Paris Bookfair 2019

Just like every year, I am back with my endless babble about this year’s bookfair in Paris, aka Livre Paris! This time, I attended on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning for a conference. Overall, I went to several book talks and signings, and am very happy with the experience!

This time, I had the great surprise of seeing that Kasie West was in attendance! I absolutely loved her book P.S. I Like You, and have been hoping I’d get to read more of her writing ever since. Although I like reading the books in their original language better, I couldn’t resist getting a copy of Love, Life and the List in order to get it signed. She was absolutely adorable and even complimented my hair!

On Friday, I also got to buy and get signed a copy of a French book about feminism by Margaux Collet called Is Beyoncé really a feminist? which looks super interesting, as well as a graphic novel about Frida Kahlo by Spanish illustrator Maria Hesse (pictured above) which looks absolutely gorgeous!

Just like last year, Lumen Editions’ booth was absolutely gorgeous, this time featuring a Stranger Things theme, as they recently published the translation to the show’s prequel Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond.

By the end of Saturday I also bought a book about vegetarianism by French journalist Hugo Clément, and I really hope I enjoy it!

Finally I bought a collection of short stories by my queen Tatiana de Rosnay which I unfortunately didn’t manage to get signed because I was feeling like shit and went home, but it’s fine, I got to meet her last year! I also just finished reading her novel The Rain Watcher (the one I got signed last year) and I absolutely LOVED it. Hopefully I’ll manage to review it soon!

The programmation for this year did not attract me as much as it did the previous year, but I still attended a bunch of very interesting “tables rondes” (which is a fancy French name for discussions). The first one was about feminism, and then there was one about Thatcher and the Brexit, one about the Berlin wall and its consequences today, and one about epistolary novels and virtual exchange. All were super interesting and I’m really happy about that!

Let’s Talk About the Paris Book Fair!

And when I say let’s talk, I mean I can’t shut up about it!

I attended the fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in between work and sleep and seeing my friends, so that was a really busy weekend for me, but I had SUCH a GREAT weekend!

On Friday, I arrived just in time for Marissa Meyer’s interview where she talked about her books and answered some questions from the interviewer and the audience.

After that, I got to see Sarah Dessen, who is one of my all time favourite authors. Along For The Ride is in the top 3 of my favourite books, and The Truth About Forever is one of the first books I read in English, so it will always remain dear to me. Unfortunately, I don’t own any of her books, but I bought her last release, Once and for all, and got it signed. I chatted with her a little bit, she told me it was her first time coming to France, and she even gave me candy with the title of her book written on it! (And I have already eaten all of it…)

After that, the line for Diana Gabaldon had gotten more manageable, and I managed to get my copy of Outlander signed! I still haven’t finished reading it, but I’ll get there some day…

And finally, I arrived in time for my number to be called at Marissa Meyer’s signing event! I got my copy of Cinder and my copy of Renegades signed – I have still yet to read the latter – and I asked her if she could sign my thesis from last year, since Cinder was one of the books I studied, and she accepted! We even got a picture together, I am so happy.

On Saturday, I got to meet some French authors. The first one was Marie-Aude Murail, whose books I used to read and love when I was in middle school and high school. She was extremely kind and signed a book for me. Then I ran to Tatiana de Rosnay’s signing event! The line almost got cut right in front of me, but I was lucky enough and that did not happen. I feel so blessed with the bookfair this year, because Tatiana also wrote one of my top 3 favourite books of all times, which is called The House that I Loved (or simply Rose in French). She signed my copy of her latest release, and we took a picture together! When I posted it on Twitter, she even replied to it, my fangirl heart almost exploded to be honest…

After that, I went to see Nathalie Azoulai, who I studied along with Marissa Meyer last year. She signed two of my books, and also agreed to sign my thesis, which made me really happy. We talked a little bit because no one else was waiting, but I was too impressed and didn’t know what to say…

Throughout the weekend I also managed to meet some other bookworms I follow on Twitter (hi girls if you are reading this!) and it was such a great experience, 100% would recommend! ♥

And finally, I came back on Sunday for the sole purpose of seeing my queen Victoria Schwab. She was giving a talk about fantasy with another French author, and then doing a signing event. She signed my copies of This Savage Song which I am finally reading and my copy of Vicious. We talked a little bit and she commented on my Hufflepuffness which made me blush! She is such an amazing person and role model ♥

And that’s it for today guys, thanks for reading! If you want to see some more pictures, I have them saved in my Highlights on my instagram account!

I attended the Paris bookfair…

… and I met Rainbow Rowell!!!

Here’s a little vlog I made about my experience.

Guys, I’m so sorry, I haven’t really been active lately. I wish I had, honestly. I still read a lot, and I could really write some book reviews, but for some reason I haven’t. I have posted some one my Booktube channel though if you want to check them out, just click on the video above!

Anyway. The Paris bookfair was amazing, I went twice, last Friday and last Sunday. I met five different authors, including Rainbow Rowell, which was something I never expected to happen to me. She was SO adorable. I even came to talk to her a second time because I wanted to get a picture with her, and the previous one I had was completely blurry. I almost didn’t go, but then I knew I would regret it if I didn’t, so I gathered my courage, and voilà!

