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24) 3/5

English edition: Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

After three years I have re-read this book because I felt I needed it.
It's about female psychology and it is always worth reading it. I loved it three years ago because it helped me a lot; now I have found some interesting and good advices too but I remembered and had treasured the essential part of the book.

its in my to-read list

Smitha wrote: "its in my to-read list"

There are different opinions about this book. A lot of women say that it is very helpful and an amazing book and then there are others who say that it's a stupid and useless book.
I liked it both the times I've read it.

25) 2/5

English edition: The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

For me it was just an ok read, mystery and noir aren't my favorite genres.
The book talks about Frank Chambers, a drifter, that accepts a job in a service station. He falls in love with the wife of the owner and she loves him too. A passionate and sick loves starts and they want to kill her husband.
The characters aren't well depicted, we have only their actions but there is no psychological insight; everything is shabby and shallow. We have their passions, their thoughts about how to kill the husband and the actions.

I have read this for my "novel cure" challenge and this book was recommended for who suffers of apathy. To tell the truth I'm not apathetic, I'm perhaps idle but it's for relaxing and there is nothing wrong in idleness. With this book an apathetic should receive some adrenaline to "wake up" but I don't think it helps. Reading about the adventurous and dangerous life of the two main characters I would be glad to be apathetic at least my life is save!

Many have liked this a lot. Am yet to read it... :D

Smitha wrote: "Many have liked this a lot. Am yet to read it... :D"

I think I didn't like it a lot because I don't like the genre. It's a good book for a short read, during a journey, on the beach, on a trip...but it was too superficial for my tastes, there were no emotions, no suspence...

26) 3,5

English edition: The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

I have read it for my novel-cure challenge because this book is suggested for anxious people. It was really a relaxing read (sometimes boring) but it was as if I was walking in the English meadows or among Roman ruins and this was relaxing. Also James' writing style was relaxing and very very slow, there are descriptions full of details.

On the whole I liked this book. The first half was perhaps too boring but the last 100/200 pages were full of twists.
It talks about Isabel Archer, a young American, that come to live in Europe after the death of her father. She is hosted by an aunt who lives in England and that wants to travel with her in Europe. In fact they go to France and Italy and Isabel Archer makes also other trips by her own.
She is a avery indipendent woman, she likes her freedom so she rejects also a few marriage proposals. When her uncle dies she inherits a great sum of money but this will be her downfall. She is a strong woman, full of life and enthusiastic about everything and she wants to know the world before settling down. Unfortantely she will be the victim of sneaky persons who slowly break her life and all her love for it. I really felt sorry for her.

Another of my to - read books, dely

Smitha wrote: "Another of my to - read books, dely"

I don't think you would like it. For the first 400 pages it had such a slow pace that it seemed boring and soporific. I also think you would hate the main character with her strange decisions! :D

lol. If I am told that I won't like, I'd surely give it a try.
(the contrary human nature)

Smitha wrote: "lol. If I am told that I won't like, I'd surely give it a try.
(the contrary human nature)"

Lol
Read it and then let me know :D

27) Cinecittà - Buongiorno Roma, vol. II by Michele Ponte 2/5

Sorry, no English edition.

This is the second volume of a short story collection in which every story is set in Rome and has to do with problems of our times. We have an actress who dreams to become famous and a writer that works without a salary.
This volume was very very short and I had the impression the two stories weren't finished, as if there's missing the end.

28) 4/5

English edition: Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

This is the kind of book I like to read! The story was engrossing, the characters were well defined and it seemed to me to be there with them.
The story is set in India during the colonialism before the Opium War. There are a lot of characters whose lives will intertwine and they will meet on the Ibis, the ship who's going to Mauritius. The reader becomes aware of that period thanks to different characters: a widowed woman who escaped from sati and the land where she lived was roughly starving because they had to cultivate only poppies for the opium factory; a French girl who is an orphan but prefers to talk in Bengali and doesn't like to behave like a memsahib; a mulatto American freedman who was loved by the ship crew; the crew was made by coolies, ex pirates and a lot more. It is really a book full of interesting characters who help to understand that period.
All the characters are like alive and the book, though it has more than 500 pages, is a real pageturner.

29) 3,5/5

English edition: River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh

I've liked much more the first one of the series, Sea of Poppies, but this was good too. We find out what happened to the characters of the first book but now we follow only a few of them. In the first book we had the years before the Opium War as a background and the setting was India; here we have the reasons of the Opium war and the characters as a background and the story is set in China. There are a lot of historical details about colonialism and the hubris and the arrogance of the colonizer. Though the book talks about this historical period, Ghosh was however able to add the characters in all these details so it is a good historical fiction (more historical than fiction).
Now I'm waiting for the third book of the series and I've read it will be ready for spring 2015.

have to read these two. I liked (though really didnot fully understand) his Calcutta Chromosome. So am keen to read other books too.

