Really Random Tuesday #79: Anniversary Giveaway and a Book Winner

Happy Tuesday to all!  I have only a couple of random items today. 

France Book Tours will be having a grand 1-year anniversary in just a few days, on April 18.  I've enjoyed working with Emma and participating in three France-related book tours over the past year, namely, The Summer of France and I See London I See France by Paulita Kincer, and Unravelled by M.K. Tod. To celebrate this special anniversary, France Book Tours will offer a mega book giveaway from April 18 - 25, so be sure to stop by.  Book winners will be chosen on April 26.

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The lucky, randomly-chosen winner of The Moon Sisters by Therese Walsh is Pat from Posting For Now, a well-written book blog I enjoy visiting frequently.  Congratulations, Pat!  I hope you'll enjoy this book as much as I did.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.  I value my readers, and I offer numerous book giveaways to show my appreciation.  I have other current giveaways listed on the right side of my blog, so take a look if you'd like to try to win a book, and remember to stop by France Book Tours' celebratory giveaway, beginning on April 18.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of.  I often announce my book giveaway winners in these posts.  If you have miscellaneous book news to gather up and are inspired by this idea, "grab" the button for use on your own blog, and add your link to the "master" Mister Linky on the Really Random Tuesday page. 

Your comments are welcomed!

Really Random Tuesday #77: Jane, a Book Winner, and Motion-X GPS

Isn't she pretty in pink?  This fabulous Jane Austen action figure arrived recently from GoneReading.  She's a welcome addition to my home!  

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Félicitations!  The winner of  I See London I See France by Paulita Kincer is Vicki from I'd Rather Be At The Beach.  Congratulations, Vicki!  I think you'll really enjoy reading this book.  When I visited Vicki's blog, I noticed that Vicki participates in numerous reading challenges (unlike me), and that she's hosting one called Foodies Read 2014, which sounds like it would be a lot of fun.  She also talks about fitness, and has a feature called Get Fit Tuesday 2014, which led me to my next topic.

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I've been using the app Motion-X GPS on my iPhone to track my walks and runs and I love it.  It helps me to stay motivated.  Does anyone know if you can print out tracks directly from the site?  I could print them from my email, but I'm hoping there's an easier way to print them out.  I would like to put them in a fitness binder for 2014.  That, too, would help me to stay motivated.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of. I often announce book winners in these posts. If you have miscellaneous book news to gather up and are inspired by this idea, "grab" the button for use on your own blog, then add your link to the "master" Mister Linky on the Really Random Tuesday page.

Your comments are welcomed. Thanks for reading!

I See London I See France: Review and Giveaway

"I hadn't made the wrong choice in deciding to stay home with the kids.  Somewhere, though, I had lost myself."

' "It's as if I put on this mom costume nine years ago, and I don't know the person underneath anymore.  What is my passion?  Do I have a passion anymore?  I think I'm lost." '
~ I See London I See France, Paulita Kincer 

After Caroline Sommer's husband of fifteen years, Scott, announces that he's "had enough", he methodically packs a suitcase and leaves her alone at home in Columbus, Ohio, with their three young children, Henry, 5, Maggie, 7, and Jack, 9, and Caroline is understandably distraught and confused.  While Scott is away, Caroline visits her friend, Fiona, and because she's enjoyed traveling abroad before, soon decides to take her children to Europe, and sells the family's minivan in order to have money for the trip.  I See London I See France by Paulita Kincer is set in 2012 (with an epilogue set in 2013) in Ohio and Michigan, as well as in parts of England, Scotland, and France, and it also goes back in time to 1996, to Corisca and Aix en Provence, France, where Caroline worked as an au pair for the children of a French couple, Lisette and Robert.  And it was in 1996 when she first met the couple's friend, Jean-Marc, a handsome Frenchman, who she wishes to see again on her current trip, while she contemplates her marriage and her future.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

I'm not exactly sure why I liked this book so much more than the first one I read by Paulita Kincer, The Summer of France.  I enjoyed that book, but I See London I See France, published in 2013, was a much better read for me.  Ouah!  This book immediately grasped my interest, in the first chapter, and my interest never waned.  Written in the first person, Caroline, 38, is the main character and narrator, and I think that women, and particularly those married with children, will easily relate to her frustrations and joys as a wife and mother.  I See London I See France depicts the very real struggles that many married women face, and those that mothers of young children contend with, and the book seemed emotionally honest to me.  It's also quite sexy and funny at times!  The visit to the nude beach where Caroline feels discomfited is very funny (I would've felt the same way as the modest protagonist).  The main character shares her private thoughts about sex and ruminations about romance in a way that's bound to resonate with many women, and I appreciated her candor.  During her trip with the kids to London, Scotland, Paris, and Provence, she takes them on special excursions to Loch Ness and Monet's Garden (belles descriptions!), and Caroline realizes that she must tend to her own needs as well as those of her children, and that it's up to her to discover a passion, her passion, outside of her children, which will bring her personal fulfillment and happiness.  I read this book quickly--not because I was on a deadline to post my review, but because I was eager to know how things turned out for Caroline.  I cared about this character.  Although she's not perfect, she loves her children, fiercely, and she does think about what's best for them.  Caroline seemed like someone I'd want to be friends with in real life.  Paulita Kincer's writing brought Caroline and her story to life.  C'est un livre extraordinaire!