Festival America

Hi readers! It’s been a while since I shared about an event/exhibit I attended, so here I make up for it! Over the weekend, I attended Festival America, which is a book fair that took place near Paris, and I made a video where I talk about it and share some purchases and pictures I took there… Here it is if you want to watch it!

Festival America is all about American books and authors. This year was the 8th edition, and hopefully there will be more I can attend in the future years!

Paris Annual Bookfair 2016

From Thursday to Sunday, it was Paris’s Annual Bookfair at the Porte de Versailles, also known as Livre Paris or the Salon du Livre.

The star city this year was Pointe-Noire (Congo) and the star country was South Korea, which is awesome because as you may know, I love South Korea.

I went to the bookfair on both Saturday and Sunday, because there were events I wanted to attend on both days, and since the student price is rather cheap, and I was extremely motivated, I couldn’t resist. It was one of the best weekends of my life!!

SATURDAY

On Saturday, I attended a conference about Dystopia. It was featuring three authors: Clélie Avit, author of Les Messagers du Vent (Messengers of the Wind) which hasn’t been translated in English. I had never heard of her, but the concept of her books seems really cool, and I may eventually read them some day. The second author was Victor Dixen, author of the series Phobos. It hasn’t been translated in English either but it might be some day because it seems to be rather successful… I read good reviews about that one too, so I might try it as well. And last but not least, the reason why I came, James Dashner, author of the best-seller series The Maze Runner!

The conference was really interesting, the three authors talked about their books, and why they thought dystopias were so popular, and why they wrote dystopias… I think I might write my own some day! James Dashner said that one of the reasons was that we all have a dark side, and I was like damn true…

(these are the three okay-ish pictures I managed to take during the signing…)

After the conference, I waited about one hour and a half for James’ signing event, and I thought I would never see him, but eventually I did! I wanted to say something clever, and even ask why he killed Teresa, but all I managed to say was Hello… And he signed my copy of The Maze Runner, I’m so happy!!

And since I waited for a long time, I also got to talk with other fans, which was pretty cool…

By the way, for those who are wondering, he said that yes, Dylan got into an accident, and he will need sometime to recover, but he will be fine, and they will carry on filming as soon as he is!

SUNDAY

On Sunday, I attended another conference about fairytale retellings (which is the subject I chose for my Master’s degree, what a perfect coincidence…) and it was amazing. It was featuring two authors, the first one was Nathalie Azoulai, who is getting more and more famous in France (I haven’t read anything by her yet) and the second one was Michael Cunningham, the author of The Hours.

The conference was really interesting, and I was sitting on the first row, it was so exciting. I took some notes too, though I said I wouldn’t, I couldn’t help it, it was so interesting. Michael was really funny, and I loved everything he said, it was so interesting.

They said that we all grew up with fairytales, and this is why they were such a great influence for authors. They also said that it was a great challenge to recreate something new with something that already exists.

“I still feel like I’m a fairytale.” – Michael Cunningham

Anyway, I loved it so much. I could talk about fairytales and retellings for hours, but I’m going to stop there. You will agree, I think, that a lot of new retellings are getting really popular these days (i.e. to mention only one, The Lunar Chronicles) and this is why I find them so interesting!

(The quality is really terrible, but I still wanted to share the pictures I took…)

And after the conference, I went to the signing event! I bought his last book A Wild Swann and other tales which is a series of fairy tale retellings, and I can’t wait to read it. And of course, I got it signed!!

I’m so happy about this!! And last but not least, I even got to take a picture with him! I look so awkward, but it’s a pretty cool picture hehe ~

Basically, it was an amazing weekend, and I will sure remember it for a very long time ♥

The Little Prince: Exhibition

Hi guys! I didn’t post yesterday because I have decided to calm down a bit. But I will still post very often! (Also have you noticed I uploaded a header image? I’m rather proud of it…)

Anyway. Last week I went to The Little Prince exhibition in Versailles (it ends this weekend, I’m the queen of going to exhibitions right before they end… It doesn’t make them any less good!) It took some pictures and I wanted to share them with you all!

I also learned a lot about the author, Antoine de Saint Exupery. He was born at the beginning of the 20th century, and was a reckless aviator (this is where the idea of the Little Prince came). He also wrote other books, was friend with editors, and won several literary prices. He was also married to a sculptor (I had no idea of this).

During WWII, he fled to the US, leaving his wife behind. He tried to raise awareness about Nazi Germany, and encourage the US to start fighting against them.

The Little Prince was first published in the US in April 1943, it was originally planned as a Christmas story for children, but he made it more than this, and did whatever he wanted. Which ended up in the famous philosophical novel that we know. It was published in France after the war, in 1946.

