Susan Hochbaum has written a luscious guidebook to Paris pâtisseries with photographs of Paris pastries juxtaposed against Paris landmarks. Equally as charming is her personal narrative about the serendipitous connections that lead her to love, an extended Paris sabbatical and her popular new book, Pastry Paris: In Paris, Everything Looks Like Dessert.

Elaine Sciolino has written a thoughtful book in which she tries to define the French love of pleasure. Sciolino contents pleasure—and the art of extending it—are the basis of seduction, at least to the French. Call it persuasion or seduction, Anne McCarthy says Sciolino seduces withLa Seduction and in France, that's good.

After fleeing an overbearing father, young Canadian John Glassco arrived in Paris determined to be a famous writer. He also flourished as a participant in the delicious debauchery and drama of 1920s Literary Paris. Thierry Picot says that served him well in this enjoyable and idiosyncratic take on expat Paris in the 1920s, Memoirs of Montparnasse.

Stephen Clarke's humorous novels A Year in the Merde and Merde Actually established the bestselling author as a Francophiles' favorite. Anne McCarthy catches up with Clarke, who fills us in on his current book, the next "Merde" novel, and the aggravations that inspire his books about a fictitious expat's pokes at the fascinating French.

In January 1910 over 2.5 million Parisians and the city of Paris were nearly washed away after the Seine rose 28 feet. Lives were lost, transportation was blocked and food shortages arose as personal losses swelled. Thierry Picot reviews Paris Under Water: How the City of Light Survived the Great Flood of 1910, a book about dark days in the City of Light.

From its controversial start as a World’s Fair attraction to its status as the world's most famous monument, the iconic Eiffel Tower has never failed to fascinate. Learn more about la Grande Dame, her creators and the U.S. connection in Shannon George's book review of Eiffel's Tower: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris's Beloved Monument by Jill Jonnes.

Jacqueline Kennedy holds iconic status, especially with Francophiles who recall how she dazzled French President de Gaulle and all of Paris in her 1961 visit with President John F. Kennedy. Jacqueline Kennedy, Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy touches on that visit and more, which Diane Stamm says shows the human side of a flawed icon.

We're always tracking new book releases we think you'll enjoy for independent or book club choices. This month, four intriguing new possibilities: Cherries from Chauvet's Orchard: A Memoir of Provence; Madame Bovary's Daughter, a continuation of the Flaubert classic; The Lantern, a mystery set in the Luberon; and Becoming Marie Antoinette: A Novel.

The beauty of printed travel guides is that you can scribble updates on page margins or add notes to your digital readers. Still, it's a good idea to refresh your library every few years and here are some recently released travel guides for first-time and returning travelers with a variety of interests and France destinations in mind.