Book shopping in Paris (part 1)

Okay, I’ve edited this post since I messed up and posted about the wrong books … So here’s the corrected post with the books I really bought at Shakespeare & Co.

So I’ve just spent a few days in Paris and somehow I persuaded my boyfriend (now fiancee) to go to several bookstores – 5 in all – and I ended up bringing 16 books home. So look forward to short reviews of these 5 stores. And of course, I’m going to talk about the books I’ve bought!!

So on our day in Paris, we arrived late in the city, checked into the hotel and then went out for dinner. Afterwards, I was really happy to realize that Shakespeare & Co. was still open so that was our first book stop. I’ve visited Shakespeare and Co. before and it is really a great store. Lots and lots of books. Shakespeare and Co. has a lot of history and is always worth a visit. It’s very close to Notre Dame and the Seine and has a beautiful location.

So which books did I pick up in this great store? I picked up 4 books at this store.

Tetsu Saiwai: The 14th Dalai Lama

I have read a bit of a series of Mangas about Buddha and really loved it. So when I saw this Manga about the current Dalai Lama, I was instantly hooked.

Ali Smith: There but for the

I heard about this recently and really liked the idea. A man comes to a dinner party – and ends up locking himself in a room in the house for months (It’s inspired by a 1939 Broadway show The Man Who Came to Dinner). I read a few paragraphs in it before buying and the writing is what really sold me on it.

Paul Murray: Skippy Dies

I’ve heard a lot about this book on The Guardian Books Podcast and it has been heavily promoted on the Goodreads page as well. A supposedly funny book about growing up in an Irish boarding school.

Jeffrey Eugenides: The Marriage Plot

I’ve read Middlesex a while ago and really liked it so I have been looking forward to this new book from Eugenides. It sounds really interesting – he takes the marriage plot idea from authors like Jane Austen and then gives it a modern twist. I really need to get around to reading The Virgin Suicides as well.