May is over and we have entered June. In Sweden this is considered to be the first of the summer months. Weather wise we don't talk of summer, although it seems there were some sunny and very warm days recently. I am still in Innsbruck and here it has been raining for the last couple of days. In spite of not so good weather my May reading was very slow. I ended up reading only six books. Sometimes it seems I read a lot but I never finish a book. Well, May was such a month. Anyway, let's have a look at what I did read. Övergivenheten by Elisabeth Åsbrink This title translates like "The Abandonment" and is a partly auto biographic book about the authors family. Elisabeth Åsbrink is most famous for nonfiction books, excellent books on various, interesting and personal topics. This novel was about three generations of women during the 20th century, during wars and migration and what it did to these women, and how each generation had a different remedy for how to live. Wilful Behaviour and Uniform Justice by Donna Leon We visited Venice once again so I took up where I ended with my earlier reading on Donna Leon's detective stories from Venice. Always a pleasure to meet Chief Inspector Brunetti, his colleagues and family during his search for culprits in Venice. The Searcher by Tana French I am a big fan of Tana French and have loved everything I have read by her. But this was a strange, very, very slow story of almost nothing. " Retired detective Cal Hooper moves to a remote village in rural Ireland. His plans are to fix up the dilapidated cottage he's bought, to walk the mountains, to put his old police instincts to bed forever. Then a local boy appeals to him for help. His brother is missing, and no one in the village, least of all the police, seems to care. And once again, Cal feels that restless itch. Something is wrong in this community, and he must find out what, even if it brings trouble to his door." Sorry, but can't recommend this one. I have understood that there is a continuation of the story in her new novel "The Hunter". Will not go into that one. However, there are other books by her I have not yet read, so I can always go back to her. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton I read the classic The House of Mirth for the Classic Spin and the first spin book I finished in a while. It is definitely the best read this month, I really liked to the story of high class society in New York at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. My review under link above. Rivieran inom räckhåll, Med tåg till de bästa upplevelserna i södra Frankrike by Kristina Svensson och Maria Unde Westerberg The Riviera within reach is a set of travel guides for going by train in Europe. I happened to run into the author Maria while here in Innsbruck. I got fascinated by her books and bought this one and her other book on Languedoc. I do want to travel more by train in the future. It is another pace in life. You can read more about are meeting in the article " Ticket on a train " in my latest newsletter. That was it for May. I have already read some of your wrap-up and it seems you have been busy reading and reviewing.

We are nearing one of the most popular blog challenges, Paris in July. Introduced by Tamara @ Thyme for tea many years ago. Tamara has now taken a time out and Emma @ Words and Peace has generously taken over the running of the challenge. It turned out to be a huge success last year, and this year Emma is already planning for another Paris, and French, month. If you are not familiar with the challenge, head over to her blog for more information. During July we talk, read, travel, eat or do anything connected to France. All participants bring something to the rest of us for inspiration and enjoyment. I am starting to think of what I should do during the month. I will be travelling in our van, which makes it a little bit more difficult to arrange events like a dinner. I will take Emma's bingo card as an inspiration. Let's see what's on the card. PARIS in title - The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl . Reichl takes readers on an adventure of food, art, and fashion in 1980s Paris in this dazzling, heartfelt novel. Sounds like an adventure I could like. The novel seems to fit in, not only with Paris in the title, but also French Food and Fashion. It would also go with Art and History, but I will find something individual for these titles. One book ticks three boxes. Hopefully, it is not outside the rules. There might be a special event with French food, but in case ... FRANCE in title - to be updated. BOOK set in France - Marie Antoinette's Head: The Royal Hairdresser, the Queen, and the Revolution by Will Bashor. I bought this novel last year, but had no time to read it. Will be interesting to see what the hairdresser to MA had to say about his most famous, or maybe only, client. MOVIE set in France - The Billionaire, The Butler, and the Boyfriend is a French docuseries which follows the lift of L'Oreal heiress Lilianne Bettencourt and the scandals around her. How did a conflict between the world's wealthiest woman and her daughter spiral into national scandal? Sounds intriguiging enough. Although it is a series I might go for a French movie as well. Under Paris - In order to save Paris from an international bloodbath, a grieving scientist is forced to face her tragic past when a giant shark appears in the Seine. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I will keep an open mind. Both on Netflix. French FOOD - The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl - I might try to make a French dinner of my own. French FASHION The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl French MUSIC - I am sure I can find some nice French music to listen to. French FLAG on book cover - to be updated. French HISTORY - I am thinking of a biography of Napoleon. TRAVELS in France - I have travelled in France so might go down memory lane and write about one or two of them. PLAY set in France - I have to OTHER! - French Windows by Antoine Laurain EIFFEL TOWER on book cover - to be updated CROISSANT on book cover - to be updated, but could be difficult to find ... or not? French ART - so much to look for here. To be updated. French LANGUAGE - I will not be able to read a novel in French, but maybe a poem. To be updated. So much to look forward to. I will certainly be inspired by your posts as well, as regards books, arts, history etc. Looking forward to exchanging views on everything French.

