Doppio Forno: cocci & dolci

An author's debut book This book left me confused. I didn’t fully enjoyed it; I didn’t like or maybe I didn't fully understand Wallace, the main character. Wallace is in tipping point of his life, he feels he needs to change, he is not fully satisfied of his student life, he thought it was going to be his way out from a toxic family but he is still unhappy, he feels lonely and kind of out place with his group of fellow students/friends. After I finished the book I looked for the author and I found an interesting interview (the link is below), and, I am still writing this is not one of my favorite book, but I may understand a little more what the author wanted us to see/know with his book! Interview with Brandon Taylor from All things Considered, February 17 2020 Goodreads: Real Life by Brandon Taylor

  This is the last book of the Night trilogy. I think that, even though Dawn and Day are novels, they complete the trilogy because they describe life after the Holocaust. In Day there are some elements of true life; in fact Wiesel had a serious car accident in New York and, like the main character in Day, he almost died and he had a long recovery in the hospital. I loved more Day then Dawn, they are both small books (a little more than 100 pages) but deep and powerful. I strongly suggest reading all of them together! Goodreads: Day by Elie Wiesel

A book written in the 20 century This book is part of the Trilogy by Elie Wiesel, the first book Night is Wiesel account of his personal experience in the Nazi death camps. In this book the story is fictional. Elisha is young survivor now part of the Jewish Resistance in Palestine and he has been ordered to execute a British soldier as retaliation of a fellow fighter. The novel is description of his night before the execution, his thought and doubts. Goodreads: Dawn by Elie Wiesel

A book by an Australian, Canadian or European Author: After She Wrote Him by Sulari Gentill This book is a true gem. I am not going to describe the plot but the main theme is two writers writing a book where the other writer is the main character, for me this book was a little challenging to follow the story but I loved and enjoyed it a lot. The main characters,  Edward and Madeleine, were beautiful personas, and I didn't want to finish the book because I didn't want to leave them!! I think if you want to try something new and unusual this is the right book. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review Goodreads: After She Wrote Him by Sulari Gentill Published on April 7th 2020 (the book was previously published as Crossing the Lines )

  I read and loved “How to walk away” and “Things you save in a fire”, I even gave as gift “How..” to my sister and so I was excited to receive a digital copy from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley but this time the book didn’t convince me, I gave it 3.5 stars and I would divide between first half of the book (two stars) and second half of it (five stars). I was almost giving up and do not finish the book; then I read some of the reviews saying the second half was better and I gave a try and they are right. My problem with the first twelve chapters of the book is that the main character seems to be saying always the same thing Duncan was different, he changed, he was so funny, so happy now he is not. Then everything changed and I loved the end of the book, there was more action and it was more interesting. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! Goodreads: What You Wish For by Katheri...

A Book I pre-ordered I usually love Chris Bohjalian’s books, he is one of mine favorite authors and, after two years, I was looking forward to read his new novel. It is a good thriller, a good story and nice characters as usual, unfortunately for me there was something “disturbing” with part of the plot! We all know that right now planet earth is ravaged by an awful virus epidemic and reading about a possible biological weapons was a little troublesome. I loved how Bohjalian created another great female heroine, Alexis is strong, smart but real. Goodreads: The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian

A book about a travel or a journey Anthony Doerr’s memoir of his year in Rome was a discover for me. I am from the province of Rome, and I thought to know Rome very well, but He gave me a new insight and perspective in this town. I found some of his description about Romans very true (Yes, we love little kids and we often start playing with them even though we don’t know them! And Yes we overdress often!). He wrote sometimes that in our everyday life we stop noticing things because of “habit”, reading this book gave me the chance of seeing Rome with different eyes and I am grateful for this. Goodreads: Four seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr

Kindle Unlimited often offers series of short stories, I read some usually because there is a short story of an author I know and love. Also in this case I discover this one because of Julie Orringer. Right now I read only her story but I will soon read the others ones and I will update this post! Can you Feel This? by Julie Orringer : good short story. I was surprised by the story by Julie Orringer, I read her novels and this one is completely different, more intimate and introspective. Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffaman. TBR  The Lion's Den by Anthony Marra. TBR  Zenith Man by Jennifer Haigh. TBR The Weddings by Alexander Chee :  t his series is about "secrets, unspoken desires, and dangerous revelations between loved ones". In this story the untold fact wasn’t really a dangerous secret and left me perplexed. I think it was more about the main character meditate about his previous relationsh...

