Reading time after having cleaned a part of the house ;) Some French magazines for kids, and I'll go on with Mona's Eyes, which I really enjoy so far.
The weather here in San Antonio is very nice 🙂

3.5/5
This manga follows a cat and his mistress through their daily life. Through the eyes of her cat, the readers can witness her solitude, her mood going down, how her work life goes, etc.
I think the cat as a narrator/witness is a very good idea. It's an adulting story, referencing to living alone for the first time, and solitude/isolation that comes with it.

Very good album for kids to understand how an exhibit is organized. It's also a very colorful book, perfect to catch kids' attention.

Good reading month ;)
I just put on hold a very high number of books at my local library... So my November reading should also be interesting!
Definitely recommend the three books 📚 pictured.

Wish you all a lovely reading month 💟

Creative and well-written plot. I would have liked perhaps a more detailed plot. I feel that it would have helped me getting more emotionally engaged.
Overall, I appreciated my journey through this book.

2/5 - Level A2/B1
What a disappointment!!!
Florence Aubenas writes about the brutal murder of a pregnant woman in a small town. Ten years of investigation, the lives destroyed, she mainly focuses on the life of one of the suspect, an actor with a marginal lifestyle.
Very slow beginning, then a total lack of direction: what is the point of this book? Denouncing the slowness of justice? The biases of investigators? Something about our society? Dunno

2.5/5
I liked the 1st part when she puts into context the sculpture, when she gives info about Degas which offers a better understanding of the work itself, and its harsh reception at the time.
I didn't like the digressions: pointless comparison of hardship, emotional judgements... These made it harder to read. I would have preferred more emotional distance from the writer, more structure too. In the
end, we don't know much more about the model

2.5/5
If it had been marketed as fiction, my rating would have been higher.
But read as a fiction, this book is emotional and interesting, it's a nice story about the friendship between an elephant and his caretaker. The main thing that bothered me while reading it was the lack of chronological elements. Also, a lack of nuances in describing the bad characters (very manichean). Too much pathos at times, but I learned a lot about elephants.

A new bookstore opened in San Antonio, Book Nerd, that's where I found this cute book ;) A perfect gift for the kid of one of my best friend! Of course, before picking it, I read it, and I found the story super sweet and engaging: Aggie moves in alone in a house, but with the house comes a ghost...

Excellent collection of short stories, all well-written.
Of course, as in any collection, I connected more with some stories than others. But even my least favorite, “Why won't women just say what they want?“, led to an interesting conversation at bookclub.
I also like that she focuses on moments in her characters' life, not wrapping anything in a cute little bow like so many writers do.

2/5
One of my pet peeve is a misleading title... And this book is the perfect example. It's actually a book about Wright's experience of Texas: it is filled with anecdotes. It's between a memoir, a travelogue, and an opinion piece.
It's a pan to me, because it's a lot of name dropping without a clear structure, or a clear objective. Very disjointed writing.

4/5 - Really enjoyed this historical fiction, very well written. Inspired by the life of Martha Ballard, this book is set in Hallowell, a small town in Maine, in 1789, during a long cold winter. Through Martha, midwife and healer, we get to know the inhabitants, their secrets, the hidden politics of the town. The book begins with a body discovered in the icy river, a man allegedly accused of the brutal rape of a woman.

My Storygraph recap for September! Not as much reading as I would have liked (life gets busy sometimes). Two children's books in my top three, and Sad Tiger, a non-fiction book about Neige Sinno's experience and inner thoughts as a victim of child abuse.

I found this book during a book sale, and I had never heard of this French writer, who published at least a dozen books in the 70-80s.
While I didn't like the plot/story, I found this book quite well written, and I would definitely read another of his book. It happens, I guess...
Now, it's time to read while having a good breakfast, and a warm tea 🍵

3/5
It's quite a hard book to define. The narrator is from Montreal, and every summer she goes to the Inuit in the North to take care of kids. Through vignettes, we discover the roughness of life there: the violence of nature, but also the violence of men.
Why so-so? The first part is all over the place, the second part has actually a plot. Perhaps too many subjects into one book?
Pic: wildlife in San Antonio while walking

2/5
Book club selection. I read it to the end, but unless you're a fan of Jeopardy or of Trebek, I can't say I would recommend it.
Sometimes, you can read biographies or autobiographies of people you know nothing about, with whom you have no connection, and still get teachings from it, take something/anything from it, but for me it wasn't the case with this book...
For me, it's a pan, but I put so-so because it depends why you read it.

