there is music, dancing, and a sing-a-long." The painting says it all, doesn't it? It makes me longing to move there!...

🎨 This one is titled Covered Passages, and I've found through Google that this is actually the Passage Jouffroy in 9th arrondissement. Details in the painting are slightly altered, but who cares when the final painting looks that beautiful?

The actual Passage Jouffroy

🎨 I have loved Paris since I took a French course at CCF (Centre Culturel Français) more than twenty years ago, and then loved it even more after my short visit there. But now, if it's possible, I love Paris even more after reading and enjoying this book. If you are a Francophile or loves paintings, this book is definitely for you!

🎨 My only complaint is that Janice included several letters about her journeys to other countries: Italy, Germany, UK, Belgium, Canada, US, even Japan. When you titled a book Dear Paris, one expects to find Paris (or at least French) things only in it. It's better to have only 100 illustrated letters about Paris or France, than having got 140 but finding random countries in it! It is that aspect which costs this book half star of otherwise a solid five, but other than that, it is a most delightful charming memoir to read!

Rating: 4,5 / 5

 

4th book for Paris in July