3.5/5
Great way to discover Thelonious Monk's work and life. Solid introduction to this artist.
I enjoyed reading this graphic biography while listening to his music.
I didn't know Monk before, and I'm not well-acquainted with jazz, but I really enjoyed his music. Perfect reading companion.

2.75/5
Elizabeth Kolbert writes a series of essays about climate change, one for each letter of the alphabet.
While some essays are interesting and hopeful (about new technologies, leapfrogging) some others miss the mark (the one titled Republicans for example).
Contrary to the title, I didn't find much hope in this book, and I would have liked some essays to go more in-depth.
Wesley Allsbrook's illustrations are stunning.

2/5
Second book by Sedaris I'm reading because some members of my non-fiction book club love him... Well, another pan for me. I really don't understand the hype. His stories aren't interesting, I don't find him funny, you don't get any enlightenment from his stories, no “Interesting, I've never thought of this that way“ moment.
Well, now I know that Sedaris is really not my cup of tea.

3/5
In this graphic memoir, Mike Hawthorne recounts his childhood spent with his mother in poverty.
This book focuses on his relationship with his mother, a difficult one, between love, admiration, anger, and violence.
One life journey out of so many, this book offers a window into someone else's experiences, which I value.
Themes: poverty, immigration, mother-son relationship, family

4/5 - Level B1
A great way to discover French authors! This year's theme was “I'm ten,“ and it's impressive to see how different each short story is.
All the authors give one short story, and the proceeds of the book sale go to Les Restos du Cœur, a charity which distributes food packages and hot meals to people in need.
Michel Bussi, Maxime Chattam, Leïla Slimani, Tatiana de Rosnay, etc. contributed to this book.

2.5
Not my cup of tea. It's a Hallmark style Xmas story with stereotopycal characters and quite too cheesy and predictable for my taste.
Good thing is that it's a fast read ;)

4/5 - Only in French - Level B1-2
We're in 1561 in a small village isolated by snow. A traveling doctor finds himself stuck in this village where a strange illness is decimating the inhabitants, causing them to lose their minds and to lose their limbs because of gangrene.
Fear grows among the population who is adamant at finding a culprit.
Well-written, satisfying read about human nature!

While Saunders' commentaries about the seven Russian short stories he selected for this book were insightful, I found them at times tedious and repetitive.
The great thing is that it enticed me to start a collection of short stories by Tchekhov ;)

Bought this book today at my library book sale, just read it, and I just LOVE it. Perfect gift for one of my friend's kid!
Why?
Love the illustration style
Fun way to learn about the collective names of animals. As a non-native English speaker, I learned a lot (I'm sure other adult native speakers would learn a lot too).
At the end of the book, there are short explanations of the origins of these collective names

2.5/5 - only in French, reading level A2/B1
In this short book, 140 pages, Sylviane Vayaboury recounts her life story spent between Cayenne in French Guiana and France.
Interesting to read if you want a snapshot of somebody's life, but this is not great writing, quite mundane actually. I personally found the writing style weak.
To me, the redeeming pages were when she writes about the last years of her adoptive mother.

4/5 - Re-read
It was quite enjoyable to read this book again for my book club.
Very well written, it's a Christmas classic, the discussion we had was very interesting ;)
Loved the illustrations by Arthur Rackham.

3/5
The main character walks around town meeting different people, through these encounters we learn about his life, his past, the town, and its inhabitants.
Some parts I like more than others, the more fantastic parts are also quite philosophical at times. I wonder how a young audience responds to this book, or if they really manage to connect with it.
It reads well as an adult, but I'm not quite satisfied with the ending.

Really enjoyed this short book full of humor. I read it in French, it has been translated in English but while reading it, a lot of the content seems to me untranslatable (puns, play on words). Hence me recommending it more to French speakers and learners. Of course, some parts are better than others, but overall it was a very nice discovery. I'll definitely read the other books of the series. I had a good laugh (see example above) ;)

Excellent graphic nonfiction about the shooting of students at Kent State University by the national guards in Ohio, and all the cover-ups and lies from the authorities.
Well-researched, this book is a great reminder to really think critically, to pause when the politicians and the media are pushing for emotional reactions (fear, anger, etc.).
The pages with drawings of the shooting are very powerful visually, can be triggering to some.

Not available in English - level B1-2
We're in -15000, we follow the family Quatre-Encoches in their long walk to the ocean. Once there, Iranie, chosen by the chamane to succeed her, is found dead. Licorne-la-Puissante, the chamane, will try to find out what happened.
Great read, well-researched, I love the idea of a prehistoric crime novel. It's also a great story about human interactions, and power play.

