Bonjour Tristesse

Bonjour Tristesse

by Francoise Sagan

★★★☆

Cecile is a teenage girl spending the summer with her father in a villa in the south of France. His mistress Elsa is there as well and Cecile sinks into the relaxed atmosphere from the moment she arrives. Her father treats her more like a friend than a daughter and allows he allows his love life to play out in front of her. Anne, a former friend of her mother’s, comes to visit and a romance sparks between her and Cecile’s father. The

This book is part of the Penguins Great Loves series. Each edition in this series comes with a gorgeous cover and I buy them whenever I see them in bookstores. That’s how I first heard of this book. It’s a strange little tale, but one that sweeps you right along.

Cecile and her father see themselves as people fated to be alone. They push others away if they get close at all. Their immaturity and selfishness hurt those around them and they constantly long for whatever they don’t have. They both use the people who love them to further their gain. Even at the end of the book we see that despite the dire circumstances, they haven’t really changed.

Although the book is slim, the narrator is convincing. She feels like a real teenage girl, making selfish decisions, changing her mind in a moment, not thinking about the consequences of her actions, etc. She is jealous of her father’s attentions and at the same time is distant from him. I think the most impressive part of the book is that the author was only 18 years old when she wrote this.

BOTTOM LINE: A quick summer read for a lazy day in the sun. The eerie tone of the book will leave you with an air of loneliness after you finish.

“Certain phrases fascinate me with their subtle implications.”

Mini Reviews: Midnight in Austenland and Girl Walks into a Bar...

Midnight in Austenland 

by Shannon Hale

★★★

This book was fun and light. Charlotte is a successful business woman whose husband leaves her and their two teenage children for another woman. She discovers Austen’s work and takes a vacation to Austenland. This one tends more towards Northanger Abbey than Pride and Prejudice, but don’t expect too much from the mystery in the book. You should definitely not be reading this series for depth. It works as a standalone novel, but I’d recommend reading Austenland first. It’s the better of the two books and introduces the place and quite a few of the returning characters. 

BOTTOM LINE: Pure fluff, but enjoyable fluff. I read it during the Dewey Readathon and it was a great choice for later in the day.

**Side Note: Have you guys seen the Austenland movie? It's hilarious and I loved it!

Girl Walks into a Bar... 

by Rachel Dratch 

★★ 

Rachel Dratch tells her story in the latest in a line of hilarious memoirs from SNL alums. Where Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were more entertaining and gave more life advice, Dratch seems to dwell on coming to terms with being type-cast. She also talked a lot about getting offered bad roles and how her career changed after her time on SNL. 

She also had an interesting turn of events that drives the book. She unexpectedly got pregnant when she was 44. Because of this she talks more about dating issues in her 30s and then struggles when she became a mom. The audiobook is fun because the author reads it. It even includes some Debbie Downer SNL clippings. 

BOTTOM LINE: Easy quick read, but I would recommend Fey or Poehler’s book instead.

Battery Park Book Exchange

So while on vacation in May the Huz and I visited an amazing bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. It's called the Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar and it was amazing! When you first go in you see a big wine bar area, then you climb the stairs and you can just wander for hours through the stacks.

Joyce reigns over the staircase and dogs are welcome throughout the shop! There are little corners everywhere with chairs and tables for people to sit and chat over their glasses of wine.

 Little tables in front of the bookstore. We grabbed a drink and sat out here people watching after the sun had set.

This area was packed with chairs and little tables. People were sipping wine and nibbling on cheese plates. The whole time other shoppers were browsing the stacks around them.

These were all rare books. There were so many great classics! I was incredibly tempted to buy a copy of Rebecca... but it was $300.

 The Huz browsed with me while I squealed at each new nook we discovered. I ended up buying a copy of Doctor Doolittle and Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.

 The main wine bar area when you first enter the shop.

Even the front door is inviting. You can see the little coffee bar where a barista will ring up your books when you're ready to leave (although you never really are ready to leave). If you're ever in North Carolina I definitely recommend you check it out!