Nouvelles dieu!  France Book Tours is offering a giveaway for a paperback copy of  I See London I See France (U.S./Canada only).

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment.
• For an extra chance, leave a comment en français. 
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower.
• For an additional chance, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Enter by 5 PM PDT on Monday, March 17.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Tuesday, March 18.

Please be sure to visit the others stops on the I See London I See France book tour.  Thanks to Emma from France Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of this tour, and to author Paulita Kincer for sending me a copy of her book.

Merci pour la lecture!

Really Random Tuesday #68: Book Winner, Baguettes, and Butterflies

Et la gagnante est... 

Karenk is the winner of an ebook edition of The Summer of France by Paulita Kincer.  Félicitations!  Please help me to congratulate the randomly chosen winner of this novel.  Descriptions in the book brought to mind the wonderful aroma and taste of freshly baked French bread.  While some baguettes take longer than 7 hours to make, I found an "easy" French bread recipe on Carpé Season, to try baking à la maison. 

If you didn't win this book, don't despair!  For other giveaways and reviews of French-themed books, please visit France Book Tours.  And scroll down to take a look at the terrific book giveaways listed here, on the right side of my blog.

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Inspired by Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, and my sister-in-law's family's monarch farm, I planted six milkweed plants to attract monarch butterflies.  I shared this experience on Facebook, but since I reviewed the book last month during the TLC tour, and mentioned my desire to find milkweed plants, I decided to include it here as well.  I was thrilled when monarchs discovered the milkweed almost immediately, and overjoyed that the plants have developed numerous seed pods, which form if the flower blossoms are pollinated.  The third photo shows an open seed pod; these seeds will fly away to create new milkweed plants for the monarchs. (Click on photos to make them larger.)

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related matters you can think of.  I often announce my book giveaway winners in these posts.  If you have miscellaneous book news to gather up and are inspired by this idea, "grab" the button for use on your own blog, then add your link to the "master" Mister Linky on the Really Random Tuesday page. 

Happy Tuesday!  Your comments are welcomed, as always. 
(Photo of baguettes courtesy of Wikipedia.)

The Summer of France: Review and Giveaway

J'étais excité!  I looked forward to reading The Summer of France by Paulita Kincer.  Although I've never traveled to France, I hope to someday.  The lovely, impressionistic cover of this book caught my eye, and the idea of starting my summertime reading with a book set in France during the summer was very appealing to me. 

Published in 2012, The Summer of France is the story of Fia Randolph and her family.  Unemployed and wanting to improve her life,  Fia moves from Ohio to Provence with her husband, Grayson, and their teenage twins, Kasey and West, to take over her uncle's bed and breakfast.  She goes to France with romantic notions, and pictures herself wearing long skirts and walking to the market for fresh baguettes.  She wants to help Uncle Martin, and wishes to have a wonderful summer with her family in Provence.  However, Uncle Martin's burdensome secret, the heavy workload of the bed and breakfast, and new family problems, conspire against Fia's vision of an idyllic summer in France.

The Summer of France is short (about 220 pages), and I read it quickly.  It's funny, light, and sexy.  It's what I'd call a fun book. 

The book is told from two perspectives, that of Fia and Uncle Martin.  Fia is the protagonist and her chapters are written in the first person, whereas Uncle Martin's are presented in the third person.  Some of the chapters are extremely short--just a couple of pages.  This isn't necessarily bad, but as the chapters do not always alternate, I wondered if some of the chapters could have been combined.  As far as content goes, some of it seemed implausible to me, such as the chase scenes, while other aspects were too hackneyed.  (For example, the idea that having extramarital affairs in France is the norm; maybe it is, but it just seemed a bit too clichéd.)  Furthermore, the book felt unfinished to me.  I had to check to see if I was reading an ARC (advance reading copy), or the finished product; it could have been more polished; it seemed more like a series of sketches, rather than a complete novel.  Lastly and perhaps most importantly, I did not connect deeply enough with any of the characters, not even the main character, Fia.

That being said, though, I enjoyed reading the book, largely because of the setting and the references to food and art.  I found The Summer of France entertaining, in spite of the issues I had with it.

France Book Tours is offering an international giveaway for an ebook of The Summer of France.

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment.
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower.
• For an additional chance, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Enter by 5 PM PDT on Monday, July 8.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Tuesday, June 9.  Bonne chance!

Thanks to Emma from France Book Tours for sending me a copy of this novel.  For more reviews of this book, please visit the other stops on The Summer of France Book Tour.

Commentaires bienvenus.