Hello all, I’m assuming most of you, like me, do not have a million dollars. Nor do you casually have one thousand lying around to spend on a plane ticket. If you do, maybe you don’t have the time. If you find yourself sitting inside on a rainy day, looking out your window and dreaming about Paris, I have the next best thing. Okay well maybe the second best. Maybe the third, depends on who you ask.
Time Was Soft There by Jeremy Mercer
In this memoir, Mercer tells the story of his leaving his job and literally escaping to Paris. He seeks shelter at the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Co., back when they housed individuals in exchange for working at the store (they may still do this and it could be top secret, if it is then someone let me know). It tells the story of a Paris underground – writers, readers, and the undecided find a community and a family through the store. You see parts of Paris that seem mystical and dreamlike but also real and part of it’s not so beautiful side. It’s an easy and happy read, and my second favorite memoir! (Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast will always be number one in my heart).
Left Bank by Agnès Poirier
Want a French history lesson without the classroom, cost of tuition, or the bore of a textbook? This book tells the stories of the lives of the Left Bank from 1940-1950. You learn the names of those who made Paris what it is today: artists, teachers, writers, and just plain citizens. It covers so much, yet you read through it like you’re reading your typical fiction (except it’s all TRUE!). I read this the summer before my senior year of college, the year in which I took two French history classes. I got to impress the teacher each semester with my knowledge from this bad boy. Anyway, learn all the names and events of Paris to make you feel more like a Parisian even though you’re sitting in your house in suburban Atlanta.
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles (releases SOON!)
I’ve been given the opportunity to read this book BEFORE it’s release, I know, so cool. Based in World War II Paris, heroine Odile Souchet joins the resistance with books as her weapons; however, after the war she is left betrayed and upset. This story intertwines with the narrative of a teenage girl from Montana befriending her mysterious elderly neighbor. Based on a true WWII story, this satisfies both history and fiction (romance, friendship, and travel) lovers. Be on the lookout for this book!!
In Paris: 20 Women on Life in the City of Light by Jeanne Damas and Lauren Bastide
If you would like to read more about Paris but hate to read, here is your chance. This pastel pink little book is full of pictures and stories from women who tell their own stories of living in pages (in large font and within the span of a couple pages). It’s enlightening and fun to read while also making you feel like you’re also with the girls in the perfect city. Also, follow the author on instagram, she’s an actual influencer. Not a fake, like me.
Well, that’s it for now. I have others I would love to recommend but I know that you are probably tired of reading so I’ll be lucky to have even influenced you to buy one of these books! With that, if you are purchasing any book please buy from your local indie bookstore!!!!
URBAN FLEUR 