I remember reading this book as a child, and it was a real pleasure to listen to it in French on the website of the Culturethèque, to which I have access through my French Alliance account.
This is a beautiful story of friendship between a blue dog and a little girl. Beautifully written, it's a book full of emotions.

4/5
Very interesting read about the wreck of the Wager. You learn a lot about how sailors were “hired“, the rules and living conditions on a ship at that time. Being stranded in the wilderness is something that is happening less and less, hence I think our fascination with such events from the past. The book also focuses on human interactions when it comes to survival instincts.

Fun fact: scurvy isn't a illness of the past, it's coming back.

I read tome 1 to 6 of the series Vivre en Macronie which for each year of Macron in power displays a selection of Allan Barte's drawings.
I read it in preparation for a French class I'm giving, and it was interesting to go back to major events of his mandate. It's crazy the ingenuity needed to create such drawings, and while some are pretty funny, others are quite depressing.

3/5
Enjoyable read overall, but kind of slow for me, sometimes boring. I won't go on with this series.

What a pleasurable book to read! I just loved traveling around the world with Philéas Fogg and Passepartout. A lot happens in these pages: misunderstandings, adventures, funny encounters, etc. And there is a lot of wit and humor, with also many surprises. It also educates the reader in an entertaining way about time, rules of physics, etc.

2/5
What a disappointment!!! I was expecting scary, and I got boring... I thought of bailing, but just wanted to know how it ended. Most of my book club didn't finish it. I wasn't impressed by the writing neither.

2/5
First, it's the author's personal experience with alcoholism and her body, and I value her sharing her own experiences with such honesty. But, I had a hard time getting into it (probably the style of the delivery), and while I found some pages interesting, overall it wasn't my cup of tea.

3/5
While being repetitive at times, the author managed to surprise me with her plot. First book in a series, I'm quite curious to see how the different characters may evolve.

Beautifully illustrated book about animal migrations.
A great way to teach your kids about new animals and their migration paths.
Jenni Desmond did an excellent job illustrating this book, while Mike Unwind offers vocabulary rich descriptions of the animals and of their migrations.

I'm not going to lie, it took me a while to read, and I thought of bailing. But I'm glad I didn't.
The beginning was hard, because I didn't see the links with the different characters, but eventually everything links together.
I liked learning about Kerala, about the politics, about the progress in medicine along the pages. Some parts of this family saga are more interesting than others, but so is life. A solid 3/5 for me.

Such a fun read!
Children will enjoy it, but adults too. I love when there are different levels of reading in books. And I love the span of humor: anachronisms, play on words, situational humor...

Originally written in the 1950s, these memoirs written by a 25-year-old author about his growing up in Guinea reveals the daily life, customs and traditions of his time.
It's a short read that will open a window to witness life there and then through the eyes of the author. If you pick this book, keep in mind that it's main focus is daily life, so it may not interest everyone.

2.5/5
Quick, somewhat entertaining read.
While the plot is fun and entertaining, the narration is repetitive, far from subtil, and caricatural. So it gets old fast (pun intended).

Reread
Ferrante's writing is excellent, it transports us to another time and place, making us invisible observers of the life and culture of a Neapolitan neighborhood. We grow attached to the different characters, we get to know their good and bad sides, their aspirations too.
Definitely recommend it.

3/5
Interesting book that can be read from start to finish, or in bits, depending on which articles catch your fancy. Each article is related to Provence, Peter Maybe sharing his knowledge, observations or personal experience, often with wit and humor.

Nice little read

The illustrations are very nicely done. And the storyline interesting.
The story is set in the winter. While this book doesn't have much written parts, it could lead to interesting conversations with your young ones.

Beautiful wordless story about a girl from the countryside who loves gardening moving into the city, and how she makes this new place home.

The illustrations are stunning and colorful. I like the idea of it being wordless, like that children can make their own story from the images, using their own words.

The above image is an example of how stunning the illustrations are.

Nicely illustrated biography of Tyrus Wong

Tyrus Wong was a Chinese American artist, who among other endeavors played an important role in illustrating Disney's movie Bambi.

In just a few pages, Julie Leung and Chris Sasaki manage to tell his life story: from leaving China, studying art to working at Disney. I also enjoyed the extra information at the end containing also the author's motivation for writing this book.

2/5 - soft so-so
While I enjoyed the photographs, I didn't like how this book was structured.
The introduction of each state by a short paragraph written by famous people about why they love it, I couldn't care less. I would have preferred the pictures collected by States with more info on the actual pictures and the people in them.

