Natanya Reviews A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke

Title/Author: A Year in the Merde, by Stephen Clarke
Publisher/Date: Random House, 2004
Where I got it: Gibert Jeune, a Paris bookstore chain
Why I read it: I’m studying in Paris, and it’s about an English man who spends a year in Paris, so it seemed up my alley

From Amazon:
Brit Paul West escapes his homeland to take a job in Paris marketing English tearooms to the French. Over a year's cycle he discovers that the French way of doing business thrives on maneuvering nimbly through a minefield of unique, demanding personalities. An inveterate womanizer, he finds plenty of skirts to chase and conquer. After a comic search for an apartment, he settles in the city's trendy Marais district. Urban stress in general, combined with a need to escape the upstairs family whose every move reverberates to distraction, forces West to escape to a Norman getaway featuring all the bucolic charms and a cast of neighbors and townspeople to rival Peter Mayle's Provencal rustics. West disdains French food for its love of organ meats and its fascination with revoltingly smelly cheeses. Francophobes will find much here to reinforce their prejudices; more balanced observers will find Clarke's caricatures of the French simply very funny reading.

I bought this book because the title amused me so much and I couldn’t believe I was finding a book like this in Paris. Overall, it was quite funny, and I was not disappointed. Since I’m studying in Paris this semester, I really related to a lot of the problems Paul faced in Paris, particularly early on—the dog poop all over the sidewalks (it’s really everywhere), making sure to say hello or goodbye correctly (bonjour/bonsoir/bon journee/bon soiree…), the metro system, et cetera. But Paul did also clearly get a lot of things wrong, so if you do read this, take everything with a grain of salt—he has a pretty skewed perspective.

A lot of this novel is also very over-the-top. No, the French do not go on strike every single month. In fact, the only significant strike I’ve experienced this semester was a transit strike in Rome, not Paris. But the descriptions of how foreigners view Parisians are quite accurate (as in, I know there are a lot of visitors who feel this way about Parisians), regardless of whether these stereotypes are true, so if you have a negative opinion about Parisians, this will certainly uphold it.

However, Paul’s experiences with finding housing in Paris are pretty accurate, though his ultimate subversion of the system is probably more infrequent than he makes it seem. I did love how Paul felt the need to go buy a house in the countryside after just a few months; although this seems excessive, I can attest to the fact that after a few months in this city—which has very few grassy areas, unless you happen to live right near a park—some time out in the countryside sounds fantastic (there’s a reason I hung out with sheep in Ireland for half of my spring break).

However, Paul can be fairly arrogant and ignorant, and I think a lot of readers would find him pretty annoying. Honestly, probably part of the reason I didn’t mind is because I read this over spring break, when I was off discovering how much more I prefer the rest of Europe to Paris.

So if you’re looking for a quick, entertaining read, pick this up (particularly if you’ve visited Paris), but if you’re looking to actually improve your knowledge of the French/Parisians, you should probably avoid it.

3 stars

Jen's Top Ten Blogs/Sites That Aren't About Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here will answer. Everyone is welcome to join! All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Future Top Ten Tuesday topics are posted here.

Today's TTT is a little bit different than usual:  it's non-book related.  I don't think we've had a Top Ten list not related to books, reading or anything literary before?  

Jen's Top Ten Blogs/Sites She Reads That Aren't About Books:

1. Smart, Pretty and Awkward:  Offers three pieces of great advice (how to be smarter, prettier and less awkward) and I love the quotes.
2. The Glitter Pox:  Fantastic blog to discover new music!  I'm also in love with the name of the blog.
3. Skinnytaste:  Food blog with amazing recipes!  I found this blog via Pinterest.  Seriously though, do yourself a favor and make a recipe from Skinnytaste.  I highly recommend the baked penne.
4. 40:20 Vision:  A great blog where women in their forties answer questions, give different perspectives and just offer life experiences to women in their twenties. 
5. The Oatmeal:  The grammar comics are my favorite.
6. NPR:  National Public Radio, I love you.  I don't know why but NPR is my favorite news site.  
7. The Beauty Department:  If you're feeling super girly this is a great blog.  Lots of hair, makeup and nail tutorials.  One day I will master something other than either straightening my hair or throwing it back in a ponytail.  
8. Budget Bytes:  The idea behind this food blog is that you can still eat like a queen while on a downsized budget.  Each recipe is broken down into cost per recipe and cost per serving.  There are some really great recipes, I've been meaning to try the Spinach Artichoke Pasta.
9. Dear blank, please blank: Sample:  Dear parents, Wait, so you named me after bread?  Seriously?  Sincerely, Peeta.  Another one (spoiler for Mockingjay so highlight to read!):  Dear people who think friend-zoned is bad, Try cousin-zoned.  Sincerely, Gale Hawthorne
10. Twitter:  I love Twitter.  Some days I think I'm on it wayy more than I probably should be.  