3/5 - re-read
I read this book when it first came out, but outside the doors, I didn't remember anything.
It's the perfect example of how your taste can change over time. I had put 5/5 at my first reading, but while I still like the book, my current score is 3.
I still like the doors, putting the focus on after they reached a new destination, but I found the second part lacking in nuances, and complexity, with convenient ellipses. I wanted more.

Beautiful book in French about empathy, loss, and support.
We witness a unique bond between a grand-mother and her grandson, in which listening plays an important role.
I loved the illustrations, the message, everything.

Final book in the Darko series, can't believe I finished this series of five books!
Overall, I enjoyed this series, it was nice to see the evolution of Darko, and also to discover the Ghanaian culture.
This last book was interesting, but the ending felt a little bit rushed, I would have liked more developments.

After reading four essays, I decided to bail... Usually, I like reading essays, seeing other people's point of view, but here it seems I can't connect: lack of definitions, issues with how the ideas flow, sometimes caricatural depiction lacking nuances. But most importantly, no “haha, that's an interesting point“ moment.

Excellent testimony in which Neige Sinno reflects on her experience as a victim of sexual abuse as a child. What happened, her attempts to understand what happened, how to write about it, how she looked for answers in literature, the continuous impact on her life, etc. This book contains a lot of thoughts, very well explored, on a very difficult subject. Very interesting!

I've been quite busy this month with work... So I haven't read as much as I wanted to. But despite it all, it was quite a good reading month. The three books on the pic were excellent, I 100% recommend them.

2.5/5
While some parts are interesting, I found the writing style weak, and annoying at times. I like the idea of the cat narrator, but it was very lengthy at times, repetitive also.
While I love cats, I'm not a fan of the pictures inside of the disguised cat, I preferred the documents at the end of each chapter, these were far more interesting.

Slow morning today, I caught up some on your lovely reviews, I actually stacked several books ;) Thanks for the recommendations 📚
I took the picture before catching up on the feed, and it was a lovely piece of lemon cake with coffee, and now, I'm going to read some of my stack while enjoying non vocal music from Spotify.

In this novella, based on a true story, Éric Faye recounts beautifully and poetically how the main character, a single man in his fifties, discovered a woman was using his place when he was absent...
The themes of solitude, intrusion, and meaning of life are very well explored despite the brievety of the book.

4/5
Excellent novel about an isolated teen living in Mayotte. Written with different voices, we discover his story, from his early childhood to the present.
Trigger warning: this book is violent, but very realistic. That's what I liked about it. The different characters are well-built, the change of tone between characters is impressive.
Beautifully written, the author used her experience there to write this book.

So-so for me.
While it's a cute story, it's too much Hallmark-like for my taste. While I could empathize with the difficulties faced by the different characters, I found most of the characters too stereotypical, not developed enough. The role played by the octopus is interesting, but I wished she had gone all in, and told the whole story through the eyes of the octopus.

3.5/5
Beautifully illustrated book on general knowledge.
A very enjoyable book to browse, a perfect coffee book table giving facts from knots to clouds.

Kumiko, 76, decides to leave the assisted-living home to find a place of her own without telling her daughters. She feels the shadow of death close by, and tries her best to fight it off.
A lot of themes in this graphic novel: growing old, ageism, death, friendship...
I enjoyed the illustration style. This story is universally relatable, and I liked the humorous tone too.

Last Saturday, I went to buy some books 📚 at the Book Cellar in San Antonio (friends of the central library), and I bought mostly books in French, only one book in English...
And yesterday, I went back for their book sale. Guess what I bought? Yep, a lot of books in French (picture to come next week)

2/5 - Pan for me
Not my cup of tea... This story just didn't work for me. The end was quite disappointing too. Not fan of the writing style.
But I'm glad I've finished it on time for bookclub today, and I write this review while having coffee and strawberries with crème fraîche and a little bit of sugar, miam!

Great French poetry book for children. Loved the illustrations and I enjoyed the poems.
I appreciated the introduction and the extra info at the end of the book giving more context to these poems that were mostly written in the 1940s.

3/5 - soft pick
Enjoyable read, liked the creativity of the author, also liked how the plot is structured. All the elements work well together.
That being said, I found some parts too glamorized and unrealistic, a little bit too cheesy. Not sure it's a story that is going to stick with me.

Good reading month, with a lot of manga.
Still reading the Blue Period series. Even if some books are less interesting than others, I really enjoy following the journey of the main character through art school in Japan.
Why I love it so much? Because it shows you the actual struggle of artists, the self-doubt, the good and bad sides, with at moments, the main character hating art.

