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    Paris Letters
    Paris Letters
    Paris Letters
    Audiobook6 hours

    Paris Letters

    Written by Janice MacLeod

    Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    How much money does it take to quit your job? Exhausted and on the verge of burnout, Janice poses this question to herself as she doodles on a notepad at her desk. Surprisingly, the answer isn't as daunting as she expected. With a little math and a lot of determination, Janice cuts back, saves up, and buys herself two years of freedom in Europe.
    A few days into her stop in Paris, Janice meets Christophe, the cute butcher down the street-who doesn't speak English. Through a combination of sign language and franglais, they embark on a whirlwind Paris romance. She soon realizes that she can never return to the world of twelve-hour workdays and greasy corporate lingo. But her dwindling savings force her to find a way to fund her dreams again. So Janice turns to her three loves-words, art, and Christophe-to figure out a way to make her happily-ever-after in Paris last forever.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 23, 2014
    ISBN9781494573713
    Paris Letters
    Author

    Janice MacLeod

    Janice MacLeod creates letters about Paris, paints them, personalizes them, and sends out monthly to adoring fans. A former advertising copywriter and associate creative director, she co-authored The Breakup Repair Kit and followed it with The Dating Repair Kit. Together, they have been translated into a handful of languages and have sold more than 27,000 copies.

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    Reviews for Paris Letters

    4/5

    80 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A very ligth and amusing way to describe a canadian life at Paris.
    • 5/5
      Great listening! Imagining I was in paris doing my dishes.
    • 2/5
      audio nonfiction, memoirs (34-y.o. Canadian copywriter from CA who mostly writes spam mail decides to quit her job in favor of living out a suitcase and spending time abroad as a travel/art blogger)
      The author strikes me as naive in general, not to mention foolish to not be concerned about her retirement savings (does she even have retirement savings? what about health care?), but I did appreciate the part where she gets rid of all her excess possessions before she packs her bags for Paris. Fortunately things seem to have worked out ok for her--handsome boyfriend/husband and successful etsy subscription service). I think the print edition probably is more enjoyable because you don't have the narrator's annoyingly perky voice and you get to see the artwork.
    • 4/5
      Janice MacLeod quits her job and moves to Paris. She travels through Europe but falls in love with the butcher in Paris. She tells of how she got there, what happened, how she fell in love, and the red tape to stay there and marry there.This is not a book to read all at once. It should be sipped and read leisurely to truly appreciate it. It was fun to see what she had to do to quit her job and move. I enjoyed her solution to a "job."
    • 4/5
      A charming "living your dream" memoir - how to ditch your life as a successful US advertising exec and become a romantic Paris artist. The prose is simple and clear, and the story is allowed to wind out slowly, with beautiful digressions into the authors painted letters - her means of making this particular dream pay. Gentle, light and enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Now for books! Janice Macleod is finally living her dream life of making it big as a writer. She is a junk-mail writer for a large corporation. But, now that she's living the American Dream, she suddenly realizes that maybe that's not her dream at all. She can't endure the rat race any more. So, she decides to take a year off and travel through Europe.How on earth is she going to take a year off? Well, she starts by downsizing significantly. She sells her things. She pays off her debts and tears up her credit cards. She stops eating at restaurants, and becomes a vegetarian to save money. Then, she saves money and dreams big. She saved $60,000, a significant accomplishment.When she arrives in Paris on her travels, she falls in love with the city and with the butcher down the street. How is she ever going to go back to the rat race? She must find another way. Thus Paris Letters is born.What did I think? The book is Chick Lit fun. My mommy instincts were screaming when she met the butcher--Girl, how do you know he's not an ax murderer? Don't move in with him! Don't. But, in spite of them moving in together, there is a happy ending and there are no ax murderers. Thankfully.
    • 4/5
      As I mentioned in review earlier this week, I don’t especially like dark, gritty books. However, when I pick up a memoir, I do typically like to read about someone overcoming challenges. Think MWF Seeking BFF
      (trying to make friends), Some Nerve (overcoming your fears), The Happiness Project (trying to make yourself happier on a daily basis), or The Saturday Night Widows (moving on after grieving). Now, I wouldn’t say that Janice faces no challenges. Having the self-discipline to save money, the courage to quit her job, and the self-awareness to realize that her life in Paris is what she wants is no small accomplishment. However, in the book, she portrays it that way. She talks very little about the tough times or the decision making process. It comes across as though everything just falls into place.

