LUCY BURDETTE: The news has been so distressing and
depressing lately that I’ve made a conscious effort to spend more time reading
and less time obsessing about social media. Here’s what I’ve read recently—much
of it colored by my trip to France and also the need to escape reality. I’d
love to hear what you’re reading too!
THE ART OF INHERITING SECRETS by Barbara O’Neal: I am a huge
fan of Barbara O'Neal and this book was no exception. She packed it with food,
a fascinating English countryside setting, romance, family drama, and a female
lead figuring out what her authentic life and self should be. (Yes, there were
a few unrealistic plot threads, but who cares when the rest of the strengths
kept me turning the pages deep into the night?)
THE LOST VINTAGE by Ann Mah: As a lover of France and food
and family secrets, I very much enjoyed this novel from travel writer Ann Mah.
Sommelier Kate travels from San Francisco to France to study Burgundy wines in
advance of attempting to become a Master of Wine. In her extended family's
vineyard and home, she finds terrible secrets buried in the past along with
hope for happiness with the man and world she fled from years ago.
THE CROW TRAP by Ann Cleeves: You guys got me started on Ann
Cleeves, and I am crazy for her Jimmy Perez Shetland series. Except I have only
two left to read so I’m hoarding. On my trip I took along this first book in
the Vera Stanhope series. It was the perfect book for a long journey (over 500
pages!), easy reading, complex characters, and a brooding landscape. So far I
prefer JimmyJ,
but I’ll definitely read more in this series.
COMING TO MY SENSES by Alice Waters: I read this memoir to
get ready for Paris, as Alice Waters was a major Francophile and the founder of
Chez Panisse. We grew up in a similar part of New Jersey, with similar non-gourmet
food experiences. But that’s where the similarities end. She spent a year in
Paris and had a food conversion experience that eventually led to her founding
of the local food movement in California and the iconic restaurant she
scratched out from nothing. She lived in Berkeley in the thick of the 1960’s—I
found these descriptions fascinating.
And currently reading THE LOST CAROUSEL OF PROVENCE by
Juliet Blackwell. How about you?