Smitha wrote: "have to read these two. I liked (though really didnot fully understand) his Calcutta Chromosome. So am keen to read other books too."

I think I will read other books by him, I like his writing style and he was really able to mix perfectly the story of the characters and the historical background. They are real pageturners. River of Smoke is perhaps a little bit boring because of the many details, above all the ones about botany because they talk also about the exchange of plants and flowers between China and the West. But however there are never too many details to be fully bored. From a historical point of view both books are very interesting. In the first one there is more action and more adventure, in the second one we have less adventure and more historical details.

thanks, will surely read ASAP...

30) Storia di Chiara e Francesco by Chiara Frugoni 2/5

Sorry, no English edition.

It is a non fiction that talks about Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Claire of Assisi. They lived in the same time (around 1200) and were also friends: a great brotherly friendship and mutual respect bound them.
They had both a hard time (above all Saint Claire because she was also a woman) because they wanted to have a new religious order (The Franciscans) who followed only the words of the Gospels. In that time religious order had to be accepted by the Pope and the Church didn't like a lot this "anarchist" of Saint Francis who gave up everything for poverty and to help the poor and the sufferers.
For Saint Claire it was worse because in that time women could be only cloistered nuns and they couldn't go outside the convent to help. They also had to accept money from the Church for their maintenance because it wasn't allowed that they could work or ask for alms. But Saint Claire wanted to be like the Franciscans who were poor and substained themselves cultivating food or asking for alms.
At the end a Pope signed their "observances": the one of Claire just a few days before her death, and the one of Francis roughly 20 years after his death (if I don't remember wrong).

The book was somehow interesting but there were too many dates, names of Popes, quotations of other texts and so the reading was sometimes hard and boring.

31) 3,5/5

English edition: Francis of Assisi by Chiara Frugoni

This is a brief but exhaustive biography of St. Francis. It is a good book to start with in order to know better St. Francis of Assisi.

I have a very poor knowledge of Christian saints and religious figures. Only know about Jesus, Mary and Joseph in some detail

Smitha wrote: "I have a very poor knowledge of Christian saints and religious figures. Only know about Jesus, Mary and Joseph in some detail"

I'm like you, I don't know a lot about saints but Saint Francis is one of my favorites. He talked also to animals and so he is considered the patron saint of animals (and me, being vegetarian and for animal rights like this). In fact, a lot of animal rights demonstrations are done the 4th october, the day we celebrate Saint Francis (in some churches you can go with your pets and they receive the blessings). It is his official day and it is also the day I'm born and so I feel linked to him in someway. But I like him also because he was very humble and lived in poverty though his father was pretty rich; he was also very brave and stubborn. For that period he was a kind of revolutionist and anarchist because while the Church was corrupted and very very rich, he wanted to live following only the Gospels, the true words of Jesus. It's because of this that he lived helping the sick and miserables and in complete poverty. Till him the religious orders were made by monks and they couldn't preach to people or live outside the monastery. Saint Francis instead didn't want to live in a rich monastery but wanted to live like Jesus: poor and among the sufferers.

But, I'm also reading so much about him because in a couple of weeks I will go away for a short vacation to Assisi, the town of this saint, and so I wanted to go there prepared and knowing more about him. It must be a wonderful place!

Same pinch, co-Libran (me - Sept. 29)
Thanks for enlightening me. Enjoy your trip to Assisi.

Smitha wrote: "Same pinch, co-Libran (me - Sept. 29)
Thanks for enlightening me. Enjoy your trip to Assisi."

Thanks ;)

32) 3,5/5

English edition: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

It was my first du Maurier and I liked it. I liked above all the detailed descpritions of everything and that thanks to these descriptions all became alive or that we could understand the moods of the characters.
It was an engrossing read and it was wonderfully written but at the end this book didn't left me emotions, I couldn't find some deep substance.

I have read it for my "novel cure" challenge because it is suggested to people with a low self-esteem and it really helped. Compared to the main character, the second wife, I'm not a person with low self-esteem and I'm not a weak person like her. I feel much better after reading this book, I feel strong and my self-esteem increased a lot!

Great that you liked it, dely.