      At first, the portrayal of everything as easy bothered me. It made the book less inspiring and impressive than other memoirs. However, once I realized that this was basically non-fiction chick-lit, I started to warm up to it. Janice’s writing is beautiful, as are the painted letters she sold on Etsy and includes in her book. Her story was happy and heartwarming. Plus, like all great narrative non-fiction, it was just as riveting as the fiction version and had the added awesomeness of being a true story. All in all, I’m glad non-fiction has its sappy, fun, light, heartwarming romances too. As long as you go into this with the right expectations, I think it’s a great book.

      This review first published on Doing Dewey.
    • 3/5
      With a single suitcase in hand, former Californian copywriter Janice Macleod abandons her stultifying career and heads off to Europe sharing her journey in this memoir, Paris Letters.Thirty four and single Macleod realised that despite her successful career as middle management in an advertising agency affording her a (more than) comfortable lifestyle, she was dissatisfied with her life. In 2010 inspired by The Artist's Way written by Julie Cameron and a comment from a colleague, Janice began making plans to reinvent her life. She began by journaling (and blogging) every day and devising ways to save $100 a day to fund a years travel. A year later she quit her job and took off to explore Europe.Paris Letters is a record of Janice Macleod's journey which includes brief treks through Scotland and Italy before she decides to settle in France, having met a French-speaking Polish butcher on the streets of Paris and fallen in love. Having found happiness but needing a way to fund her prolonged stay in Paris, she takes inspiration from artist Percy Kelly and his illustrated letters to his penpal. Utilising an Etsy store front begins creating and selling letters adorned with her watercolour paintings of Paris scenery quickly amassing over 1,000 subscribers. By the end of 2012, Janice is engaged to Christophe, has a book deal and is living her dream.In many ways this is an inspirational memoir of a woman who has changed her life for the better, in others I feel that Paris Letters is somewhat disingenuous. It could be that I'm jealous. Macleod manages to save in a year (nearly US$65,000), more than my husband earns to support our family of six, while still paying for rent, utilities, car payments, a housekeeper(!) and general living expenses, despite her pared down lifestyle. While I do admire Macleod's commitment to her goal, which was achieved with some sacrifice and hard work, few would have the opportunity to emulate her success and the author fails to acknowledge her privileged position. It's also clear that Macleod always intended to write a book about her experience (she has previously co-authored two books) but it would be mean spirited to begrudge the author her success, and happiness.Paris Letters is a charming memoir, an inspiration for office drones everywhere and ideal for Francophiles who dream of escaping the daily grind to live in City of Light.
    • 4/5
      loved it!I enjoyed 'Paris Letters' immensely. The story of one woman's walk, well flight really, to redefinition. Janice MacLeod of 'Clan MacLeod' and 'the Highander' (a recurring joke), a successful advertising writer, one day took a deep breathe and decided to try for a new direction. Her mission, to see what the world could offer her and what she could offer the world. Her aim, two years travel in Europe with Rome and Paris on the top of the list. Her goal was to save a $100 a day. Her savings plan is brilliant. (I could learn a bit, although I'm already practising some of her savings ideas. I do cook and chop my own vegetables.I loved her beginning place, 'My first trip to Paris began in my underwear drawer.' A great line!Her message is that de-cluttering is the place to start. This chapter was thought provoking. Her pared down wardrobe she sees as giving her, 'a certain freedom in not having so many choices.' I love the idea. Janice's recommendation no.7, that, 'buying things on sale doesn't save money' because your still spending something is true but oh so hard to refrain from. Certainly I could do with following much of Janice's advice. In many ways a self help book, this is also an engaging look at life and love, traveling and pursuing goals. Her three muses, her inner voice characterizations, offer excellent advice that is spot on. Janice's time in Paris and the wonderful drawings / letters she writes, the business she builds using her talents are inspirational. And then there is Christophe, the man she meets in Paris. The Paris streets and people come alive under her pen. You walk them with her.Readable and très agréable!A NetGalley ARC
    • 4/5
      There are lots of reasons that you shouldn’t bother reading this review of Paris Letters if you really want to read an honest review. I can’t write honest reviews of books that are set in Paris. I can’t write honest reviews of books that have illustrations. And this book has both. I love wholeheartedly books about Paris. Even awful ones. I love wholeheartedly books with illustrations. Even awful ones. Paris Letters is set in Paris and Paris Letters has illustrations.I loved Paris Letters.You've ignored my warning and now you’ve wasted your time reading this review of Paris Letters. I apologize.