By Bob Minzesheimer, Korina Lopez, Carol Memmott and Craig Wilson, USA TODAY
Chocolate Chocolate
Handout
Kirsten Lobe's jetsetting life changes when she has a baby in her memoir, 'Paris, Baby!'
Handout
Kirsten Lobe's jetsetting life changes when she has a baby in her memoir, 'Paris, Baby!'
By Frances Park and Ginger Park
Thomas Dunne Books, 274 pp., $23.99
* * * out of four
Could there possibly be a sweeter book written by two adorably joyful sisters? The Park sisters' chocolate shop is located in Washington, D.C., and although they were born in the USA, their story has its roots in Korea. Their parents were immigrants who instilled in their daughters a desire to fulfill the American dream. Their struggle to keep their now-successful store alive since its opening in 1984 is detailed in lively prose. Best of all, the fragrance of chocolate and sugar seems to waft from the pages of this heartfelt memoir.
? Carol Memmott
The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris
By John Baxter
HarperPerennial, 298 pp., $14.99, paperback original
* * *
Anyone who loves Paris and loves to walk will feel this book was written just for them. It wasn't. It's also for people who have never been to Paris. In truth, it's for people who like to slow down, look around, stroll. Paris just happens to be the stage. Memorist John Baxter is charming as he tells the story of the back alleys of Paris while also taking brief, and humorous, detours onto the empty sidewalks of Los Angeles and the vast outback of his native Australia. Putting one foot in front of the other, he pulls all the stories together. As for the most beautiful walk in the world? You get to choose.
?Craig Wilson
Saved by Beauty: Adventures of an American Romantic in Iran
By Roger Housden
Broadway, 290 pp., $24
* *
Iranian security agents grilled Roger Housden, an Anglo-American poet and writer (born in London, he lives in Sausalito, Calif.) about his travels in Iran. They didn't believe him when he said he wasn't a spy, merely writing a book not about Iran's repressive politics, but its splendid poetry, architecture and filmmaking. Those agents may believe him now if they read Saved by Beauty, Housden's poetic travelogue. He's impressed that Iran builds monuments to poets, not generals. (He treats Rumi, the 13th century Iranian poet, as his "travelling companion.") But politics intrudes amid "such innocence and such darkness, all at the same time." Housden is at his best on individual Iranian artists rather than writing about himself or generalizing about cultures. Poets can be good reporters when they recognize that they aren't the story.
? Bob Minzesheimer
Paris, Baby!
By Kirsten Lobe
St. Martin's Griffin, 352 pp., $14.99, paperback original
* *
For eight years, Kirsten Lobe lived the haute couture life. She strutted around Paris, hopping among exclusive parties, high-end boutiques and beautiful men. Then, she got pregnant. As baby Oscar grew in her belly, Lobe's social life and "fun money" funds shrunk. Eventually, she decides to return to her native Wisconsin. Many moms, single or not, can empathize with Lobe's challenges, from sleep deprivation to nursing in public. But the relentless name-dropping, and snarky commentary on French culture and her Midwestern neighbors, make it hard to sympathize with her, too.
? Korina Lopez
Autumn Reeser Melissa George Alessandra Ambrosio Teri Hatcher Ashley Tappin