33) 3/5

English edition: The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi and The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi

I had already read The Little Flowers but I have re-read them willingly. I had great expectation for his writings but I haven't read all the Letters and other writings because they are too "catholic". Yes, I know Saint Francis was catholic but I am more interested in the spiritual side of his life and don't like the religious part a lot.

34) 4/5

English edition: The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovannino Guareschi


I'm sure Don Camillo and Peppone are beloved by every Italian. I don't know if they are famous also abroad but I hope so.


The stories are set in a little village in North Italy after WWII; Don Camillo is a roman catholic priest and Peppone is the communist major. The stories are amusing but sometimes also moving; the thing I liked the most is that the stories and the characters are so human. Don Camillo and Peppone are "rivals" but they are also friends though they tease each other.

I have seen the movie several times when I was a child so I felt already in love with these two characters but I still hadn't read the book. Now I had the opportunity to do it and so I've read it.

dely wrote: "28) 4/5

English edition: Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

This is the kind of book I like to read! The story was engrossing, the ch..."

i loved this and look forward to having some to time to read the follow up 'Rivers of Smoke'.Despite all the marine language and detail of shipping I found it engrossing.Ghosh is great at Big Stories.

Pauline wrote: "i loved this and look forward to having some to time to read the follow up 'Rivers of Smoke'.Despite all the marine language and detail of shipping I found it engrossing.Ghosh is great at Big Stories.
.."

In the beginning I had some problems too with the details of ships but then I didn't care about it because the story was really engrossing.
Also River of Smoke is good but I've liked a little bit more the first one. You can read it before the launching of the third book.

35) La leggenda dei tre compagni by Ezio Franceschini 3/5

There isn't an English translation; the title would be "The Legend of the Three Companions".

It is a book written by three of the most important companions of St. Francis of Assisi. It is very short and I had read the same events of St. Francis' life also in other biographies. But this time, having been to Assisi, I have read it more intensely and with more involvement because I have seen the places in which these events happened. It is also considered one of the most important documents about St. Francis' life.

dely, you sure are going methodically in assessing St. Francis and his company. I dont know anything about him beyond his name :(

Smitha wrote: "dely, you sure are going methodically in assessing St. Francis and his company. I dont know anything about him beyond his name :("

Well, I have a particular sympathy for him and here, in addition to being the patron saint of Italy, he is very beloved. I started reading so much about him because I went to Assisi so I wanted to know as much as possible about him and his life.

36) Un'amicizia coi baffi. Storie di santi e dei loro animali by Felice Rossetti 4/5

Sorry, there is no English edition.

It is a collection of stories about saints and their pets or animals in general. It was a really nice and lovely reading. Some stories, nearly all, are so tender.

37) 5/5

English edition: The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels by Ágota Kristof

It's not easy to review this book. The most important thing are the sensations you feel reading it, sensations that will stay with you for a long time. You feel like the characters: lost, alone, without hope. It's a book about loneliness and about the loss of innocence, the loss of beloved, the lack of affection.
The story is about two twins during WWII. Their mother, in order to save them, must leave them by their grandmother who isn't a kind person. They grow up very slowly and though they are children the become very soon adults. But at the end of part two there is a super twist and the reader is completely puzzled and isn't anymore able to stop reading it.
As said, the most important thing are the sensations you feel reading this book. The language, especially in the first part, is basic (very short sentences) but manages to communicate to the reader an intense feeling of discomfort. This is not due to the events (some very extreme) but to the feeling of loneliness and lack that goes directly from the characters to the reader. Lack of what? Of love, of hope, of friendship. Almost all the characters are cynical, emotionally detached and selfish but they are not bad people. Their behavior is like a defense, a protection for what surrounds them, for what they have experienced and the reality in which they are forced to live. Each character is locked in a world he can not get out and it invents its own reality that is nearly pathological.
The reader doesn't know the names of the characters (we discover them only in the second part of the book), and we will never know when and where the story is set even if it is easy to understand.
We often read well-written, interesting and profound books but it is rare to find books that enter into your bowels leaving you completely confused and upset. This is one of those rare books.

sounds interesting

Smitha wrote: "sounds interesting"

It is and I'm pretty sure you may like it too!

38) 2/5

Mine is a complete collection with the stories by Virginia Woolf; now I have read
To the Lighthouse.

There is a plot (the Ramsay family in their holiday house near the sea) but this isn't the most important thing because nothing special happens. In the first part there is the description of one day (there are also some friends); in the second part 10 years are over and the reader knows what happened to some characters; in the third part some characters turn back in this holiday house.

