Book It

Part of the fun of traveling is planning a trip. Contemporary travel memoirs and novels set in a city I'm planning to visit are my favorite entrée. I dread being a tourist, so I prefer to experience a place as a resident. Foreign Tongue: A Novel of Life and Love in Paris, Paris Hangover, Capturing Paris: A Novel, and Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris are a few of the books I've used to transport myself to France. You can find my reviews of these and others on www.goodreads.com - if you ask me to add you as a friend. Anytime I see an article about a place I intend to visit, I also put it in a file for that destination. That way, everything I need is one place. Need to get organized? Better Homes & Gardens is giving winners a $1,750 Staples gift card to do just that. Staple this to remind yourself to enter.

Voilà - the link to The Better Homes & Gardens Gift of Organization Sweepstakes:

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/file.jsp?item=/contests/BHG_GiftOrganization/bhg_GiftOrganization_LandingPage&temp=yes