Livres et Biscuits: Les Revues

WHILE I APPRECIATE ALL BOOK REVIEWS and promotions, some book bloggers really go the extra mile. Malak Ismail of Quebec, Canada, just posted a promotion of FOREST PARK: Logan Book 2. The review is still to come, but I noticed he took extra time and care with the promotion and bio – pulling from various sources – not just the one paragraph on the back of the book. Most book bloggers do not get paid for this work – they just share books with others for the joy of reading.

And I love that this blog is bilingual-French and English. I remember trying to get around with my minimal French when I lived in Luxembourg. Most of the time, I just pointed at things and said “Je voudrais ce lui la, s’il vous plait.” I’m sure I’ve misspelled every other word in that sentence, but if I remember correctly, it means “I would like that one, please.”

In Virginia, they taught French in the public schools, and I received one year of instruction in the 4th grade when my father worked at a Naval base in Newport News, VA. I still remember watching a jittery, old film-strip that only worked occasionally and a stern, thin woman in heels and jet-black hair named Madame Slack, sternly and clearly saying “ECOUTEZ et REPETEZ” (listen and repeat).  I just googled it, and found the name of the program: “Parlons Francaiz!’ or ‘Let’s Speak French!”  Ahh….memories 🙂

Thanks to Malak, who not only wrote a great promo for my new book, but brought back a favorite childhood memory and my initial love of the French language.