Daisy's Review of Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Title/Author: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Publisher/Date published: Graphia, May 8th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "A story of crushes, corsets, and conspiracy
Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem."

You guys, reading Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink was like hanging out with my best girl friends as in that I was smiling and laughing and just having a blast! And it was just so cute!

I absolutely adored the writing! It was just that perfect blend of lighthearted mixed with some serious things and Stephanie Kate Strohm definitely knows how to bring on the funny! It was just amazing! I immediately fell for the characters and the museum and history camp with all the cute little 8-year-old girls in Libby's group and it just had this wonderful feel-good vibe going on!

Libby is a wonderful, charming and very easy to love main character! She's the smart girl with a sense of style, with a shoe buying addiction as well as a passion for history. And Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink does a lovely thing in showing you how 'don't judge a book by its cover' is something we should all remember! Because of Libby's shoe obsession and her Hello Kitty tendencies, people sometimes judge her to be not all that smart and not so serious about history and the job she's there to perform. It's funny how first impressions sometimes get you, huh? Libby does everything with a passion and she really knows her stuff! I loved her and was rooting for her the whole time, even though she does this thing where she puts her phone in her bra (which I've seen people doing a lot lately), which I HATE (no offense if you do, but it's just not my thing), I excused her for it because she was just so adorable. And it made for a funny moment later on, so I'm good with it.

Libby doesn't have the best douchebag radar, I mean, the gorgeous sailor was basically holding a sign with the term on it and waving it around. But well, I feel like a little old lady saying this, but I haven't been out of my teens all that long and I get it. I mean, at 16-17 my bullshit-o-meter wasn't all it should have been and well, hormones and all you know?
But seriously, the other guy? The BETTER guy?? My little nerd loving heart pitter-pattered all over the place! I absolutely loved the moments between him and Libby, getting to know each other, getting over their prejudices and just having great chemistry and laughter-inducing banter. Their scenes together had me smiling and it was just great! Also, HELLO, KITTY! :) *inside joke, if you read it you'll understand* And the boy had the whole movie kiss down, it was swoonworthy in the extreme!

There were just so many characters for me to love, including Libby's best friend Dev. Who, admittedly, is a bit of a stereotypical YA gay best friend, but I loved him and his quirks! And he totally made it work! And the friendship between him and Libby felt real to me. They were very similar and I loved their interaction and the over the topness of it all sometimes.

So, to sum it all up: Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink is an adorable, feel-good read that had me laughing out loud and had me still smiling a couple of hours after I'd finished it! It's a fabulous debut and Stephanie Kate Strohm is definitely someone I will be watching out for in the future, I loved her voice!

My rating: 5 stars

Julia Reviews Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Title/Author:Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence, Narrated by Emilia Fox
Publisher/Year Published: Audiobook: October 2008 by CSA Word (first published 1928)
How I got this book: The Library
Why I read this book: Long car trip alone :)
Rating: 3 stars

I often wonder what makes a book live through history. Why am I still hearing about this book published in the early 20th century and not some other book? The best way to start this review of Lady Chatterley's Lover is to give you the summary off the back of the audiobook:

Lady Chatterley’s Lover was the subject of one of the most infamous trials of the 20th century when its publisher, Penguin, was prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. Finally, after testimony from expert witnesses for the defense, including E. M. Forster, Penguin was acquitted and permitted to publish the novel in 1960. It quickly became a bestseller, largely on account of its explicit sex scenes and liberal use of four-letter words. Nearly 50 years later the sex scenes are still graphic, even by today’s standards, but the book is now read for its brilliant portrayal of the tenuous relationship between the nobility and the working class. Explicit, romantic, and emotional, Lady Chatterley’s Lover is a tour-de-force, a passionate embrace of life itself. Emilia Fox reads with energy and feeling, further enhancing the narrative and extracting every bit of nuance and subtlety within the text.

