Reading List

2016
· Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout)
· Story Girl (L.M. Montgomery)
· A Private View (Anita Brookner)
· Agnes Grey (Anne Brontë)
· Room of One's Own (Virginia Woolf)
· Fraud (Anita Brookner)
· The Kreutzer Sonata (Leo Tolstoy)
· A Russian Affair (Anton Chekhov)
2015
· Daring Greatly (Brene Brown)
· The Invention of Wings (Sue Monk Kidd)
· Lewis Percy (Anita Brookner)
· The Bay of Angels (Anita Brookner)
· Providence (Anita Brookner)
· Incidents in the Rue Laugier (Anita Brookner)
· A Friend from England (Anita Brookner)
· And the Mountains Echoed (Khaled Hosseini)
2014
· First Love(Ivan Turgenev)
· A Misalliance (Anita Brookner)
· A Closesd Eye (Anita Brookner)
· Altered States (Anita Brookner)
· Dolly (Anita Brookner)
· Falling Slowly (Anita Brookner)
· Rules of Engagement (Anita Brookner)
· Valley of Amazement (Amy Tan)

2013
· Leaving Home (Anita Brookner)
· Family and Friends (Anita Brookner)
· The Measure of a Man (Sidney Poitier)
· Visitors (Anita Brookner)
· Hotel du Lac (Anita Brookner)
· Brief Lives (Anita Brookner)
· Look At Me (Anita Brookner)
· Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys)

2012
· Undue Influence (Anita Brookner)
· Benny and Shrimp (Katarina Mazetti)
· The Piano Teacher (Janice Lee)
· Jackie (James Spada)
· Rainbow Valley (L.M. Montgomery)
· Anne's House of Dreams (L.M. Montgomery)
· Anne of Windy Poplar (L.M. Montgomery)
· The Railway Children (E. Nesbit)
· Anne of the Island (L.M. Montgomery)
· Anne of Avonlea (L.M. Montgomery)
· Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
· A Russian Affair (Anton Chekhov)
· The Promise of Happiness (Justin Cartwright)
· Voyage in the Dark (Jean Rhys)
· The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
· Change Your Life in Seven Days (Paul Kenna)
· The Gourmet (Muriel Barbery)
· Things Good Mothers Know: A Celebration (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Amy Chua)
· Who Moved My Cheese (Spencer Johnson)
· Atonement (Ian McEwan)
· Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength (Roy Baumeister & John Tierney)
· Bonjour Tristesse (Françoise Sagan)
· Strangers (Anita Brookner)
· Go Tell it on the Mountain (James Baldwin)
· The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes)
· The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Anne Shaffer)
· The Gathering (Anne Enright)
· Dancing Girls and other Stories (Margaret Atwood)
· Sarah's Key (Tatiana de Rosnay)
· The Next Big Thing (Anita Brookner)
· I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)

2011
· Giovanni's Room (James Baldwin)
· Bridget Jone's Diary (Helen Fielding)
· A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
· The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
· Leçons Particulières (Hélène Grimaud)
· When the Heart Waits (Sue Kidd Monk)
· The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
· The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
· To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
· The Help (Kathryn Stockett)
· Variations Sauvages (Hélène Grimaud)
· The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
· Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen)
· A Year in the Merde (Stephen Clarke)
· Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami)
· Happiness for Two (Alexandra Stoddard)
· The Secret Life of France (Lucy Wadham)
· The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Kidd Monk)
· Nouvelles Romaines (Alberto Moravia)
· Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire (Mireille Guiliano)
· Plain Truth (Jodi Picoult)
· Memories Before and After the Sound of Music (Agathe Von Trapp)
· The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (Maria Augusta Trapp)
· The Sweet Life in Paris (David Lebovitz)

2010
· Forever Liesl (Charmian Carr)
· Have a Little Faith (Mitch Albom)
· Moral Disorder (Margaret Atwood)
· Committed (Elizabeth Gilbert)
· Au Revoir to All That (Michael Steinberger)
· Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin)
· The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
· The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Muriel Barbery)
· My Sister's Keeper (Jodi Picoult)
· Cantique des Plaines (Nancy Huston)
· The Lieutenant (Kate Grenville)
· Mango & Mimosa (Suzanne St Albans)
· Ni d'Eve ni d'Adam (Amélie Nothombe)
· Stupeurs et Tremblements (Amélie Nothombe)
· A Homemade Life (Molly Wizenberg)
· Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (Simone de Beauvoir)