The Heron Legacy is the new historical fiction be Leona Francombe. I have read two of her earlier books, The Sage of Waterloo and The Universe in 3/4 Time which I loved. Leona's new historical fiction is a story about a legend of love, hate and misdeeds, which keep you occupied until the end. Charles Fontaine is a young man, around 16 years old when the story starts. His favourite passtime is to be with his uncle Theodore who is a history teacher. Theodore lives in the old family estate, Blancherhon, although it belongs to Charles' father Hugo. Charles is interested in history and spends time with his uncle who tells him of the old Heron legend. Although Charles would like to study history his father, a rather harsh and unloving father, has other plans. He takes Charles with him to New York to study law. Father and son have a troubled relationship but Charles is not strong enough to oppose his father. All his life Charles has heard the story of the ancient legend of the heron. It was sung by troubadours and tells the story of a strange seeress and healer. Her music and songs enchanted a local aristocrat preparing to leave for the crusade. She was said to have taken the form of a white heron after her mysterious death. The locals claim that you can still se her at the pond near Blancheron. Before Charles left Belgium for the United States he took a last walk around the estate and was totally absorbed by its surroundings when he actually saw a heron in the pond. At the same time he heard somebody sing and saw a quick glance of a girl who disappeared into the forest. Charles could not say wether it actually happened or was just an illusion. It was all too close to the legend. The strange meeting did stay with him during his exile, and would have an influence in his future. Seventeen years later Hugo and Charles receive the information that Theodore has died. Hugo sends Charles to Belgium to sell the estate. As Charles returns he contacts his aunt and friends of Theodore. Very soon he realises that it is more to the death of Theodore than meets the eye. When Charles gets hold of an old document concerning the legend, he is determined to find out what happened to Theodore and find the truth behind the old story. Leona Francombe uses the legend, and the historical accounts of the crusaders, to build up a story of love, hate, and misdeeds. Together with a famous medievalist and a woman from his youth, Charles is determined to find out what really happened nine centuries ago. The search is not without danger and he finally finds out what he is capable of, and what is important in his life. As usual Leona Francombe builds up the characters, and above all historical events, and turn them into an exciting story with many depths. With beautiful prose she takes us into nature and its fascinations, which becomes an important background to the story, and the legend itself. The search for the truth of the legend is thrilling and borders on magic. When the puzzle is finally done, the story takes an unexpected turn. This novel is a must for any one interested in history, but also for those who enjoys a good mystery and riddle. The characters are well defined and the excitement is kept up until the very end. Leona Francombe not only writes, she is also a pianist and composer, so music has thus an important role in her books, as in the Heron legend. She lives in Belgium with her family, and often integrates places in Belgium in her books. If you are familiar with Belgium and Brussels you will recognise many places in her telling of the Heron legend. For me, who have lived in Belgium for some years, it was a nice welcome back to read about familiar places. I received a copy of the novel for a fair and impartial review. These are my personal thoughts of the novel.

