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Paris:–
December:– This is how the book page looks
before it gets its full–tilt exciting fillers
concerning the books featured on it. The first book is
Heather Stimmler–Hall's great and brandnew guide to
Paris. I have read a third of it, and it makes for terrific
reading at breakfast. Not surprising that it has 'secrets'
I never heard of before – Heather is the 'secrets'
specialist for Paris. Coming soon – the rest of this
page. Until then, all the links below should work. Hit 'em
while there's time!
  Paris
and Ile de France (Adventure Guides Series) by
Heather Stimmler–Hall. Besides being sporty and
adventurous, Heather knows lots of Paris' secrets, so the
guide sections are peppered with all sorts of interesting
tidbits of lore, rumor, facts, and legends. But if you want
more adventure and scads of 'sporty,' then this is the
guide for you.
  Paris takes you beyond the
postcards to the photographed spirit of Paris. Today is
featured but the past is never far away, punctuated with a
selection of quotes and anecdotes by clear–eyed Paris
observers such as Colette, Jean Cocteau and Henry Miller.
Monuments there are, but also streets, markets, quartiers,
interiors, theatres, and cafés, of course.
  Barefoot
in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at
Home Ina Garten favors
simple, sophisticated dishes, main courses that evoke the
best of cozy bistro meals. In Barefoot in Paris, the Food
Network star applies her cooking wisdom to the foods of
France. Favoring fresh, quality ingredients, she offers
flavorful twists on old favorites such as 'steak au poivre'
and 'crème brulée' and new slants on dishes
such as 'zucchini vichyssoise' and 'chicken with morels.' A
feast of a book, 'Barefoot in Paris' contains 140
full–color photographs and a guide to sources for
specialty ingredients.
  Weekend in Paris
by Robyn Sisman. Small–town wannabe in London, Molly
Clearwater, miffed by the boorish Malcolm Figg's
so–called 'perk' of a long weekend in Paris, decides
to go it alone and jumps on the train. Molly adventures
begin at the Gare du Nord and pick up with a dizzying pace
until Molly isn't who she was.
  Almost
French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah
Turnbull. Australian TV journalist Sarah Turnbull meets
Frédéric in Bucharest, and then tries out
Paris. Nothing is easy where subtle nuances, perilous
pitfalls, and potentially mortifying double entendres are
the norm. But Frédéric proves to be a pillar
and Sarah fits in, changes careers, and gains insights.
This deceptively breezy little memoir sheds unexpected
light on the quirks of French character that some say are
'exceptions,' while others say they are faults.
 
Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a
Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by
Thaddeus E. Carhart. In a small piano shop on the Left Bank
an American writer rediscovers a passion for pianos, and is
finally allowed to buy one. This sets off a history tour
and reflections about piano teachers. The result is a
warmhearted, sensitive memoir of a private Paris.
  Remembrance
of Things Paris: Sixty Years of Writing from
Gourmet edited by Ruth Reichl. For the first
time, a collection of essays about love and food in Paris,
drawn from 60 years' worth of files from 'Gourmet'
magazine. From bourgeois dinners of the past to the
hero–chefs of today, here's Paris in all of its
snobbery and refinement, with a chronicle of constant
changes and an over–the–shoulder glance at the
rich and tasteful past.
  French
Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening
Mysteries of the French by Harriet
Welty–Rochefort. With a perspective of 20 years of
living in Paris, Harriet from Iowa gradually makes sense of
French notions of life by jumping in, and ends up by
demystifying the French, unscrambling the codes. Full of
funny reality checks.
  The
Paris Review Book of Heartbreak, Madness, Sex, Love,
Betrayal, Outsiders, Intoxication, War, Whimsy, Horrors,
God, Death, Dinner, Baseball, Travels, The Art of Writing,
and Everything Else in the World since 1953,
with an introduction by George Plimpton. For the 50th
anniversary of the magazine, a unique collection of
stories, poetry, thoughts, and observations on the themes
of modern life both great and trivial, as well as a
compendium of timeless insights, containing a dizzying
range of thought and emotion, holding a mirror to the world
we live in and to the our own hopes, dreams, fears, and
joy. Actually, the title says it all.
  Last Time I Saw
Paris by Elizabeth A. Adler. Lara's
surgeon–husband tells her at the last minute before a
trip to Paris to reenact their honeymoon, that there's
another woman. Almost heartbroken, she invites a much
younger man to share the trip and they embark on a madcap
romantic adventure that begins with missed connections,
lost luggage, and language barriers, and ends up being
Lara's journey to find herself and love in France.
  Between
Meals: An Appetite for Paris by A. J. Liebling
with illustrations by James Salter. In his nostalgic review
of his Rabelaisian initiation into life's finer pleasures,
Liebling celebrates the richness and variety of French
food, fondly recalling great meals and memorable wines.
"There would come a time," he wrote, "When, if I had
compared my life to a cake, the sojourns in Paris would
have represented the chocolate filling. The intervening
layers were plain sponge."
  Americans
in Paris: A Literary Anthology, edited by Adam
Gopnik. The New York Times' Janet Maslin suggests skipping
the book's chronological table of contents and just
wandering through its more than 600 pages. The diverse
pieces range from Benjamin Franklin's letter to Mary
Stevenson in 1767, describing his first observations of the
city, to fashion editor Diana Vreeland's memorable journeys
to Paris as a representative of Harper's Bazaar after her
reopening of the French collections following World War II.
Other pieces are by such renowned travelers as Mark Twain,
Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, among
many others.
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