2009
· Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
· ความสุขของกะทิ (Jane Vejjajiva)
· Fault Lines (Nancy Huston)
· The Mark of the Angel (Nancy Huston)
· The Prodigy (Nancy Huston)
· Slow Emergencies (Nancy Huston)

2008
· French Lessons (Peter Mayle)
· A Dog's Life (Peter Mayle)
· Encore Provence : New Adventures in the South of France (Peter Mayle)
· Le Divorce (Diane Johnson)
· Maurice (E.M. Forster)
· Garlic and Sapphires : The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise (Ruth Reichl)
· Tender at the Bone : Growing up at the Table (Ruth Reichl)
· Kitchen Confidential : Adventures in the Culinary (Anthony Bourdain)
· The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)
· Saving Fish from Drowning (Amy Tan)
· The Opposite of Fate : Memories of a Writing Life (Amy Tan)
· What Would Jackie Do ? (Sue Callaway, Shelly Branch)
· The Man who Ate Everything and Other Gastronomic Feats, Disputes, and Pleasurable Pursuits (Jeffrey Steingarten)
· All You Need to be Impossibly French (Helena Frith Powell)
· The Piano Shop on the Left Bank (Thaddeus Carhart)
· On Rue Tatin (Susan Herrman Loomis)
· Mediterranean summer : a season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella (David Shalleck)

2005 - 2007
· Sightseeing (Rattawut Lapcharoensap)
· Little Angels (Phra Peter Pannapadipo)
· Fortune's Rocks (Anita Shreve)
· Autre Homme (Michael Bergin)
· Cooking for Mr. Latte (Amanda Hesser)
· French Women don't Get Fat (Mireille Guiliano)
· French Women for All Seasons (Mireille Guiliano)
· Things I want my Daughter to Know (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Choosing Happiness (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Time Alive (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Mon Bel Oranger (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
· Mi Planta de Naranja-Lima (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
· My life in France (Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme)
· Métaphysique des tubes (Amélie Nothomb)
· Entre Nous (Debra Ollivier)
· Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living (Robert Arbor)
· You are Your Choices (Alexandra Stoddard)

2000 - 2003
· Hillary and Jackie (Jacqueline Du Pré)
· Lady Oracle (Margaret Atwood)
· Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood)
· Friend of my Youth (Alice Munro)
· An Equal Music (Vikram Seth)
· the Robber Bride (Margaret Atwood)
· Jackie après Jack
· the Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy ( started in 1998 ! )
· Great Pianists on Piano Playing (J.F. Cooke)
· the Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Decorum
· Lunch with Jan Wong
· Bonesetter’s Daughter (Amy Tan)
· The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing (Melissa Bank)
· Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood)
· Mémoire D’une Geisha (Yuki Onouie)
· Clara Callan (Richard Wright)
· Le Liseur (Bernhard Schlink)

1996 - 1999
BIOGRAPHY
· The China I Knew (P.S. Buck)
· Maria Callas
· Jacqueline Du Pre
· Anne Frank’s Diary
· The Concubine’s Children (Denise Chong)
· Pavarotti: My Own Story
· Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
· Duchess of York: My Story
· City of Joy (Dominique Lapierre)
· A Portrait of Her Private Years (Jackie Kennedy)
· A Woman Named Jackie
· The Dragon’s Pearl
· Living in Her Sister’s Shadow (Lee Radziwill)
· Diana in Private
· All Too Human (J&J Kennedy)
· As We Remember Her (Jackie Kennedy)

NOVEL/FICTION
· Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan)
· The Kitchen God Wife (Amy Tan)
· Roman Tales (Alberto Moravia)
· Bought and Sold (Alberto Moravia)
· A Hundred Secret Senses (Amy Tan)
· Mother's Love (Alberto Moravia)
· Breakfast at Tiffany's (Truman Capote)
· ÇѺÃÔÊØ·¸Úì
· µÐÇѹªÔ§¾Åº

CLASSICS
· Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
· Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis)
· Pride and Prejudice (J. Austen)
· Sense and Sensibility (J. Austen)
· The Lord of the Ring - I: the Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
· Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)