No, I am not referreing to Hemingway's book about Paris, but my own travelling library. We have been out for a tour with our van, and I did bring a few physical books with me. I used this tote bag from Charlie Byrne's excellent bookshop in Galway Ireland, as my moveable library. So, what did I bring with me on the trip. I choose books from my own library, also on my TBR list. Howard's End by E.M. Forster Faust by Johan Wolfgang von Goethe The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman Min bokvärld by Kerstin Ekman Report from the Interior by Paul Auster Twelve Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson Tychonium, experimentet by Jan Johannesson Krysalis by John Trenhaile We did shorten our trip due to bad weather, so I only finished two books; Paul Auster and Trenhaile. Back home again, I will continue with this pile of books. However, there is Paris in July, so I will prioritise that challenge. Second hand books On our way home we stopped by a small village called Limmared. It is famous for having around 15 second hand shops of various qualities. You go from one shop to the next, quite fascinating. We managed to buy a few small things, and I also found a few nonfiction books that I found interesting. Mostly about Sweden historical men and women and their lives. On the trip we also visited the birth house of Verner von Heidenstam in Olshammar. I recently read a biography, Ett hemligt liv (A Secret Life) by Martin Kylhammar about Verner von Heidenstam (a very famous Swedish national icon and author), and Kate Bang a Danish woman who had a relationship with him for 20 years. They were also living together, although discretely at the time. We are talking beginning of 20th century. It is a fascinating story of two intellectuals, falling in love and arranging their life as it suited them. Heidenstam was furthermore 30 years older than Bang. Not always easy, especially, since Heidenstam was a very famous person in Sweden. Kylhammar has made extensive research, and also managed to get never before privat correspondence from Kate Bang's family. Two fascinating lives, lived out in private for good and worse. I had mistaken his birthhouse for the house he built with Kate Bang, which is Övralid, situated on the other side of Lake Vättern. That visit has to be for another time. I was happy though to find one of his most famous books, Folkungaträdet, in one of the second hand shops. A few bookish things on this quiet, but rather warm day, back at home.

Today is the French National Day, congratulations to all the French people. Believe it or not, this is my first post for this challenge. July has been very busy, reading very slow and I had no time to catch up with this my favourite challenge. Thank you so much Emma, at Word and Peace , for hosting the challenge. I do hope to catch up at the latter part of the month. Only yesterday did I finish my first book about Paris and France, The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl. It is the kind of book I needed to read now. A charming novel about Stella, an American girl, somewhat at odds with life. She has grown up with her mother, who never revealed the name of her father. The only clue, if it is a clue, is a painting of a man that her mother held on to. When her mother dies, Stella inherits some money that has to go for a trip to Paris. She knew her mother lived there when she was young, but has no idea why the inheritance is dedicated to a trip for herself. Stella lingers on in Paris until one day she finds a second hand dress that changes her life. Once she wears it, she feels different. It is a design by Christian Dior, is very expensive, but Stella decides to spend her last money on the dress. The owner of the shop gives her some instruction on where to go and what to do. If she does not like the dress, she will give back the money. Stella follows the instructions of the lady and ventures into Paris life. Slowly, she adapts to the French style of doing things. Discovering the flavours of food and drink, Shakespeare & Company, and, to her own surprise, all of a sudden she has friends. Her benefactor Jules, almost adopts her and for the first time in her life she feels she has a family. This is the basic theme of the book, as well as Stella's search for the paintings of a certain Victorine Merurent who modelled for Édouard Manet, among others. Stella finds out that she also did paint and exhibited several of her painting. It seems that her paintings disappeared after her death. Reichl gives us a gourmet and historical tour of Paris and France. You should not be hungry when you read the book. The descriptions of the food is watering your mouth, the wine is so well described you wish you had a glass in your hand. The search for Victorine's story and her paintings is interesting. I had to look her up, and as was often the case, as a woman she had to fight for her craft, and when she was gone it was forgotten. You also get a good doses of books, literature and authors, some real authors, who, as well as other real persons, figure in the book. You follow Stella when she changes into a totally different person, a real person in comparison to her former life. Of course, her story and everything that happens to her is a fairy tale story, and I doubt that all these things could happen in real life. Maybe this is the charm with the book, the mixture of what could be real and could not. It is an easy read, it gives you hints on what to do in Paris, and I did note down a few tips of restaurants and hotels to check up for a future visit. Paris in July - BINGO With this book I managed to cover six spots on the bingo card. I have still to figure out how to put a cross on the document, so in the meantime, here are the spots. First line: Paris in title - Book set in France Second line: French Food - French Fashion Third line: Travels in France Fourth line: French Art A good start I would say.