Now, there is a nice summary of the background surrounding this book. When I started listening to it, I was relatively unaware of this. I knew it was a banned novel and I knew it was about an illicit romance because of the title. I may have known about the naughty words, but I sure as hell forgot until I heard them spoken to me aloud in a car riding down the highway.

It's pretty safe to say I went into the listening of Lady Chatterley's Lover with a pretty open mind as I had forgotten all of this. In a side note about how I read books, I put books on my TBR list on Goodreads and don't read the description again unless I am looking to read something specific. Lately I just chose and go into the book trusting that I added it for a reason.

Getting to the story, we hear about Lady Chatterley's past and what brought her to current circumstances in the first chapter. This includes how her husband came back from the war paralyzed. They no longer have an intimate relationship and instead are just living in the patterns that they have each established.

We can see she is bored with her life and that leads her to take on lovers, and then THE lover, the Gamekeeper. That is the basic bones of the story, really. I want to talk more about how this fits in with society today, and if the book when listened to by a modern audience is still as shocking.

As a women whose books read in a year consist of almost half romance, I was shocked by some of the passages.

There is a lot of descriptive sexual acts written in the book as well as some fun usages of certain four letter words. I think this fact alone is really what people remember it for. Why was this shocking to me, as I have read about people's intimate sexual acts in sometimes graphic detail? Two reasons that I can think of: 1) it was spoken aloud to me via the audiobook 2)there really wasn't much of a build up to the beginning of any romance.

Let's look at point two first. Lady Chatterley pretty much just sleeps with these men most dispassionately sometimes. There is no emotional connection or even very much attraction sometimes. Then when she finally engages, it's with almost negative participation on her part. Many of her internal monologue makes it feel like having sex with these men is a chore. That didn't sit well with me.

The story rests on the love or love affair between Lady Chatterley and the Gamekeeper (seriously, I think they said his name like four times. He was always the Gamekeeper). But the love didn't seem solid enough for them to act as they did. Was it not believable? At times. Did the overly sexual language pull me out of the story at all? Sometimes.

Did I enjoy it though? You know, it wasn't bad. I think I enjoyed it more because I was listening to it, which brings me back to point number one. Any dirty scenes read aloud by someone who slightly resembles Mary Poppins (especially when she did her Lady Chatterley voice!), just makes me laugh or blush. It didn't help that they always seemed to be in the middle of a passion scene when I was going through a toll booth.

Emilia Fox does a great job bringing each character to life. Her voices were actually quite good and distinguishable. My one complaint is how she did the Gamekeeper. He sounded like a crotchety old man which took the picture of Johnathon Rhys Meyers right out of my head. But overall it was really her reading the story to me that upped the enjoyability factor. And it kept me company on my lonely car ride.

Will I read it again? Probably not. Did I enjoy reading it? Yes, and I am glad that I can say that I have. Going back to my original musing on what makes a book withstand the test of time, I can see why in this case. At its heart it's about taking yourself out of your 'going through the motions routine' and take something you want. Live your life the way that pleases you. And of course, the descriptive dirty-word riddled sex. There is that, too.

Tahleen reviews: "The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" by Ree Drummond

Title: The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels
Author: Ree Drummond
Publisher: William Morrow, 2011

Rating: 4 stars

I've been a longtime fan of The Pioneer Woman, whose cooking blog is outstanding (as is her cookbook that I own, The Pioneer Woman). She is funny and personable, and just a friendly type of gal from what I've read. I have always wondered about how she ended up on a ranch in Oklahoma, since she has often hinted that she grew up in or near a city and wasn't born into this life of ranch work. When she published her memoir, I got really excited because now I could finally find out!

Her story starts when she is 25 and single, just moved back into her childhood home with her parents. One night while out for a drink with friends, she spots a cowboy across the bar and goes up to talk to him. And thus begins the rest of her life.

I loved this account. It's full of her whirlwind romance with her husband, whom she lovingly calls Marlboro Man (we never know what his real name is, probably because he doesn't want it known by the world), as well as all the pain and joy they experience together throughout the journey. Drummond goes through some really rough times during their courtship, and things continue to be painful and a bit rocky in the first year of their marriage. But through it all, the love they feel for each other is so evident and palpable that it's clear why she gave up the life she knew to spend it with her husband in the middle of nowhere.

