Books on France Challenge — Wrap Up

When I signed up for the Books on France challenge, I figured I’d manage the “un peu” level of three books before our trip in late May. But, I kept reading and reading. Some books were accidental picks for the challenge — novels I picked up for other reasons that turned out to be set in France. There were books I wanted to read before we went and books that I discovered I wanted to read while we were there. By the middle of the summer, I was on a roll, so I just kept going. In the end, I read 19 Books on France, six times my original goal plus one!

Here’s the whole list with links to my posts:

1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
2. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
3. French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
4. The Gospel According to Coco Chanel by Karen Karbo
5. Paris by Edward Rutherfurd
6. Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas
7. The Serpent and the Moon by Princess Michael of Kent.
8. DK Eyewitness Travel: Paris
9. Zarafa by Michael Allin
10. Death in the City of Light by David King
11. The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison
12. Julia Child Rules by Karen Karbo
13. French Milk by Lucy Knisley
14. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
15. The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro
16. Brave Genius by Sean B. Carroll
17. A Paris Notebook by C.W. Gusewelle
18. Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr
19. Minette’s Feast by Susanna Reich

Am I done? Who knows? I’m kind of addicted now. But my travel dreams for 2014 are to England, not France. We haven’t made plans, yet, but maybe in the fall. So, I suspect my focus will move across the Channel in 2014. Do you have books to recommend on England similar to the ones I read about France? Memoirs of expats, like Paris, My Sweet? Delightful novels that happen to be set there, like Scarlet? Intriguing histories, like Zarafa?

I’m also linking this post to the Monday Dreaming of France meme. Check An Accidental Blog today for more France-themed posts.