We have been touring a small part of Sweden with our van. This year we chose to go around the two big lakes, Vänern (the largest lake in the European Union) and Vättern. As we came to a small town at the northeastern corner of the lake, we found a little bit of French art in Sweden. Here is the story of how a huge sculpture, designed by Picasso, ended up in this small corner of Sweden. I think Picasso does not need a further introduction, so I just mention that he was born in Malaga in Spain in 1881. In 1901, he moved from Barcelona to Paris and settled down in Montmartre, but later on moved to Montparnasse. He had a complicated family situation with many women, and it was only when he met Jacqueline Rogue, a potter, that he dedicated his life to her. She became his muse, and he stayed with her until his death in 1973, at the age of 91. The head of the sculpture represents his wife, Jacqueline. How did the sculpture end up in Sweden? We have to thank Swedish artist Bengt Olson for that. Everything began on a dusty road in France in the early 1960s. By coincidence, the artist Bengt Olson from Kristinehamn met the Norwegian painter, sculptor, and photographer Carl Nesjar, who had just started experimenting with a new concrete material. Pablo Picasso, who was fascinated by the artistic possibilities of the new material, had recently started to work with Carl Nesjar. They were making a series of sculptures and paintings called "Les Dames de Mougins" with Pablo Picasso's wife Jacqueline as the main theme. The sculptures were planned to be created on a monumental scale with the new concrete material. Carl Nesjar told Bengt Olson they could be built for 150,000 SEK each. QUICK FACTS • Height: 15 meters. The pillar measures 1.65 meters in diameter. The wings have a span of 6x4 meters. • Weight: 35 tons, of which one of the wings alone weighs about 8 tons. • Material: natural concrete. A mold was filled with small stones and then white cement was in-jected. • The sculpture consists of steel, cement and 90% black granite from Larvik, Norway. The final artistic pattern was created using a technique called sandblasting. The surface is said to to be so hard it will last for 2000 years. But if they wanted one, they had to act quickly! New York was expected to make an offer any day. Bengt Olson, who was then only 35 years of age, realized that this was a unique opportunity and managed to persuade the city council in Kristinehamn to invest in the building of one such sculpture. It was the heads of the local government who took the initiative. In order to persuade Picasso that Kristinehamn was the perfect location for the sculpture, they sent him photographs and music from Kristinehamn and Värmland. The official letter of donation arrived in the form of a photograph of the model in the location where it stands today. Picasso had written "Oui, Picasso 7.7 1964" on the photograph. On December 21st, 1964, the official decision to build the sculpture was taken by the city council. The following year, the sculpture was completed and could be inaugurated on Midsummer's Eve, June 25, 1965. Picasso was kept updated on the building progress through photographs and films, although he never visited the site himself. The sculpture, named "Jacqueline," has become the most visited spot in Kristinehamn, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world annually. It is a magnificent sculpture and is beautifully situated by the water with surrounding green areas. A lot of cafés and restaurants have grown up around the place, and the area is fantastic. A lot of magnificent houses 'litter' this small peninsula, and I can understand that people like to come here in the summer. The sculpture reminds me a little bit of an Indian totem pole in design. It was such a nice visit, although the weather was rather terrible; cold, windy and rainy. But what do we not do for a little bit of French culture on a rainy day. If you can't go to France, let France come to you.

