Firstly, Happy Winter Solstice!
Last night was the longest night of the year. It also seemed to be the darkest. Every time I woke up, the room was pitch black with no moon in sight.
Why was I waking up so often?
It seems I have caught another flu. Sometime today I should find out which one. I’m happy to not be in lockdown any more but three flus/colds in four months is exhausting, especially after enjoying two whole years with NO flus or colds at all.
A piece of good news though, is that today the bureau of meterology officialy declared our La Niña summer/autumn OVER. The above average rainfall events are gone…for now. There is a 50% chance that it will return later in the year, so I will enjoy these sunny days will I can!
More good news and the reason for this post – PARIS IN JULY – is open for business!
Now in it’s thirteenth year, Paris in July is one of the few reading events I keep on my reading/blogging schedule no matter how crazy life gets or how busy work is. It’s the reading event that gets me through the dreary days of winter.
This year, Paris in July is being hosted once again by the lovely Tamara @Thyme for Tea along with a new co-host, the bubbly, just returned from a trip to Paris, Deb @Readerbuzz.
The aim of the month is to celebrate our French experiences through reading, watching, listening, observing, cooking and eating all things French!
There will be no rules or targets in terms of how much you need to do or complete in order to be a part of this experience – just blog about anything French and you can join in!
I like to use this event to read another Maigret or two, but I also try to cook some French recipes, watch some French movies and/or listen to some French music.
I created a Paris in July Spotify playlist a few years ago which I’m very happy for you to follow. Movie and recipe choices will be based purely on whim and fancy.
My Book List looks like this:
- The Inseperables | Simone de Beauvoir
- Maigret and the Minister | Georges Simenon
- Maigret Goes to School | Georges Simenon
- The Paris Bookseller | Kerri Maher (my August book group book)
And the rest is left in the laps of the Paris gods.
Bonne chance, bon appetit, bonne lecture et écoute heureuse!
| This post was written on the traditional land of the Wangal clan, one of the 29 clans of the Eora Nation within the Sydney basin. This Reading Life acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are our first storytellers. |
bronasbooks.com 
Simone de Beauvoir and Simenon are both great choices for PIJ — I think I need to put them on my list too.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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I do love this excuse to read some Maigret’s!
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I’ve never taken part but maybe this year. We’ll see. Did you see the new Maigret film just recently in the cinemas? We enjoyed it… quiet, slow, measured.
So sorry to hear about your frequent colds/flus.
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No I didn’t know there was a new Maigret film. I guess I have a week to catch up on stuff like this now!
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You do, I’m sorry to agree … it was only recently in the cinema but it might be available on streaming services. It stars Gerard Depardieu.
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Thanks Sue, I’ll check it out.
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I hope you have the energy. The first day, I did very little. So washed out, but since then I’ve been able to read and watch things for increasing lengths of time each day.
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Glad to hear Sue as I’ve done very little the past 2 days. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel brighter and less tired.
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Day 3 I felt quite a bit better, while today, day 5 I feel close to normal, except of course I’m not doing anything outside our 6 squares so I’m not being tested. I guess a big difference might be that being oldies we are quadruple vaxxed. I don’t know how much that is offset by our being older!!!
Anyhow, it’s no fun being listless so I hope you feel better tomorrow or very soon.
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It has taken 24 hrs for your comment to filter through my brain fog – but 6 square metres? Does this mean Covid caught you while visiting family? I hope you have enough books with you!!
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Yep, we were (are) in Melbourne. Where else do you get COVID! Haha! (No, I know you got it in Sydney and rates are high in Canberra, but I couldn’t resist that). I had brought a few books and I also have many on my Kindle app. But, my reading energy was a bit low for the first few days.
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That’s hard when you’re planned grandkiddie time is being taken up by isolating instead. But I guess that’s how living with Covid goes.
One of the good things is the enforced week of doing nothing, going nowhere. If it was a regular flu or cold, one might be tempted after a few days of rest to soldier on. It’s actually a huge relief to not feel rushed into getting back out there.
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Yes, I thinks it’s probably a good lesson. I was terrible at soldiering on when I was working. Caught up in all the things that HAVE to be done! There are good things about being isolated. My son and partner are stuck at home with two kiddies, and he said “it’s character building”. I loved that.
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This is a wonderful blogging event, WG. Hope you’ll join in this year. I started late this time, now’s going into the Week 2, will link my first post at Tamara’s Thyme for Tea. Just posted a review of an interesting book on food: Mastering the Art of French Eating. Rings a bell? 🙂
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What a great event! I’ll look forward to seeing your posts. Wishing you a speedy recovery Brona.
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It really is. A month of reading posts about French books, French cooking, French movies and some holiday photos 🙂
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Good morning! …at least here it is.
You have days shrouded in darkness and I’m awake with the chickens/loud chirping birds every morning at 0430 AM b/c it is daylight! It is messing up my sleep patterns and there’s nothing else to do at 0500 then fire up the IPAD and scroll twitter for any earth shattering news.
Paris in July…love the challenge as you do and I have a few french books on my summer reading list….so I’m all set. Reading Victor Hugo today and it is going very slowly b/c he loves to describes rooms/drapes/furniture etc. Lots if revenge, greed, adultery and courtesans! French cooking: I will get out my favorite Rachel Khoo but haven’t the “umph” to get back into the kitchen. We’ll see. As you all projects are “based purely on whim and fancy.”
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I haven’t been in the mood for cooking of late either, so I’m hoping Rachel Khoo will help me out of that slump too!
My tests came back positive for Covid last night, so at least now I have a good reason for feeling so miserable atm. By all accounts I should start to feel better by the weekend.
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Sorry to hear you’re poorly. Hope you’ll feel better soon and that Paris in July will help you get through your winter.
I have also just signed up. Looking forward to a good reading month.
🇫🇷 Joyeux Juillet 🇫🇷
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Great book choices – happy reading!
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Oooh, as it happens I have a couple of Maigret titles to hand that I was intending to read soon, so July it is!
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Perfect!
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Sorry to hear about the continuous flus. They can be very tiresome. Hope you recover to come to Paris. Simone and Simenon seem like good choices. I read SdB’s book L’invitée some years ago and like it a lot. This seems to have been published after her death. The summary sounds interesting.
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I feel bad for not having read any SdB, so hoping this one will give me a taste for her writing and encourage me to go back and read her earlier ones.
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Ugh, sorry to hear you’re not well, especially after so many other bouts this year. I read my first Simenon in May, so maybe I should move straight onto my next, for Paris in July.
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Maigret gets under your skin for sure! I love walking around Paris with him every July 🙂
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Firstly I hope you are feeling better! It is exhausting to be sick and I hope this was your last tryst with ill health! I too have never done Paris in July but I am sorely tempted because of The Inseparables which has been on my TBR for months. However I am kind of wary of starting any heavy books these days because of Chemo fog and bad health. But let me see….
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Thank you, the recovery from COVID is slow but steady. I’ve heard of lots of people getting another flu on top of covid atm, so when I go back to work on Thursday, I will have to be extra careful for a while. I suspect as a result, my reading time in July will be heavily curtailed by tiredness and brain fog too. Maigret may be all I can do!
Hope you have starting to have more good days than bad…xoxo
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Maigret is on my film list…I found one on Kanopy. I’m planning a very light Paris in July; it’s been a heavy year. So sorry to hear you are down with a third flu…that just seems unfair.
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Looking forward to your Paris posts, Brona! I’ve just posted my first one… a book review of a unique memoir of food experience. 🙂
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