  A book set in a place you want to visit. I loved it! Ten years ago Maya Seale was one of the 12 jurors in a controversial murder case, now ten years later there will be a reunion of the jurors and the story will have a new mystery added to the old murder. I think it is a good story for a few reasons: multiple mysteries, interesting characters and a good description how a jury works. the novel is set in Los Angeles and it gave me the opportunity to discover new interesting places. Goodreads: The Holdout by Graham Moore

 A book set in a place you visited I am not sure if I am going to read again from this author, I struggled to finish this book, more than once I thought to just leave it and do not finish it.  There were two reasons why I picked this book: 1) this novel been set in Dublin, I was wishing to "visit" again this city and learn a little more about Ireland but except for few streets naming there wasn't much about the city; 2) The main characters has my age, so I wanted to see "how he was doing". Maybe I read this book at the wrong time, may be the story was too complex/introspective for me Goodreads: Smile by Roody Doyle

A book with "Summer" in the title This book was a complete surprise and I loved it.  I received an email inviting me to read it (thanks Atria Books and Simon & Schuster!) and, if it wasn't for this invite, I wouldn't have read this book because I thought it was not "my cup of tea". I am not going to describe the plot, but it is a nice story, I loved the characters and how the author developed them, I really liked how Jennifer Weiner described the ups and downs of Daphne and Drue friendship, it was very realistic. Only one negative thing I think there  are few anachronisms about social media use.  Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! Goodreads: Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner Expected publication date: May 19th 2020

This book left me unsatisfied; I thought more than once to stop reading it, (I read a book in between) and when I finished it, I was unfulfilled with the story. From the beginning I was awkward with the “we” as narrator, it felt distant, disconcerting; then the first part it was some kind of slow, the description of the different characters and their personalities was good but, in the background there was always the feeling of something very bad is going to happen and it cannot be stopped that make the reading not enjoyable. The second and third part were faster paced but the sensation of been a witness of a bad train wreck was intensified, so strong that I finished the last pages in hurry just to see what was going to happen. And I didn’t like how it ended, I am not going to write more because I would have to write and spoil the story. A final note in another review I read the author spent a little too much time in describing Brad fantasies and instead of writing...

I started doing pottery in 2012, I mainly use the wheel, but I attended also some hand-building classes and I was happy to receive and advanced copy of Carve your Clay . I love carving and I was hoping to find new ideas and new techniques in this book. Let me say, this preview it isn't the complete book, so I don't know if there are more complicated projects, the ones I could see were not really challenging and there was only one that I never tried. I don’t know if I am going to buy the book because I think it can give a first idea of carving decoration but for an experienced carver there isn’t much to learn or take inspiration from it. For a new potter though it can be a good book because it explains quite a few projects with a lot of photos and step by step instructions. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review! Goodreads: Carve your Clay by Hilda Carr

A book by an author you've only read once before    This is my second book of the Charles Lenox mysteries and I liked it. The serie is set in London in the Victorian era and Charles Lenox is a gentleman and amateur sleuth. The story is good, a good plot and, as in the first book, there is a nice description of the Victorian atmosphere. I liked this book better than the Vanishing Man, maybe because it was a more complex story and I started also to really like the main character.  I am sure I am going to read again from this serie.  Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! Goodreads: The Last Passanger by Charles Finch

 A book that can be read in a day Do you think Summer of ‘69 is too long? Do you want to know what happened to the Foley Levin family? You can read this short story and you will know what happened in 1969 and what’s going on to the family on ‘79. I am done with this author, there is no story or plot, the characters are very shallow and predictable and I have lost $1.99. Goodreads: Summer of '79 by Elin Hilderbrand

A book published in 2002 How do you survive after a crash, can life go on after you lost your love ones?   I think this book is mainly a story of resilience: Edward lost his family in a plane crash and he is the sole survivor of it. The book follows Edward in his “new” life; it is a sweet story; I think the author did a very good job in portraying Edward struggles and how the people close to him will help him in finding a way to move on. If you loved this book I think you will love Only Child by Rhiannon Navin. Goodreads: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

A book that I was prompted to read because of another book I read in 2019 Last December I read for the first time Night by Elie Wiesel and I was overwhelmed by the book. Night ends right after the liberation of Buchenwald: Elie Wiesel in front of a mirror doesn’t recognize himself, he wrote “A skeleton stared back at me. Nothing but skin and bone”. After I finished Night , I wanted to learn more about Elie Wiesel, what happened to him after April 1945 so I decided to read All Rivers Run To The Sea and I am glad I did it. The book is fascinating; I loved the description of his life in Sighet and when he was in France right after the war. Goodreads: All Rivers Run To The Sea by Elie Wiesel

A Mistery The book is set in London in the Victorian era, Charles Lenox is a gentleman and amateur sleuth. It was my first book from Charles Finch, and I liked it. I am sure I am going to read other installments of this series because almost all the characters are well described and “real” and I want to know more about Charles Lenox investigation (and hopefully I will meet again Lancelot!) The story was a little too slow for my liking and the mystery was really engrossing. I liked the description of the Victorian atmosphere and the explanation of the titles and ranks of the Nobility. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! Goodreads: The Vanishing Man by Charles Finch

A book by an author I didn't know The description of the story seemed interesting, so I decided to give a try to this author. I was disappointed, the characters are absolutely unbelievable, the story develops slowly and I guessed the end when I was halfway. I am not sure I will try another novel from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, and Amazon Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Goodreads: The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell

A book featuring an historical figure Artemisia Gentileschi story told in verse. The story is very interesting, and it gave me the opportunity to google and admire some of her paintings. I love historical fiction novels, and this is not the first novel that pushed me to learn more about painters almost unknown to me. The story is in verse but it is quite readable; Artemisia didn’t have an easy life, she lost her mom when she was twelve, she was raped at seventeen and she had an hard time to be believed, she didn’t really had justice, her rapist was found guilt but he wasn’t sentenced to prison. In the book Artemisia overcame all her troubles with the help of her paintings. Two paintings are at the center of the novel:   Susanna and the Elders and Judith slaying Holofernes, like Susanna and Judith Artemisia lived in a men world she had to go through a lot of struggles to be heard. Goodreads: Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

A book set in the decade I was born This is the second novel from Elin Hilderbrand and as the other one (The Perfect Couple) I was not captivated by it. I decided to read this book because it was one the 2019 Goodreads historical fiction nominees and I wanted to give a second try to this author, but I think I will stop. The story is very thin, the characters are quite stereotypical; the only character I liked and I think it was well develop is Jessie, the youngest sister of the Foley-Levin family. I read in one of the reviews on Goodreads that the author addressed many important issues but then they weren’t really explored or developed and I must agree with this opinion, may it would have been better to leave something out but to go deeper in just a few of them . I read this book for my 2020 Book challenge and I thought this novel could fit in the “book set in the decade you were born” category but I was not really impressed on the description of the sixties. Hopefully ...

A book not written in traditional novel format  I liked it. The author in his introduction write this story is for everyone, for 8 years old or for 81 years old, and he is right. It is story about friendship, be kind to us and to the others. The illustrations are beautiful. One thing I read it on my kindle, and I think it would be better to read it as paper book so to better enjoy the illustrations and the cursive format would be easier to read it. Goodreads: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

  The book I was supposed to finish in 2019   Good story, I enjoy the style and how the different characters contribute to development of the story.  I was quite surprise how it ended. I am looking forward to reading other works from this Lisa Lutz. Goodreads: The Swallows by Luisa Lutz

Nicoletta Book Challenge 48 titles for 2020 I decided to create my personal book challenge inspired by the other challenges I saw in Read It Forward Group on FB.  My plan is to read 52 books in 2020 but I set "the rules" for only 48 books. I hope you will like it and be inspired by my list. Happy reading! 1 The book I was supposed to finish in 2019: The Swallows  2 A book with "Winter" in the title 3 A book with "Spring" in the title 4 A book with "Summer" in the title: Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner 5 A book with "Fall or Autumn" in the title 6 A book with a holiday in the title 7 A book with a building in the title 8 A book with a real city in the title 9 A book with a number in the title 10 A book by an author you don't know: The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell 11 An author's debut book: Real Life by Brandon Taylor 12 A book by an author you've only read once bef...

I liked the first book of these series and I was looking forward to reading this one but I didn't enjoy like the first one. Fizt, the cat, is a second row character of the book and I didn't like it, I wanted for him a major involvement in the story. Then the story, the plot is very thin and a little predictable. Goodreads: Overdue (The Village Library Mysteries #2) by Elizabeth Spann Craig

 I have an introvert cat: she hides as soon she hear new voices in the house and as soon the guest leaves, she is back with the “good riddance” face. If you have a cat or you are a cat lover this is book that will make you laugh and love more your pet! Finally the photo are beautiful! Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! All Cats are Introverts by Francesco Marciuliano

It is a good romance story but, in my opinion, a little predictable.  I liked the setting in a small town and I think the author succeeded in describing the atmosphere but I think both main characters were a little stereotypical. Thank you to NetGalley and NineStar Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! Goodreads: Love on the Hudson by K.D. Fisher

Yesterday I finished my book and I had to choose a new book. Sometimes it is very easy sometimes it is not! I started reading a couple of books but they didn’t capture my attention. I started  browsing in my kindle and I found Twenty-one truths about love: a list. I thought what I was thinking when I request how can I read a book that it is a list of lists?? Then I started reading and laughing. Yes it is a series of lists but there is a story too! Dan is bookshop owner, his shop is not doing very well, his wife wants a child, his mother is extremely annoying and his bank account is dangerously going close to 0. What can I say it is a good book, it makes you laugh, think and enjoy your time reading it, I loved and I will check the other books from this author. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Goodreads: Twenty-one Truths about Love by Matthew Dicks

I was happy to receive this ARC copy of the newest novel by Ann Cleeves. I read a few of her Shetland series and I loved the stories and their characters. This is the start of a new series set in North Devon and I loved it! The plot is quite complex, the setting looks like a place to visit, with Ann Cleeves description I could see breathtaking panorama. Last but not least liked Matthew Venn the main investigator, he is a quite different character from Detective Perez but very human and likable. If you loved Shetland series I am sure you will love this book too! Finally I am looking forward for the next novel in this series! I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Goodreads: The Long Call (Two Rivers, #1) by Ann Cleeves

It was the first book from Laura Lippman and I chose it because I used to live close to Baltimore and I was intrigued by the story.  I am not sure I will read other books of this author because I had hard time in finishing it. I didn’t like Maddie character; to me it resembled more to an annoyed rich wife looking for something exciting to do and I didn’t had any sympathy for her. Then what I didn’t liked was the structure of the novel; in my humble opinion the different point of view of the other characters slowed down the rhythm of the story and some of them didn’t really add interest to the story.  I want to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Goodreads: Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman