Book after Book

Known to walk with my nose in the air, I often come across little gems that would normally pass unnoticed. In this case, an unmissable Waterstone's shop located in a gorgeous building on the corner of Gower Street and Torrington Place, in London. Look at the smooth stone! Marvel at those carvings! It speaks of beauty inside and out!

To my initial dismay, September arrived late, this year. The blessedly cool air -- which normally follows close after my return to Italy from the US -- took its time, this time around. This year, it almost felt like the cool weather would never arrive. This struck a chord of fear within me, foolish as it sounds, but I really was worried for a while. I worried most when the heat had me up in the wee still hours of the night, unable to sleep but too tired to do anything productive. You see, I've never dealt well with heat and humidity. Either one is a problem for me, particularly at night, but heat is probably the worst. I get rashes on my skin; itchy, flaky, painful rashes. I toss and turn when it's too warm, unable to keep cool so I can rest well. We've all been there, of course -- but to go from an air-conditioned environment over the course of the summer to a more, shall we say "natural" existence, was a bit of a shock for me. I spent several sleepless nights th...

One more title from my ever-expanding reading wish list. ** The cover image is for illustrative purposes only. If you are a publisher and would kindly like to offer me a copy of this book for review, I will change the cover so as to reflect the edition received. ** The Reluctant Fundamentalist By Mohsin Hamid Amazon's product description: At a cafe table in Lahore, a Pakistani man begins the tale that has led to his fateful meeting with an uneasy American stranger...Changez is living an immigrant's dream of America. He thrives on the energy of New York, his work at an elite firm, and his budding relationship. For a time, it seems that nothing will stand in the way of his meteoric rise to success. But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his relationship crumbling and his exalted status overturned. Allegiances are subsequently unearthed, proving themselves more fundamental than money, power and maybe even love. Why I want to read this book: This sounds like...

To celebrate the release of Out of Sight - published this month by Quercus Books - author Isabelle Grey kindly agreed to answer a few questions on Book After Book . Enjoy... Hello Isabelle! First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the release of Out of Sight . Can you tell us what it is about? A: Out of Sight is a novel of psychological suspense. Patrick Hinde is a good man whose coping strategy is to compartmentalise and ‘forget’ the things that upset him. Following a difficult visit from his parents, his failure of memory causes the death of his beloved son, Daniel. Struggling to accept his wife’s forgiveness, his avoidant behaviour becomes worse, leading him to hurt those closest to him. The novel is also a love story; in France five years later he meets Leonie, who cherishes the romantic belief that love can heal his damage. But will Patrick be able to change his destructive behaviour? This is your first work of fiction after a series of non-fiction books written as Isabe...

Thanks again for joining the " Italy in Books ” reading challenge 2011! What? You haven't joined yet? No worries, there is time to sign up until the very last day of the year... Below you can find a list of all the book reviews submitted in September (via this link ). I am sure that everyone will find it useful to learn about new and interesting reading ideas - in fact, I suspect that as a result of this challenge my TBR list will expand dangerously! Whether you know the books that are being discussed or have never heard of them, I strongly encourage you to leave comments below and on the blogs themselves. I want to hear your voices! Despite its name, the reading challenge is not a mere competition, rather an opportunity to share ideas and bond over common interests! Let's begin! 01. Barbara read and reviewed The Scarlett Contessa by Jeanne Kalogridis. 02. Jeane read Ask Me If I'm Happy by Kimberly Menozzi. Scroll down to read her review. 03. Gretchen read and reviewe...

By Nicholas Evans Published by Little, Brown Borrow it from the library, buy it online or in a bookshop. Do whatever you have to do to get a copy but make sure that you read The Brave by Nicholas Evans. It’s amazing. If you want to read on, be warned that this is a biased review! Once upon a time, I read The Horse Whisperer by a certain Nicholas Evans, an author whom I had never heard of before. I don’t know what happened. I was suddenly under a spell. Nicholas Evans’s books, however, can literally be counted on the fingers of one hand. It was thus with great joy and expectation that I recently picked up The Brave , published this year after a (not so) patient wait of 6 years. The only disappointment of The Brave is that, once you start reading it, you know that it will inevitably have to end. So, what is so good about The Brave ? First of all, a brief outline of the story. The chapters alternate between the childhood and the adulthood of Tom Bedford. As a child, Tom grows up in the...

One more title from my ever-expanding reading wish list. ** The cover image is for illustrative purposes only. If you are a publisher and would kindly like to offer me a copy of this book for review, I will change the cover so as to reflect the edition received. ** We Are Michael Field By Emma Donoghue From the back cover: For the first time, Emma Donoghue tells the story of two eccentric Victorian spinsters; Katherine Bradley (1846-1914) and her niece Edith Cooper (1862-1913); poets and lovers, who wrote together under the name of Michael Field. They wrote eleven volumes of poetry and thirty historical tragedies, but perhaps their best work - richest in emotional honesty and wit - was the diary that the two women shared for a quarter of a century. Donoghue's groundbreaking Outline is based on these unpublished journals and letters. The Michaels lived in a contradictory world of inherited wealth and terrible illness, silly nicknames and religious crises. They preferred ...