OTHER NON-FICTION
· A Year in Provence (Peter Mayle)
· Acquired Taste (Peter Mayle)
· Imperial Woman (P.S. Buck)
· Terrance Coran’s France
· Toujours Provence (Peter Mayle)
· Memories of Madison County
· Evocation of Love (Peter Altenberg)
· Kid, You Sing My Songs of Love, and Loss, and Hope
· The Lover (Margeurite Duras)
· Lettre à Un Jeune Poète (Rainer Maria Rilke)
· Mother: A Celebration (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Henry and June (Anaïs Nin)
· Jackie under My Skin (Wayne Koestenbaum)
· Man's Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)

INSPIRATIONAL & ETC.
· 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey)
· Looking In, Looking Out (Adler & Towne)
· Daring to be Yourself (Alexandra Stoddard)
· The Art of the Possible (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Living a Beautiful Life (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Living Beautifully Together (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Living in Love (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Gracious Living in a New World (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Chicken Soup for the Women's Souls
· Making Choices (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Gift of a Letter (Alexandra Stoddard)
· Gift from the Sea (Anne Morrow Lindberg)

WRITING
· Elements of Style (E.B. White)
· In the Palm of Your Hand (Steve Kowitt)
· Poet's Companion (Kim Addonizio & Dorian Laux)
· Ecrire (Margeurite Duras)

POETRY (some)
· Book of Hours (Rainer Maria Rilke)
· Only Companion: Japanese Poems of Love and Longing
· Singing Rib (Linda Rogers)
· The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran)

Rung

Welcome to Avec Gourmandise!



Name : Rung (a Thai name which means Rainbow) aka Camille

Work : Peoplesoft / Oracle consultant

Former hometown : Bangkok, Thailand

Current hometown : Lyon, France

Food advisor (a.k.a. the eater or the guinea pig) : Yannick

Avec Gourmandise : the belief that food (and other things in life), however humble, is meant to be pursued and shared with utmost pleasure. And that life is too short to skip desserts.

About Rung and food :
Rung grew up where the giving and sharing of food are an essential part of the culture. And where people are either eating, or thinking about what to eat next. Thai food was her first love (then music, and poetry, and boys, though not necessarily in that order). Her family nickname was 'Goong-Hang', which translated as 'dried shrimp', presumably because she was just skin and bones.

When she went to high school in Jakarta, she discovered that she also really enjoyed nasi goreng, Korean barbeque, and french fries. In her final high school year as an AFS exchange student in North Carolina, aside from learning that ketchup can fix anything, she developed the capacity to eat an enormous amount of chocolate chip cookies. She was no longer called 'Goong-Hang'.

Rung loves cooking and entertaining (and collecting and experimenting with recipes), and it gives her great pleasure to see people enjoy her food. As a young girl, one of the activities she always looked forward to was her father coming home early on Saturdays for lunch, and that she could prepare him a bowl of very spicy instant noodles. Of course with her secret ingredient!

Rung was a vegetarian for 17.5 years, but now she also eats fish. She is health-conscious, reads food labels, and is religious about counting her protein and fiber intake daily. She eats nuts for the bones, fish for the brain, fruits for the digestive systems, drinks wine for the heart, and believes that a little bit of chocolate is good for the soul.

Rung loves going to the finest restaurants as well as eating from street vendors when she's in Thailand. Since coming to Victoria, Rung has developed fondness for different ethnic foods (Indian, Japanese, Italian, etc.) and is grateful for the variety of products that can be obtained there. And though she likes to eat fresh and local as the next person, she's happy to have her mangos shipped from New Zealand in the middle of winter when the craving strikes.

She also loves certain smelly and truly weird things that she doesn't eat in polite company, and that she wouldn't dream of imposing on her most adventurous guests. Fermented shrimp paste sauce, preserved durian, fermented beans, anyone?

She is grateful that Yannick is a willing eater of her kitchen experiments, most of the time. She is happy to have him share her mealtime, eventhough they have quite different tastes in foods and mostly don't eat the same things.

During the 15 months she lived in France, Rung learned to appreciate many fine points of the French cuisine (and the patisserie!) But above all, she's come to really love and admire the French food culture, the art of the table, the art of living, the culture and the people itself.

She is happy that she can now share her pictures, thoughts and stories about foods, as well as recipes with interested friends and passing visitors through her food blog. And she would be happy to hear readers'comments and answer questions.