Blipping through channels on my TV, I came upon a documentary of Gisèle Freund (1908-2000, and born Gisela Freund) a German-French photographer and photo journalist. It was a very interesting documentary of an interesting and fascinating woman. Making her way in a mainly male world, she became a successful entrepreneur and artist. It is intriguing to discover people like her, people you have never heard of, and just like that … they pop up one day. I thought this would be a suitable post for Paris in July. Her connections are so close to all the literary characters we associate with Paris at the time. Freund was born in Germany but had to leave the country in the beginning of the 1930s, and she went to Paris. She was even then famous for her realistic photos of people in different situations of life. Later in life she became famous for her portraits of writers and artists. She studied sociology and her best-known book Photographie et société ( 1974) is based on her 1936 dissertation.” (Wikipedia) She was also ahead of her time when it came to using, the then, modern technology. She used a Leica camera which had film rolls with 36 frames. Mainly for her work with documentary reportages and pioneering. For the portraits of writers and artists, she used Kodachrome and Agfa colour positive film. Does this not bring back memories from before the digital world we live in these days? This seems to have made it possible for her to develop a “uniquely candid portraiture style” that made her stand out at the time. She spent many years living abroad to document people in other parts of the world. Politically she was leaning towards the left and she became president of the French Union of Photographers in 1977. The 1981 official portrait of President François Mitterrand was taken by her. In 1982 she was made Officer des Arts et Lettres and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 1983. That was not all, for in 1985, she became the first photographer to be honoured with a retrospective at the Musée national d'art moderne in Paris. Paris Before Paris Freund had never done portraits. Her opening to these kind of photos was a request from French novelist and art theorist André Malraux. He wanted her to take a photo for an upcoming book, but not a photo in the traditional sense, but in a more candid fashion. This was the beginning of her career as a portrait photographer. At this time she befriended Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier. That led to Freund taking James Joyce’s photo for his upcoming book Finnegan’s Wake. It seems Joyce did not like to be photographed, but nevertheless invited Freund to his flat looking into her earlier work. He was so impressed that during three days Freund had access to the author. He got tired of posing and cried: ”I'm bleeding. Your damned photos will be the death of me", which he said, "forgetting in his pain that he had made it a rule never to swear in the presence of a lady." [ Right after the session the taxi that Freund went with crashed and her photos were damaged. Joyce, it seems, was superstitious and thought that his cursing had cause the crash. Freund was once again invited into his home and could take another set of photos. One of the photos was used by Time magazine for its cover on 8 May 1939. There are so much more to this lady that I can tell of here. If you are interested the documentary was made by Arte France Complices Films, and there are a lot to read about her on the net.

It is time for another spin with the . I actually did finish my last spin which was The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton . I liked it very much. I am happy to have finished the book since it was a long time since I actually managed to read a book for the spin. Here we go for Spin #38, and the number is 17. Your chosen book should be read by 22 September, 2024. Here is my list, not updated since last time. As you can see, no. 17 is The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. That is a classic I wanted to read, so I hope it will be good. Has anyone of you read it? Please let me know what you think.

July has come to an end, without me achieving very much on the reading front. July also saw Paris in July and I had big plans which did not really materialise. I only read four books this month, due to a busy schedule in both June and July. Somewhat late a short wrap-up from July. I will do a separate wrap-up of Paris in July. Books read Krysalis by John Trenhaile - a good, old fashioned spy thriller à la Le Carré. I have had it for a long time, found a receipt from Hatchard from 1990. Excellent and thrilling read. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl - wonderful book about a girl coming to Paris, reluctantly, but slowly, slowly, coming under the spell of the city. You should not read it while hungry because there are several descriptions of food that you wish you had in front of you. My review under link. La vie secrète des écrivains/Öns hemlighet by Guillaume Musso - another good thriller by Musso, turning out to be the second book in a trilogy. The first one is Reunion which I did read. On Guillaume Musso 's  website he explains the purpose of the trilogy. He uses different perspectives to tell his stories. They are captivating and surprising. Along the way you think you know the riddle of the story, just to be surprised when it changes direction. He is playing between fiction and reality. Review will come. Well-schooled in Murder by Elizabeth George - I have hardly read any of her books, but watched many episodes from the TV-series. It is a treat to read her books as well, and this murderer hid among the suspects until the very end. That was all I managed this month. I am in the process of reading a few other books though. Faust by Johan Wolfgang von Goethe The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig No angel by Penny Vincenzi Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali Antinous: A Poem by Fernando Pessoa Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron The Devil's Elixirs by E. T. A. Hoffmann Marie Antoinette's Head, The Royal Hairdresser, the Queen and the Revolution by Will Basnor Let's see if I can finish a few of them until the end of the month.

Guillaume Musso is one of my favourite thriller authors from France. Two others I would like to mention are Fred Vargas and Michel Bussi. I have read one book by Musso before, The Reunion (La jeune fille et la nuit). La vie secrète des écrivains (Öns hemlighet/The Secret Life of Writers) turns out to be part two in a trilogie, which I did not know. Lucky for me, The Reunion is the first part and this one is the second. That leaves the third, La vie est un roman. Unfortunately, it seems not to be translated to English or Swedish yet. On Guillaume Musso 's website there is a short explanation of this trilogi. "Through these three novels Musso finds different perspectives to tell his captivating stories, and they are captivating. I especially like his story telling which often is surprising. In these three novels he shares his passion for writing and the dizziness that arises from the interplay between fiction and reality. In The Reunion , a writer is overtaken by a crime committed in his youth and by a love never forgotten. In The Secret Life of Writers , a famous novelist who has chosen silence for twenty years is forced to come out of his reserve. In La vie est un roman, the disappearance of a novelist's granddaughter gives rise to a hand-to-hand combat between the real world and the fictional world." I n 1999, after publishing three cult novels, celebrated author Nathan Fawles announces the end of his writing career and withdraws to Beaumont, a wild and beautiful island off the Mediterranean coast. Autumn 2018. As Fawles’ novels continue to captivate readers, Mathilde Monney, a young Swiss journalist, arrives on the island, determined to unlock the writer’s secrets and secure his first interview in twenty years. That same day, a woman’s body is discovered on the beach and the island is cordoned off by the authorities. And so, begins a dangerous face off between Mathilde and Nathan, in which the line between truth and fiction becomes increasingly blurred… (From Goodreads) The story is told from several narrators, and with every narrator you get a different story. They do come together in the end, but before that you have guessed the outcome a number of times ... all of them wrong. After having retreated from the world 20 years earlier, Nathan Fowles is all of a sudden 'hunted' by a few admirers. An aspiring author, a Swiss journalist and a presumtive Guillaume Musso, all of them trying to get close to Fowles and find out his secret. They all have a different reason, and a different drive to try to find him. Before the story reach its end, it has taken us through the early life of Fowles and his reason to retreat from the world. When a murder victim turns up on the island the story takes another turn. Who is the victim? Why did the body turn up on the island? What is behind the murder? Musso takes us through a straight story, into a mysterious one, a doubtful one, and a surprising one. Nothing is what it seems to be in this story of illusion, fiction and reality. And the end is totally surprising. Musso's stories are captivating and it is difficult to put the book down. This was no exception, and even know, a couple of weeks later the story stays with me. I can hardly wait until the last chapter of the trilogie is translated.