“Before building your vision, you have to destroy what's there“
That's pretty much what the main character and his father want to do in this graphic novel, but of course they are faced with brutal oppositions.

Not sure this one was for me, even if I enjoyed the art style, and some satirical contents.

Excellent graphic memoir.
Tessa Hulls did a great job retracing her family's history and organizing this book so readers could get a thorough picture of her family history. How the persecutions suffered in China by her grandma made her lose grip with reality, how her grandma's mental illness affected her mother, and how her mother's experience having to take care of her grandma had a bearing on her parenting, and their relationship.

2.5/5
On the fence... It's written well enough, but during my reading I kept wondering what was the purpose of this book, what was the objective of the author.
Also, I guess the subject matter didn't captivate me: a homeless man traveling around the US in a kayak... Yes, he's a colorful man doing something quite unusual and impressive, but reading about him for 250 pages?!

Fun book to read, perfect palate cleanser.

Every reader will find an illustration that will speak to her/him.

You're probably familiar with some of the content shown in this book from social media.

I think bookshelves can say a lot about their owners. How do you organize your books?
My French books are together. Then my English books are divided into fiction and non-fiction.
Pet peeve: seeing books organized by color

3/5
Written in 1956, it's a novel about the life of a houseboy under colonialism.
From the first pages we learn the tragic end of the houseboy, then we get to read his diary: how he came to be a houseboy, his daily life, etc.
Segregation, hypocrisy, racism, black/white relationships are the main themes.
It's a level B1 read in French, some words/phrases may be difficult for a non-native.

3.5/5
This graphic biography recounts Beethoven's childhood and teenage years up to adulthood through well-executed illustrations.
I liked all the colors used in the illustrations, how his creativity is represented in the drawings.
It also portrays realistically the epoch, with some references to the major events of the time.

3.5/5
Interesting read if you're curious about how counseling works. The footnotes were very useful to understand the process. They also put things into perspective by reminding us that a counselor/psychotherapist is human, and as such not always perfect, and that's okay.
Here we follow one patient. It would have been really, really nice to have different patients with different pathologies/problems.

4.5/5
I love this detective series set in Accra, Ghana. It's the #2 in the series. I will definitely keep reading it.

Darko Dawson has to find a serial killer targeting the street children of Accra. While being a mystery, it also reveals the difficulties faced by street children, the nepotism and corruption in the police force, but also how some people at every level try to help.

I like that Darko Dawson isn't a perfect detective.

4/5
Excellent read to (re)view the basics of critical thinking.
Sometimes, he sounds a little too preachy, but I value his honesty when recounting the times he made mistakes in assessing situations.
Written in 2018, but already outdated when it comes to social media and algorithms. Still, it made for a very interesting discussion at my book club.
Very easy to read, very accessible.

2/5
Just wanted to read it before later reading Unmask Alice. It's the “diary“ of a teenager in the 70s from a good family, falling into drugs.
Didn't seem realistic to me. Would not recommend it. If you are interested in this book, visit your library ;)

3/5
In this book, Peter Maybe travels around France for culinary events. He observes, and learns from locals about the food, sometimes how to eat it, how to cook it or prepare it...
It's a well-written light read.
⚠️ This book can make you hungry!!!

Picture: cheese at restaurant in Auvergne.

4/5
Very interesting read about the author's quest to find out what happened to her Jewish family in Poland during WW2. During her travels there with her old cousin Sam, they discover that one member survived, and try to find her.
Key themes: history, personal trauma, frustration, hope, deception, war crimes, bureaucracy, national myths, etc.
This book highlights the importance of knowing history, all of it. Not to hide the dark parts of it.

4/5
Atmospheric and well-written, here are some key words to describe this book: first love, heartbreak, country life, unreciprocated love, depression, family support, manipulation, thrilling revenge, primal instincts.
The story of Blanche won't leave you indifferent.

3/5
Like with the volume one, I'm on the fence.
I liked the art and the format, some of the plotlines, but I'm having difficulties with the main character.

2/5 - soft so-so
While this book reads well and fast, with some humorous content, I just couldn't get past all the inconsistencies. Where were the editors!?
The thing I hated the most was probably the wannabe inspirational list towards the end... Inconsistent and quite lame.
It's a book that had a lot of potential, that could have really been great...

Not available in English. Reading level B1
3/5 - soft pick
Mathieu Palain decides to attend a group therapy for violent men who are sent there by a judge for domestic violence.
It's an interesting journalistic piece, but still too superficial. It reveals a big problem with the French justice system with inadequate sentencing. It's also hard to read, as most men consider themselves victims, blaming their female partners.