Doppio Forno: cocci & dolci

  The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson I was excited to receive an ARC copy of Anne Youngson second novel The Narrowboat Summer , I loved Meet me at the Museum and I was not disappointed by it. I have to say this book is quite different from Meet me at the Museum but both novels leave you with a sense of brighter future: the story ends but you know that things for the main characters’ life will change for the better. In the novel Eve and Sally decide to help Anastasia, the owner of a narrowboat called Number One; the narrowboat needs repairs, but Anastasia cannot bring it to the boatyard in Chester because she needs to stay in Uxbridge for heath reasons. The three women meet casually in front of the narrowboat and from the beginning you can clearly see as these three women are quite different. Sally seems to be the quiet one, Eve, quite pragmatic, is the strong character but she has recently been laid off, so she is in a moment of vulnerability, Anastasia is used to a fruga...

  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

  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

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