Paris magic: books, beauty + deliciousness
Plus, cookbookery and bonus gifts celebrating the early birds for 'Anytime Cakes'
Bonjour! Bonjour!
Paris is a city of bookstores. There are so many specialty bookstores (I love the one near our apartment that’s devoted to circus books and the other that’s all about theater and of course I love the cookbook store, Librairie Gourmande) and even more general bookstores, where you can browse and dream and stock up on books to be read here, there and in cafés.
I think I’ve told you about the couple that comes to my favorite café, Les Editeurs, in the morning, orders coffee, reads quietly for two hours and is gone before the lunch rush. And I love how warmly and generously Parisian bookstores welcome authors. I can’t remember a book launch I loved more than the one hosted by The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore (a must-visit) to launch The Eater Guide to Paris (a must-read) by the terrific Lindsey Tramuta (a must follow, must read and must listen-to). The event was joyous! I was honored to be in conversation with Lindsey (you can catch it on Lindsey’s podcast here). The crowd was so large that even packing the room and gallery, not everyone could squish in. I was sorry they missed the talk, but glad that when I looked out the shop window, I saw happy people holding Lindsey’s book, sipping wine and chatting merrily. Other authors spotted in the crowd included: Jane Bertch, whose memoir The French Ingredient (Bookshop / B&N / Amazon), just came out in paperback; Ajiri Aki, whose book, JOIE: A Parisian’s Guide to Celebrating the Good Life, is inspiring (Bookshop / B&N / Amazon); and Cara Black, who writes the Aimée Leduc investigations in Paris series.
In other news: It's very rare that I find even a single copy of any of my books in a French bookstore, so I was bowled over when I saw that Penelope, the owner of The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore, had a collection of mine. I signed them all! Merci, merci Penelope.
And while we’re on the topic of books and Paris, don’t forget that you can preorder
’s completely revised edition of Ready for Dessert — it comes out September 30.
An Anytime Cakes preorder gift for you
I remember when I turned in the manuscript for my first cookbook and said, “I’m so happy to be finished,” and my editor said, “But you’re not finished — the hardest work is ahead of you.” Fifteen books later, I think she could have said “*some* of the hardest work.” She also could have warned me that there’s a lot, like really a lot, like sooooo much work ahead. In cookbookery, writing the book is an early step in a process with many steps.
I’m happy to tell you about the steps (let me know if you’re interested) and happier to tell you that a bunch of them are behind me — the book is on its way to the printer! I’m hoping that I’ll have an early copy to show you in August or September — the book’s birthday will be October 21 — but before then, while the pages are wending their way around the world, there’s plenty to do, including work on a gift that I’ll send to all of you who preorder Anytime Cakes (Bookshop.org / B&N / Amazon).
You’ll be hearing more about preordering and about the gift, but for now the short story is that when you preorder my book from your local bookstore or from any online source, if you save your receipt, you’ll be eligible for the gift.
I know that you’ve heard about preorders from other authors, so this might be a quick back-up to what you already know: Over the past few years, preorders have become crucial to the success of a book. They are a tremendous help to authors and so, even after 15 books, they’re really important for me. I hope you’ll preorder Anytime Cakes and please, remember to hold on to your receipt so I can send you a thank-you gift.
AND DON’T FORGET THE XOXOVERSARY SUBSCRIPTION BONUS!
..if your subscription is up for renewal or if you’ve been meaning to upgrade but haven’t yet, you might want to keep this in mind: Readers who upgrade, renew, or are active in their paid subscriptions by May 30 will receive another exclusive sneak peek from Dorie’s Anytime Cakes. Tell/gift your friends about the xoxoversary bonus coming soon! Please go to “manage subscription” to ensure your billing information is up-to-date or your subscription will not renew, and you will lose access to new posts and the entire ~300 post archive. (If you’ve already lost access, you’ll need to re-subscribe.)
Those cakes! Those cakes! What are they?
A few weeks ago, Harvest, my publisher, posted a few inside-the-book peeks and a big graphic on the Anytime Cakes page at Amazon. It’s a series of blue banners showing six cakes from the book, all glorious illustrations painted by the extraordinarily talented Nancy Pappas. They’re a wonderful enticement and a mysterious one, too, since none of the cakes is named. A lot of people have asked me to tell them what the cakes are and I will — but I want to tell you first. Today, I’ll give you the names. There’s lots more to tell about them, but for the next months, I’m in step-by-step mode.
From left to right: Pont-Aven Pistachio Cake, Almost Maida Heatter’s Buttermilk Lemon Bundt and Buttermilk Cupcakes for Everything
From left to right: BFF Brownie Cake, Olive Oil and Orange Grab-and-Go Cake and Berry Yogurt Cake
Random beauty and deliciousness in Paris
Feast, fete, share, be generous, be kind. And read!
🍰 If you’re crazy about food and curious about the world, then I’m so happy and grateful to welcome you as a slice of #TEAMCAKE.
👋 Say hello and share what you're making on Facebook and Instagram.
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Anddddd I’m crying 😭 thank you for this, Dorie! You have been such an inspiration to me. Doing this event with you was a total career / life highlight ! I’m so excited for YOUR book to land in my mailbox.
I have many of your books Dorie and didn't think I needed another but reading the names of those cakes make me want your new one too.