The important thing of this book are the deep insights and the thoughts of the characters. They all feel alone, misunderstood or unappreciated and Virgina Woolf is really able to put in words also the smallest thoughts or feelings. She used a lot of amazing similes and her poetic language was wonderful.
Why only 2 stars? Because of the writing style; it was really hard to get into it. It is plenty of streams of consciousness that I can't bear. At the end the reading experience wasn't positive and I had a hard time to finish this book.

I will start with Lighthouse then

Smitha wrote: "I will start with Lighthouse then"

Is it your first Virgina Woolf?

Never read her so far. Just heard a lot about her.

Smitha wrote: "Never read her so far. Just heard a lot about her."

It was the first book by her I was able to finish. In the past I have tried to read Mrs. Dalloway and The Voyage Out but after a few pages I gave up.
Good luck! :D

Oh... am thoroughly scared now :P

Smitha wrote: "Oh... am thoroughly scared now :P"

And I'm curious to read your opinions about it! :D

39) Ketta & company. I gatti vedono attraverso i muri? by Laura Sergi 3/5

There isn't an English edition. It is a collection of anecdotes or short stories about the cats of the author and her husband. They are both volunteers of a cat shelter in the city where I live and they also write and sell these books to help the shelter (the incomes are used entirely for the shelter).
There are only true stories and they are enjoyable and nice.

40) The Seven Who Were Hanged by Leonid Andreyev 3,5/5

This is a very short book but it is thought-provoking.
Andreyev is against death penalty and he writes about it through seven characters. There are seven convicts who are sentenced to death because of different crimes they had committed (two were murders, five of them had organized a political terrorist attack which failed).
How do you face death if you know the exact moment when you will die? All the characters face it in a different way, they react in different ways and there are deep insights in human feelings.
Andreyev shows us that also murders are human, with their fears and emotions. They killed for the most different reasons but committing a crime doesn't make a person less human.

41) Judas Iscariot and Others by Leonid Andreyev 3/5

For now it is a 3 stars but I must continue to think about this book, my head is full of questions. I don't know if I wasn't able to catch the sense of this book or if Andreyev leaves all the interpretations open.

For sure it is a philosophical book about Judas and religion. I have looked also for the real story of Judas in order to see the differences but I couldn't find one because every Gospel says something slightly different.

I'm reading it in another group as a group-read and I hope to understand better what Andreyev wanted to communicate with this book. I have read it in English because it is roughly impossible to find an Italian edition and this was more difficult as other books I have read in English so perhaps I wasn't able to catch the sense.

42) 5/5

The English edition could be Collected Stories of Guy de Maupassant.

It is a collection with short stories and they are one better than the other.
My edition was divided in parts so there is a part dedicated to the city where you can feel all the hate of Maupassant for bourgeoisie; a part dedicated to the countryside where he talks about peasants and he isn't more kind with them; a part dedicated to animals, one dedicated to the sense of life and sense of death, and so on.
I like Maupassant's writing style, the things he writes and how he writes them; he is rude with bourgeoisie and other people he hates and shows all the stupidity of people but he does it in a soft way. When he writes about nature he is really poetic and seems a different person: rude with people but poetic with nature.
Really wonderful book!

I too have read the stories a long time ago and liked them immensely. But I do not remember whether my edition had divided the stories into sections.

Smitha wrote: "I too have read the stories a long time ago and liked them immensely. But I do not remember whether my edition had divided the stories into sections."

There are so many different collections of short stories, I think every publisher decides by his own. Mine was pretty long, 467 pages, so I hope there were nearly all his short stories.

43) Il sangue di san Gennaro by Sándor Márai 5/5

Unfortunately this book has never been translated into English and it is really a pity because it is wonderful.
There is a lot inside it. First of all it is important to know that the author fled from Hungary, his homeland, when Communism came to power after WWII. He asked political asylum in Italy and lived 4 years in Naples.
In the book he makes a very detailed and real portrait of Naples and the people of this city. Very important characters are also the sea, the wind and the Vesuvius volcano. Starting from this he starts talking about how it is to live in exile, how a person who loved his country but had to escaped slowly loses his own idenity. A huge part is dedicated to the loss of identity, the reasons that lead to escape from our own homeland and the feelings when you must live like a "displaced person". But he talks also if it is possible to redeem again mankind and how. So there are deep and interesting theological insights. He talks about miracles, what they are in his opinion, and how important they are for people.
There is everything in this book: political, theological, philosophical and also human issues. It is also very well written, it's the second book I read by Marai and I like his prose and writing style.

edit: the translated title would be: The Blood of Saint Januarius (for who doesn't know about this miracle here's a link: )