Thanks to host Emma @ Word and Peace we had a fabulous Paris in July this year. Unfortunately, for me, I was rather busy during June and July and could not participate as much as I wanted. Anyway, there were enough participants with various themes on Paris and France. I still have to read some of your posts. I wanted to make a wrap-up of my own participation, and here is what I did achieve in July. There will be a few more reviews from the books I am currently reading. A Moveable Feast - Only the title referring to Hemingway's take on Paris, but I thought it was a good way of showing you my library-on-the-road. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl - a wonderful tale of a girl living a rather strict and boring life and how it changed once she visited Paris. A Little Bit of France in Sweden - by accident finding a sculpture by Picasso in a small town in Sweden. Gisèle Freund, photographer - By chance find a documentary on TV about this fascinating woman. My French dinner - I did manage to create a French six-course meal to celebrate my husband's 65th birthday. It was celebrated with friends. I was so busy with the menu, so I forgot to take photos. La vie secrète des écrivains by Guillaume Musso - I did manage to read another book. It was not difficult since Musso is one of my favourite thriller authors. Another enigmatic story by him. Stealing the Mona Lisa - podcast - A few days ago I listened to a podcast from History Extra about the stealing of Mona Lisa. This happened in August 1911 when a handyman walked out of the Louvre with the painting under his arm. Can you imagine that? The author of The Theft of the Mona Lisa Dr. Noah Charney is interviewed in the podcast. Fascinating story, and I would really like to read the book as well. Still on the agenda I see I did manage six posts, so not that bad. I just wanted to have had time to read more. However, I am still intend to reading a few books and other cultural things connected to France. Here is (part of) my list before the event, and which I am thinking of pursuing in the near future. Marie Antoinette's Head, The Royal Hairdresser, the Queen and the Revolution by Will Basnor The Billionaire, The Butler, and the Boyfriend is a French docuseries which follows the lift of L'Oreal heiress Lilianne Bettencourt and the scandals around her. How did a conflict between the world's wealthiest woman and her daughter spiral into national scandal? Sounds intriguiging enough. Although it is a series I might go for a French movie as well. Under Paris - In order to save Paris from an international bloodbath, a grieving scientist is forced to face her tragic past when a giant shark appears in the Seine. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I will keep an open mind. Both on Netflix. I am thinking of a biography of Napoleon . French Windows by Antoine Laurain Thank you so much to Emma for the hard work holding it all together. Always nice and interesting to read participants accounts of Paris/France and to find new acquaintances. Future reading What is coming up in the future? I am still thinking of how I could improve and develop my blog, both with content and definitely with design. I don't follow so many challenges anymore, although I love them. They just seem to block my ambition to lower my TBRs. Although Umberto Ecco, who had 50 000 books in his library said: "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticise those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. "There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. "If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice! "Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity." So well put, and I will take it with me next time I worry about my TBR shelves. There are a few favourite challenges coming up in November; Nonfiction November, Novellas in November and German Literary Month. I will have to see if I can follow all of them or just two. Are you following any of these three? That was my Paris in July wrap-up and a little bit of my future reading plans.

I am presently travelling in Austria and, if you are interested, you can read about my trips on The Content Reader newsletter . My next newsletter will be about Bad Ischl in Austria, the town where Franz Joseph and Elisabeth (Sisi) met and got engaged. I refer to a couple of books about them and am therefore republishing this post that originally was posted on my old website. The Habsburgs by Andrew Wheatcroft A book about the Habsburgs is certainly going to be a thick one. A family with a long history and part of the European history for over 1000 years. In spite of this, Wheatcroft has been able to give an account of the family in just under 300 pages (not including footnotes and timelines). Considering the number of Habsburgs that have passed by during this time span, it is a thorough historical account of their lives and deeds. Some gets a little bit more space and some less, and rightly so. It starts with the first Dukes of Austria, originating from, what is today, south of Switzerland, in 1020 and continues to the last emperor, Karl I who was dethroned in 1919. I will not even try to make a summary of this interesting family and its input on the history of Europe. As with most ruling dynasties, it is a matter of wars, conquering of land, survival through intrigues, influence as well as personal lives through marriage, children and the fight for survival of the dynasty. As regards the latter part there were both good and bad sides of the motto of Austria: Felix Austria Nube. " The impact of this Spanish fixation with blood and race on the Habsburgs remains conjectural. But their marriage patterns in the century and a half of the 'Madrid-Vienna axis' are unique in the history of Western Europe. 