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 #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.