Lance Armstrong

With the Le Tour De France in full swing and Lance Armstrong poised to take a famous victory after coming out of retirement, now is the time to brush up on your history of the most famous and gruelling sporting event of them all.

Abe Books has a great collection of all books related to the Tour De France and other cycling achievements.

It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong

The inspiring journey of world-class hero lance Armstrong, from the night of advanced cancer through his dramatic victory in the 1999 Tour de France, and beyond.

Get a first edition/first printing in very good condition signed by Lance Armstrong for £144.

Literature

Check out the giants of French philosophy and literature. Rousseau argued for majority rule long before the concept was popular and helped to spark the French Revolution – the cause for today’s Bastille celebrations. Robespierre is also a hero of the Enlightenment period, even though he argued the justification for political violence that was to underpin the French Revolution.

Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are both renowned philosophers who changed the face of existentialism. Beauvoir is best known for her book “Second Sex“, which marked a radical shift in feminist thinking.

Language

The French are infamously proud of their rich and beautiful language. Those who go to France without knowing any French can expect to be abruptly ignored by the waiter, the taxi driver and the shop assistant. Get yourself up to speed with this before you step out of the avion.

Food

Cheese is a major part of French culture – alongside its world famous wines. Roquefort, brie and boursin are amongst some of the most famous. Some cheeses are so smelly that they have been banned from public transport in Paris. There are thousands of types of French cheese and true mastery of their variety requires a dedication similar to that of wine enthusiasts.

Garlic is the best-known staple of French cooking alongside onions and freshly baked bread. Most people find that the best thing about their holiday in France is freshly baked croissants from the boulangerie and freshly ground black coffee to boot. Children especially appreciate the way that hot chocolate is served in a bowl at breakfast.

Wine

Our resident Wine Bloke has recommended the following pair of French wines for sampling:

Joseph Drouhin Pinot Noir L’Abeille Rouge 2003, “This is a easy drinking but very nice wine. Well priced.”

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve, “A reasonably price champagne.”

France is the seat of old world wine production. A vast array of wines are produced every year from ancient vineyards full of family history and national fervour.

French winemakers went to extraordinary lengths to protect their tipple during the Nazi occupation of WWII. They hid champagne in limestone caves and walled it up. Many covered their cellars over with rugs and changed the labels on wine so that the Nazis got the worst wine with the best bottles.

France also has a rigourous labelling authority which ensures that consumers get what they pay for. Champagne is only grown in a particular region of France and the other regions have similar protections against would be pretenders through the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO). This authority monitors labelling so that the good name of these ancient wine regions is maintained. The Chateux are also ordered into strict hierarchies which grant them particular titles. This helps international markets to distinguish the very best French wines.

For more on wine, visit The Wine Blokes at www.thewineblokes.com

Fashion

Parisian fashion is more chic than anywhere else in the world. London may be quirky and New York may be glam, but the French know how to do style. It’s not all blue and white striped tops and berets. Jean Paul Gautier, Christian Dior, Paco Rabanne, Chanel, Yves Saint-Laurent and other major names in the fashion world have made their mark from France and its satellites. Check out the designers on Yoox.

Weather

Every year, thousands flock to St Tropez and other locations in the South of France for its unrivalled beaches and temperate climate.

Before I get on with the first book review in this very shopping blog, I thought I’d welcome you to the site! So, welcome.

Finding the Latest Book Reviews

Book reviews shall be a regular feature – just look under the “Book Reviews” category (there’s load of ways to discover it around the site – at the bottom and top of this post being one of them!).

There’s also a book reviews tab on the homepage (just below the flashing features box) which will show you the latest book reviews.

Book Reviews RSS Feed

However, the easiest way to read the latest Book Reviews we publish as soon as they go online is to subscribe to our RSS feeds. You can either find the RSS feed for the whole website by clicking the link at the top-right hand side of EVERY page (the one with the RSS orange image) and using your favourite feed reader to collect everything we publish, or, visit the book reviews category and (in Firefox browsers) you will find the RSS logo for that category. Otherwise, you can enter the following address into your feed readers and you should be all ready to receive – http://shop-online-4.com/uk/category/book-reviews/feed/ .

Where to Purchase Books that we Review

Every single book we review is available for purchase somewhere on our site, and we’ll make the links easy to find, and try to get you the latest price details too (and that includes online auction sites) so you can find the cheapest and quickest ways to purchase your favourite books.

Share Your Thoughts

Of course, we welcome your thoughts and opinions too – every person, not to mention every book, is different!

That’s all from us. Prepare to see some book reviews!