Doppio Forno: cocci & dolci

  2020 in books! I read a little less than 2019 but I had an interesting. As you can see from the picture, I loved most of the books I read and I can’t do a short list of my preferred list, it would be too difficult! So, I decided to write a little about the books I was more connected. I read mostly fiction, but I enjoyed a few nonfiction books; I really loved Elie Wiesel All rivers run to the sea, reading about his life was a big help for me during this year so unpredictable and stressful, another non-fiction book that I found interesting and eye-opener was Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. I started also reading President Barack Obama A Promise Land memoir, but I didn’t finish yet (I am almost halfway). I discovered Charles Lenox Mysteries by Charles Finch, I like the Victorian Age description and the main character is very likeable. Another discover was Sulari Gentill, I think her book After She Wrote Him is a real gem, and a fascinating mystery, very unconventional. I re...

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

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 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

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...