Antoine de Saint Exupery died during the war, while flying between France and Algeria, and I like to think he reunited with his Little Prince…

“Once upon a time there was a little prince lived on a planet scarcely bigger than your home…”

“It was dark now. I had dropped my tools. I couldn’t care less about my hammer, my bolt, my thirst, or my death. There was on a star, on a planet, on my planet, on Earth, a Little Prince who needed comfort.”

“Please… Could you draw me a sheep?”
“What?”
“Draw me a sheep…”
I jumped on my feet as if I had been hit by lightning. I rubbed my eyes. I looked again. And I was a perfectly extraordinary little boy, looking severly at me.”

Seoul Paris Seoul

Here is something a bit different for today, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

As you may or may not know, I really like Korean Dramas. I discovered them back in 2012 thanks to my best friends, and even though I haven’t matched much of them for the past few months, I still hold them dear.

Through them, I started discovering Korean culture, and I absolutely love it. It’s so interesting and fascinating. I started learning Korean back in October, and even if I struggle a lot, I learn a lot and I love it!

So when my aunt gave me free tickets for this exhibition, of course, I was delighted. I went there on Wednesday, and I’m so glad I did: it was truly interesting.

The exhibition is called Seoul Paris Seoul, and it takes place in a small museum in Paris, the Musée Cernuschi, which is a museum about Asian arts. The point of the exhibition was to share the work of Korean artists (especially painters) who had lived in Paris, and had been influenced by what they learnt there, through the 20th century.

I love paintings, so this was really enjoyable, and I saw a lot of beautiful things. It was interesting to learn about the relationships between France and Korea through arts, and to see that even when Korea wasn’t free – when it was under the Japanese domination – there were still artists willing to leave the country to come to Paris, and would try their best to do so even if it was almost impossible for them. I decided to share some of my favourites, so you may have an idea of what it was about!

Shim Kyung Ja, Karma

Bang Hai Ja, The birth of light

Hong In Sook, Trace

Han Mook, Pride

Han Mook, Golden Spiral

Park In Kyung, Orchids

What do you think about those paintings? Do you like paintings in general, and do you have any favourite artists?

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

You have probably heard me talking about it if you are following me on Instagram, I went to the Harry Potter Exhibition on Tuesday! This exhibition started in 2009 in Chicago, and went to Boston, Toronto, Seattle, New York, Sidney and Singapore, before coming to Paris in April. Today is actually the last day, so yes I am a bit late, but it was absolutely amazing. Yes, a bit pricey, but I enjoyed it a lot anyway and took some pictures I wanted to share with you guys!

Some of my pictures were deleted by my phone for absolutely no reason, but I still have some left. The exhibit starts with the sorting hat, and then the Hogwarts express. We move on then to a bigger room which has a series of portraits on one of the walls, some of them moving, including the famous Fat Lady.

The room is huge and displays on either sides costumes from all the movies, as well as objects such as wands, necklaces, books, and copybooks. There are a few televisions with passages from the movies.

This is one of Luna Lovegood’s outfits.

      

Professor Sprout’s outfit in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when she teaches her students how to re-pot Mandrakes. There was also several Mandrakes, and yes they screamed every time someone tried to move them.

Now we move on the the Potions and Snape’s outfit. There were outfits for all the DADA’s teachers as well.

Next room, here is Buck along with Harry and Hermione’s outfit’s in The Prisoner of Azkaban. (Sorry it’s in no particular order.)

Alas, my pictures of Harry and Ron’s room are lost into oblivion, but this is a (bad) picture of Hagrid’s hut, with Norbert’s egg on the table! And trust me, Hagrid is really HUGE.

This is Harry’s outfit in The Philosopher’s Stone and Tom Riddle’s outfit from The Chamber of Secrets (and I’m still trying to figure out why they were put together).

Giant chess piece from The Philosopher’s Stone.

    

More and more outfits. (Sadly, this was already the last room). From left to right, these are from The Goblet of Fire: Durmstrang student, Beauxbaton student, and Cedric Diggory’s uniform.

      

From The Goblet of Fire as well, the Yule Ball outfits. From left to right: Viktor Krum, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Cho and Cedric.

      

Now some magical artefacts, we have first the Goblet of Fire itself, Dumbledore’s wand, and the Sword of Gryffindor.

   

Dobby and Kreacher the House Elves. (Dobby is the cutest, really!!)

Again in no particular order, the decrees from The Order of the Phoenix.

Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix.

I also photographed a few posters, they were scattered arount the corridors, it was so well done! (I almost bought this one, but everything was so damn expensive so I didn’t…)

I know the order is a total mess, but I haven’t talked about Quidditch yet.

From left to right: Draco Malefoy, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Cedric Diggory.

And this is a miniature Quidditch game!

This is a small display of what Fred and George sell at Weasleys’ Wizard Weezer.

As well as their outfits on their final day at Hogwarts.

And last but not least candies from Honeydukes.

And this is the end of my pictures. The exhibition was really lovely, I really felt for about an hour in the wizard atmosphere, it was so exciting. There were so many things to see. If it comes near you, don’t hesitate to go an visit it! I hope you enjoyed my pictures !

(And yes of course, I stopped at the shop!)