by Lucy Knisley
ages: 16+
First sentence: “My last night in Chicago for six weeks, and unseasonably warm for December.”
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This slim travel memoir/graphic novel is about Lucy’s trip to Paris with her mother the semester before she graduates from college. It’s very much a young adult book; Lucy’s trying to figure out her future, dealing with rejections and insecurities about what path to take, and so it, at times, becomes highly angst-ridden. The book is best the times when Lucy lets her ego go, and she sits back and enjoys what Paris has to offer. The food! The art! The architecture! The history! The people!

The trip is in January, and so the book has a very winter feel. But even with that, it’s a joyful experience. Told through drawings and pictures, Lucy captures Paris in a way I’ve never read before. The only thing it lacked, I think, was a sense of smell. I saw what she saw, I felt what she felt, but I wanted to smell it all as well. It was a touristy book, but she also went off the beaten path, discovering shops and markets and museums that your average tourist wouldn’t have the time. (In other words: I’d love to have the opportunity to be this kind of tourist!)

Mostly, though, what this book made me do is long to be in Europe again. The pace of life, the sensibilities, the food… I’m just a European at heart, I guess. And this book tapped into that for me. And I really enjoyed that.