A Paris Year: My Day-to-Day Adventures in the Most Romantic City in the World by Janice MacLeod

If I remember correctly, A Paris Year: My Day-to-Day Adventures in the Most Romantic City in the World was recommended to me by Amazon.com while I was browsing travelogues. I eventually received the book as a gift from my mother-in-law back in 2017, although I only had the opportunity to read it this month during a medical leave of absence from my job.

Ms. Janice MacLeod is an Etsy artist who sells handwritten letters (most with accompanying watercolors) depicting her daily life in Paris, France. A Paris Year is a bit different from my usual fare as a result, a combination art book and memoir which I finished reading in an afternoon. The work is presented in the form of a diary, with approximately one entry per day over the course of a year. Ms. MacLeod ornaments the entries with calligraphy, art, and photographs to present a lovely impression of the people, places, and sights of the city.

I would recommend A Paris Year as a coffee-table book or a quick vacation read. There is no “plot” of which to speak, but the work nonetheless contains plenty of charm, complemented by a sense of place that makes it well worth the read.