382 ratings | 340 reviews | avg rating:3.91

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Keith’s Year In Books

Keith’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Keith’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Keith’s 2025 Year in Books

Keith Van Sickle’s Followers (52)

Keith’s Bookshelves

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Grass monster

1,265 books | 459 friends

Steve

374 books | 19 friends

Val

201 books | 20 friends

Michelle Greer

25 books | 2 friends

Olivier Delaye

617 books | 1,016 friends

Michelle

424 books | 79 friends

Karen Jackson

1,293 books | 2,984 friends

Ashley Davidson-Fisher

74 books | 16 friends

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Keith Van Sickle

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.keithvansickle.com

Twitter

keith_vansickle

Genre

Travel, Memoir, Nonfiction

Influences

Marcel Pagnol, Peter Mayle, Bill Bryson, David Sedaris

Member Since

November 2016

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Keith Van Sickle grew up in Alameda, California, the son of public school teachers. He got his first taste of overseas life while spending a college term in England and later backpacked around the world for six months.

Grateful for the scholarships that helped him pay for college, in 1987 he started a foundation that helps students from Alameda pursue a college education.

Keith fell in love with Europe during a five-year expat assignment in Switzerland, where he and his wife Val lived in a village with more cows than people. After returning to the US, Keith helped start a company whose product was so geeky that he still doesn’t quite understand it.

Keith and Val dreamed of living abroad again but were unable to find another expat gig. So they ...more

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Combine Editions
Keith Van Sickle’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 952 ratings · 141 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	One Sip at a Time: Learning to Live in Provence 3.76 avg rating — 569 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Are We French Yet? Keith & Val's Adventures in Provence 4.14 avg rating — 327 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Insider's Guide to Provence 4.28 avg rating — 43 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Insider's Guide to St-Rémy-de-Provence and the Surrounding Area 4.31 avg rating — 13 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

421 posts
Keith Van Sickle's Blog

From Prison to Paris

France has a lot of literary awards, and the most prestigious is the Prix Goncourt, much like the Booker in the UK or the National Book Award in the US.

The Prix Goncourt has kind of branched out over the years, creating a second award for a book chosen by high school students. I knew this, but was still surprised to find out that there is now a third award, for a book selected by inmates in Fr

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Keith’s Recent Updates

Keith Sickle rated a book liked it The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sweet
2 hours, 54 min ago · like · see review
Keith Sickle rated a book really liked it La Villa (French Edition) by Brigitte Benkemoun	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
An interesting story of a home, its history, and the history of the family that built it. Having visited Villa Benkemoun, I appreciated learning how it came to be. I equally appreciated learning the story of a couple, the author's parents, and their ...more
Apr 12, 2026 08:45AM · like · see review
Keith Sickle rated a book liked it Talleyrand by Marie Bardiaux-Vaïente	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A little confusing sometimes, as it wasn't always clear who each character was, but still a nice introduction to Talleyrand. ...more
Apr 07, 2026 11:50PM · like · see review
Keith Sickle liked Val's review of Ultramarins: "Beautifully written, poetic language. I was initially drawn in by the captivating tale aboard the boat of an unusual occurence. While thought provoking, the second half of this short novel seemed to move slowly, as if I was watching the characters fr" Read more of this review »
Apr 06, 2026 11:56AM · see review
Keith Sickle rated a book really liked it Ultramarins by Mariette Navarro	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Very poetic and fantastical. It took me into another world. I'm not sure I can say what it finally was all about, but I enjoyed it. ...more
Apr 06, 2026 11:54AM · like · see review
Keith Sickle liked Val's review of La Villa (French Edition): "What begins as the story of this unique, modern/futurist villa outside of Arles, this book is also the history of the couple that built it and a slice of French history. It is well written and a very personal view of why this house was built and how " Read more of this review »
Apr 02, 2026 10:55AM · see review
Keith Sickle rated a book it was ok Le Grand Monde (Les Années glorieuses, #1) by Pierre Lemaitre	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
What a disappointment. A sprawling tale where many scarcely-believable things happen. A cast of uninteresting and unsympathetic characters, even the cat! I've enjoyed other books by Lemaitre but I won't be continuing this series. ...more
Apr 02, 2026 09:38AM · like · see review
Keith Sickle rated a book really liked it L'or de la nuit (French Edition) by Irène Frain	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Very interesting story of the Antoine Galland, a savant and translator of A Thousand and One Nights. It paints a picture of Paris in the early 18th century and especially the court of Louis XIV. I found that it dragged about 2/3 of the way through, w ...more
Mar 16, 2026 12:35PM · like · see review
Keith Sickle is currently reading L'or de la nuit (French Edition) by Irène Frain	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 11, 2026 12:24PM · like
Keith Sickle rated a book liked it En plein ventre (Littérature) (French Edition) by Charlotte Barberon	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The first part of the book, dealing with Niki's childhood and early adulthood, was very interesting. But about 3/4 of the way through it bogged down for me. And the HON chapters were pretty dull until the end. So while I learned about this artist, th ...more
Mar 09, 2026 09:59AM · like · see review