Bella Tuscany

From Francine Schwarz author: Mayes, Frances  Bella Tuscany After reading Under the Tuscan Sky I wanted to read another book by Mayes about Italy. However, Bella Tuscany although written in Mayes’ illustrative style reads more like a travel-log.  I woudl recommend it for reading by some one who will be visiting the region as it [...]

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What Italy Has Given to the World

From Elaine Pasquali author: Cipolla, Gaetano What Italy Has Given to the World This pamphlet is all of 32 pages, but is chock full of Italy’s less widely known contributions to art, music, science, food and popular culture. Basically a lecture that Mr. Cipolla presented to students at St. John’s University’s Italian Club, it substantiates [...]

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Under the Tuscan Sun

From Francine Schwarz author: Mayes, Frances Under the Tuscan Sun Although the plot of the book was different from the movie’s, her descriptions of Cortona made me feel as if I was in Tuscany.  So real is her writing that I found myself craving espresso during the day and cappuccino in the evening.  I have [...]

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Fontamara

From Elaine Pasquali author: Silone, Ignazio Fontamara This novel, set in a poverty-stricken village in southern Italy under Mussolini’s regime, is a classic study of the human condition.  The village is being legally robbed of a vital resource, water, that puts their already marginal exhistance at further jeapody.  This novel is both heart wrenching and [...]

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The Good Wife

From Elaine Pasquali author: Buchan, Elizabeth The Good Wife The title of this book caught my eye because of its similarity to the title of the popular TV program, The Good Wife.  The similarities continues with the main characters: a career politician and straying husband (Will) and a wife (Fanny) who sacrifices her own passions [...]

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COOKING WITH ITALIAN GRANDMOTHERS

From Charlene Muhr author: Theroux, Jessica COOKING WITH ITALIAN GRANDMOTHERS American chef, Jessica Theroux, takes readers on a journey through Italy, from Tuscany to Sicily.  Theroux’s journey was inspired by Slow Food, an organization founded in Italy, in 1989.  Slow Food’s mission is “to promote values in traditional food and preparation and to counteract the [...]

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It Happened in Italy

From Charlene Muhr author: Bettina, Elizabeth It Happened in Italy Elizabeth Bettina’s “It Happened in Italy” is an interesting narrative that emphasizes the acts of kindness and humanity amidst a time of great sadness .Bettina discovers that Campagna, her grandparents small village in southern Italy, had an internment camp for Jews during the Holocaust.  These [...]

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Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci

From Erik Schmid author: D’Agnese, Joseph Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci The life of the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci is simplified with fictionalized narrative in this picture biography for the young reader. From his childhood in 1178 Pisa, where he solved the math problems his teachers gave him in seconds, to introducing Hindu-Arabic Numerals to Europe, [...]

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