In this graphic memoir, Catherine Meurisse recounts her struggle with moving on after the attack at Charlie Hebdo, during which her friends and colleagues were killed. A recurring theme along the book is how to find beauty and lightness.
She talks about the aftermath of the attack, but she also includes memories of before. It's a deeply personal account, but despite all the horrors, she managed to include some humor.

Friday brunch at home with my current read ;)

Today, I just want to relax and read... Look up my feed on Litsy with your great reviews of books you liked/disliked, and read some of my magazines.

Made a big raspberry tart yesterday, got one slice yesterday night coming back from a late class as dinner, and now for brunch ;) My husband got one big slice for his breakfast. I love making these... They don't look perfect, but the taste is there.

Just as good as the first one!
Very cute manga brushing the theme of homosexuality in Japan: stereotypes, acceptance, prejudices, etc.

Just reread this classic for my French book club.
This series of short stories introduced the character of Arsène Lupin, a clever thief. Interestingly, the first story recounts his arrest. The stories are not in chronological orders, but they each offer a glimpse into the past and personality of Lupin.
These stories are filled with cleverness and humor. Perfect for spending a good time.

Fun little cartoon collection around the theme of books and literature.
Perfect palate cleanser for relaxing. Of course, some are better than others, but I'm always impressed by the imagination it takes to create so many vignettes.

*Not translated/ motivated A2 or B1 level*
What is the actual job of an astronaut? His training? His education?
In this graphic nonfiction, we follow Thomas Pesquet from his childhood to his space journey.
It shows the reality of an astronaut's life, and shows the good, but also all the work, and the bad (reading and learning by heart instruction manuals for example).
It also openly talks about the condition of living in space.

*Not translated / Level B1*
Novel. A family doctor is unable to cry, he writes about his patients, his daily life as a family doctor, mostly the long hours, the pain, frustration he encounters.

It's a novel, but the writer is an actual family doctor, so I feel it gives a pretty good idea of the daily experience of a family doctor in France.
Well-written, I really enjoyed this book.

Impressive feat.
Well-written, this dystopia is uncomfortable to read by its realism.
It's clear reading it that Butler had a deep knowledge of human nature (the good and the bad).
Written as a diary, it's interesting to follow the thought process of the main character, how she develops Earthseed, her idea of God.
I'll definitely read the next book in the series, Parable of the Talents.

2/5 Not a fan of this one... I preferred the second one of the series.
While I still like that type of storytelling mixing art and prose, the plot didn't work for me here. Too many things suggested, not enough world building.

#staycationswap

@AmyG Thank you for everything! I love Norway, and Maine is on my go-to list ;) You chose everything so well, excited to dive in these books.

@Chrissyreadit, @DinoMom Thanks for organizing this great swap ;)

What a cute manga! Loved it, I will definitely read the other books in the series.
Themes: homosexuality in Japan, prejudices, tolerance, family, etc.
I like how the different characters evolve, how Tagame mixes awkwardness with humor. It's been on my tbr list for a while, so happy to have read it.

Soft pick - 3/5
This book contains mostly paintings of women holding things. Some of the text is purely descriptive, used to describe the paintings. But some poetry can also be found, always in relation to the paintings and to the concept of “holding things.“
Like all art and poetry books, some pieces are more appealing than others, or are resonating more than others with me. Hence the soft pick.

Excellent book about AI
Across chapters dealing with different themes (livelihood, health, freedom, etc.), the author presents the hopes vs the reality/limitations of AI.
She reminds readers that it's foremost a statistical tool made out of data, by men, and that using it without human oversight could have dangerous/unfair consequences.
She also asks relevant questions about the making and future of it, and its possible impact on society.

Here is my June wrap-up... A lot of books read, a lot of short books too.
I keep on with the manga series Blue Period, while some books are less interesting, the book 10 was good. I love how this manga shows how hard the creation process is. I'll definitely keep on reading this series till the end.
Also read a lot of children's books. I highly recommend Slow Down, interesting content and beautifully illustrated ;)

In this graphic novel, we follow Paul in his first experience as a counselor at a summer camp in the 1970s.
I haven't read the first book in the series, but it's really not a problem. This book is readable by itself.
Well done, with interesting themes: coming of age, first responsibilities, first love, self-confidence, etc.

#FridayNightShare #MidsummerSolace

🌞 I don't have a go-to book when I'm feeling low or struggling. Just the act of isolating to dive in a book brings me peace and comfort.
🌞 My favorite format is physical books 📚 While I read a huge ton of magazines online, ebooks I rarely read. I just can't do audio.
🌞 I read mostly inside. During the day, on my couch in the living room, at night in bed ;)

@Chrissyreadit @TheBookHippie