Book: Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication date: 2012
Pages: 280 (according to Goodreads)
Source: Purchased e-book
Summary: Amy Thomas leaves her favorite city, New York, for her other favorite city, Paris. The ex-pat life puts these two places in sharp contrast, giving her a chance to compare the relative merits of everything from adventure vs belonging, to career vs comfort, to macarons vs cupcakes.
Thoughts: I loaded this e-book on my phone before our trip to France. Since it took nearly the whole trip to read Paris (Book Review: Paris by Edward Rutherfurd), I didn’t start reading Paris, My Sweet until the plane trip home. Of course, I instantly wanted to turn around and go back. How did I forget to try a Nutella crepe from a street vendor? More than one person told me to get one. I liked the Ladurée macarons, but maybe I should have tried Pierre Hermé, as well. I enjoyed delicious croissants at the breakfast buffets, but would one from a good patisserie be even better?
Alongside the Paris treats, Thomas also takes us on a grand tour of similar items in New York City. The next time I’m in the Big Apple, I’ll want to check out cupcakes, carrot cake, and chocolate chip cookies — not to mention all the French-themed bakeries that have opened to please Paris-loving New Yorkers.
This reads like a memoir, though, not a special phone book with mouth-watering descriptions of sweets. We learn about Thomas’s work writing for Louis Vuitton, about her cares and concerns as a single woman in her 30s, and about her pleasure in showing friends and family around her adopted city.
Appeal: Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas will appeal to anyone who eats sweets in Paris or New York, whether as a resident or tourist.
Challenges: This is my sixth book for the Books on France 2013 Challenge. I originally signed up for three books and I’m still reading books on France so that number is going to keep growing for another month or two.
Weekend Cooking happens every week at Beth Fish Reads. Check out her post on Saturday for links to more culinary adventures in the blogging world.
Have you read this book? What did you think?
