The Reading Life Review - July 2019

July Authors

Column One

1. Sarah Blackwell - UK - At the Existentialist Cafe:Freedom, Being and Apricot  Cocktails by Sarah Blackwell.  (Good background on French Existentialism)
2. Liza Wieland- USA- Paris 7 A. M. (Centering on Elizabeth Bishop in Paris)
3. Paula Mclain - USA - The Paris Wife (a fictional recreation of Hemingway's first marriage from the wife's point of view)
4. Suzzane Rodriguez - USA - Wild Heart Natalie Clifford Barney and the Decadence of Literary Paris by Suzanne Rodriguez (a very informative biography of a fascinating person)

Column Two

1. Julie Orringer - USA - The Invisible Bridge and The Flight Portfolio -(two set in France during WW II masterpieces)
2. Anne Nelson - USA - A Daring Rescue in Nazi Paris (an important addition to French Holocaust literature)
3. Mavis Gallant - Canada to France
4. Monique Truong - Vietnam to USA - The Book of Salt - (an imaginative novel told from the point of view of Gertrude Stein's Vietnamese cook)

Column Three

1. Jonah Rosenfeld - Ukraine to New York City (multi genre Yiddish writer)
2. Andre de Mandiargues - France (from surreal short stories to Best selling novels)
3. Jean-Paul Clebert - France - Paris Vagabond - (an account of his time withspent in the poorest parts of Paris after WW Two)

Column Four

1. Chava Rosenfarb - Poland to Montreal - among the very best post Holocaust Yiddish writers
2. Anothony Hope - UK - The Prisonor of Zenda (an adventure classic, four movies have been made based on this novel
3. Lafcadio Hearn - Greece to Japan - (a childhood favorite of mine-in August   I will post on Monigue Truong's forthcoming novel, The Sweetesf Fruit centering on him)

Column Five

1. Colette - France
2. Goli Taraghi - Iran, lived for years in Paris, (I posted on two readable online short stories drawing on her experiences as an emigrant in Paris)
3. Jean-Paul Celine (France, practicing doctor, author Journey to the Edge of the Night - 1932- and Death on the Installment Plan by Louis-Ferdinand Celine- 1936 - both translated from the French by Ralph Manheim - classics of the dark side of Paris)

Of the seventeen writers featured, 11 are women, six men.  Eight are living.

Ten writers were featured for the first time.

Home Countries of July Authors

1. USA 5
2. France 4
3. UK 2
4. Canada 1
5. Ukraine 1
6. Poland 1
7. Vietnam 1
8. Greece 1
9. Iran 1

Ten Years Facelift

The Reading Life turned ten on July 9th.  Motivated by this I decided to give the blog a bit of a Facelift.  I put in place a new header image, made the blog search option very easy to find and my e mail very easy to locate.  I changed the Malguidi  Days sidebar picture, added an image for Paris in July and one for  The autodidactic corner. 

Notes on July Reading

I read two books in July I did not post upon

On the Plain of Snakes by Paul Theroux, his travels on the Mexican border, for fans only.

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante.  

Most of my reading in July was in participating in Paris in July 2019, hosted by Thyme for Tea.  I will soon do a concluding post.

Blog Stats

There are currently 3529 posts online.

We have received 5,737,666 pages views

The three most read posts for the month are all on short stories by authors from The Philippines.

The top home countries for readers were the USA, the Philippines, India, Russia, the UK, Ukraine, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada.

Future Plans

August is Women in Translation Month.  I hope in August to post on seven stories in Translation from Urdu, a few from Yiddish and Farasi.

I will continue reading along with Buried in Print through the short stories of Mavis Gallant.

All my projects continue.

Expression of Gratitude

I offer my thanks to Max u for the Amazon gift cards.

To those who leave comments, you help keep us going.

Mel u, Editor

Ambrosia Bousweau, European Director

Oleander Bousweau, of The Bousweau Foundation