Drummond has this way with words that just hooks you. She writes with a lot of humor, which constantly had me smiling as I read. I usually find I take a long time to read nonfiction or memoirs, but not with this one. I flew through it. Another added bonus is the inclusion of a number of recipes she references during her story at the back of the book. This is really just a feel-good story—if you're in need for something funny and romantic with a few dashes of drama, this is a great book to seek out.

Disclosure: This book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Top Ten Authors Jamie Would Like To See On A Reality Show

Learn more and check out the TTT schedule.

This week was scheduled to be Top Ten Authors I'd Like To See On A Reality Show but I got a lot of feedback about how HARD it was...so maybe not as good as an idea as I initially thought! SO..I opened it up as a Freebie Week but I decided to stick with the topic! 

1. John Green -- I'd love to see John Green on Survivor! As king of the nerds, he'd show all the nerdy/geeky guys who have come on this show to show everyone that it's more about brains than brawn (and then FAIL to do so), how it's done! He'd be charming, entertaining to watch and somehow I think he'd be pretty cunning at the game while also proving you don't have to be a total douchenugget. OR he and Hank on the Amazing Race! BRILLIANT!! Somebody sign them up!

2. Maureen Johnson: Maureen just deserves her own reality show. THE MAUREEN SHOW. It'd be awesome.

3 & 4:  Stephanie Perkins & Kiersten White: I'd love to see the two of these authors on The Amazing Race together! I love peeping on some of their witty Twitter banter but they seem like they would have a good time! Also, I've met Stephanie and SHE IS HILARIOUS...so it would prove to be very good tv!

5. Beth Revis: I don't have a reality show in mind per se but it'd have to be something where you get to vote people out and be ripping out people's hearts while doing so. I learned, while at a tour stop for Breathless Reads, that Beth really loves killing off characters and laughing while doing so. SO, she'd be hilarious to watch because she's oh so sweet but she'd have no problem voting your ass off!

6. Kirsten Hubbard: I'd love to see her on her own reality show that is somewhat in line with Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations but a little more adventurous and fun. She's a world traveler and I'd love to watch a travel adventure show from someone who is around my age!

7. Megan McCafferty: Again, don't have a specific show but she cracks me up and she's super entertaining and I'd root for her until the end!

8. Tahereh Mafi: I LOVE HER. She is so adorable and hilarious and I would love to hear her commentary about the other contestants/houseguests and the general state of whatever reality show she was on. It would make me laugh.

9 & 10: Jonathan Safran Foer & Nicole Krauss:  I would love to see two of my favorite authors  (who happen to be married!) be on the Amazing  Race! I don't really know what their personalities are like but I'd sure like to watch!

Paula reviews The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones + Giveaway

Book: The Uninvited Guests: A Novel by Sadie Jones
Publisher: HarperCollins, May 2012
How I got my hands on it: Received an ARC from HarperCollins

 Rating: 4 stars

The setting: The Uninvited Guests takes place in one evening at the Sterne house. The Torrington Family is throwing a birthday party for Emerald. While it may seem like a simple evening- the family is worried about losing the house and the quiet party gets interrupted by a train crash nearby. The railway tells them that it is their duty as the closest estate to take in the travelers until the railroad can be fixed and they can continue on their way. Although as the night progresses, something seems off about the travelers and the Torrington Family experience a lot more than they expected.

It's hard to talk about this book without giving too much of the twist away. It was a very enjoyable and a very quick read. I found myself narrating it in a voice similar to the narrator from "Pushing Daisies" or "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" and I think that made it infinitely more entertaining and I highly recommend doing that.

The book is a comedy of manners set at the turn of the century. There was a lot of commentary on what the proper thing to do was. Such as: "The traveler's are third class citizens, is it really necessary to feed them?" Or "Fine we'll feed them, but does it have to be the food from our feast?"

I think my favorite character was the youngest daughter, known as Smudge, who wanted nothing to do with the party. Instead she was plotting what she called "The Great Undertaking". Smudge's pass time was tracing all the animals of the house onto her wall. She had already traced all of the dogs and cats- and so while the family was trying to organize dinner, she decided to sneak a pony inside to trace it on the wall. She was... somewhat successful.
 
Overall it was a really enjoyable book that I definitely recommend you check out. Thankfully HarperCollins sent me 2 copies of the book. So I don't have to be selfish and keep this darling little book to myself. So it's GIVEAWAY TIME. I will be giving away both copies. So follow the directions on the Rafflecoptor and 2 lucky winners will be chosen (at random). Good luck!

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