'Happy Austria marries': and it is a matter of record that the Habsburgs had gained their patchwork of lands by marriage alliances underestimates the intense military activity undertaken, especially in Italy to sustain and consolidate their holdings. It also, wrongly, suggests that other families did not use marriage in the same way to cement of consolidate political alliances. But what distinguished the Habsburgs' marriage strategy especially after the death of Charles V, was its inventiveness and capacity to adapt to new circumstances. No other royal house had developed so coherent a notion of 'the power of the blood'. " Royal marriages have always been a political game, and did most of the time, but not always, lead to unhappy marriages. However, many of the Habsburgs seemed to have loved their spouse and their children, in a way which was not common at the time. " Many Habsburg marriages seemed despite their political origins to have turned into genuine love-matches, and the anguish that Habsburg parents felt at the death of their children, even as tine infants, also seems unfeigned, even if expressed in terms of a dutiful resignation to the divine will. " One of the most famous of the emperors, and the man who consolidated and extended the then rather small empire of the Habsburgs, Maximilian I, was very much in love with his first wife, He married Mary of Burgundy, a request by his father, Frederick III. The union turned out to be a union of love from both sides. They were married in 1477 and Maximilian was devastated when she died in a riding accident in 1482. Fate does not always turn out that good. In 1493 he married Bianca Maria Sforza who brought a rich dowry and rights as imperial overlord of Milan. It was an unhappy marriage and they had no children. It generated a huge number of bastards though, and he seemed to have been very fond of them and provided for them. Maximilian died on 12 January, 1519, and is buried under the altar steps of the church of St George at Wiener Neustadt. "Where he was buried, he said, he would feel the priest stand on his chest when he raised the host during the mass. But his chest was an empty cavity, for his last command had been that his heart be embalmed, carried to Bruges, and reunited with the body of his first wife, Mary of Burgundy." I find this terribly romantic, and not typical for the time. The other face, and not such a nice one, of the Habsburg's marriage policy was the inbreeding. " Ferdinand III dutifully produced a total of eleven children, but only two sons who survived infancy. The death of his elder son, Ferdinand, from the universal scourge of smallpox in 1654 brought the younger brother Leopold to the fore, as the senior surviving male in the Austrian branch of the house of Habsburg. After 1665, he was the only surviving male member of his immediate lineage. Thus despite all this prodigious begetting, the twin Habsburg thrones (in the male line) depended on two sickly cousins, Leopold and Carlos. Although much has been made of the dire genetic effects of inbreeding, much more dangerous for the Habsburgs was the devastating rate of infant mortality, and the prevalence of epidemic disease in the close confines of the courts, in Madrid and in Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck. Numerically, the Habsburgs seemed to produce a great many more daughters than sons, and these daughters tended to survive longer than their seemingly more vulnerable brothers. Of course, the life expectancy of Habsburg women was drastically reduced by early marriage, repeated pregnancies, and death in childbirth or from puerperal fevers. " The inbreeding (in the Spanish line) came to and end with Charles II of Spain. He suffered from ill health all his life, but did survive until the age of 39. His disabilities were more physical with the famous Habsburg jaw, where the lower jaw outgrows the upper one. The English ambassador, Stanhope, reported in 1697: " His constitution is so very weak and broken much beyond his age that it is generally feared what may be the success of such another attack. They cut his hair off in his sickness, which the decay of nature had almost done before, all his crown being bald. He has a ravenous stomach, and swallow all he eats whole, for his nether jaw stands so much out, that his two rows of teeth cannot meet; to compensate which, he has a prodigious wide throat, so that a gizzard or liver of a hen passes down whole, and his weak stomach not being able to digest it, he voids in the same manner. " The last in the Spanish line of the Habsburgs, he died in 1700 without an heir, and chose Louis XIV's grandson Philip of Anjou as successor. France was no friend of the Habsburgs, during most of their history, and it did not go down well in Vienna. It led to the War of the Spanish Succession. I have chosen to mention a few notes dealing with the more personal side of the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs is so much more. It is a well researched and easy accessible biography over a family that fought for political control of their dominions for more or less a thousand years. Through the book we get to know the great and not so great achievements, their struggle for power and glory, for family and legacies. It is a tour through European history. Andrew Wheatcroft writes with knowledge and compassion and presents a fascinating story of a family's rise and decline.