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| Mary Di Michele to the left and me to the right. |
Mary Di Michele spoke of her work and read from her novel Tenor of Love published by Simon and Schuster Touchstone (see synopsis below) and also some of her poems, one dedicated to her late father which was very touching. She is such a lovely person and we exchanged signed copies of our books. My daughter bought her poetry book The Flower of Youth.
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| Me reading the prologue from my novel Daughter of Mine. |
I addressed the audience in Italian and spoke of my writing inspiration and of the role Italy played in my novel. I also read from my novel Daughter of Mine. Afterwards, I had the pleasure of selling copies of my book and speaking to interesting persons of the Italian community, among them Connie McParland from Guernica Editions. It was a pleasant evening, and I look forward to reading and reviewing Di Michele's books in the upcoming months. I'm still wowed by the whole experience!
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Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia who now blogs at Mailbox Monday. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Audra at Unabridged Chick is hosting for the month of February. You can also view the touring blog list here for the upcoming months.
One summer day in 1897, a young singer, Enrico Caruso, arrives at the home of the Giachetti family. He has come to Livorno to sing on the summer stage with Ada Giachetti, a famous and beautiful soprano. Ada's mother offers him a spare room, and before Ada herself has a chance to meet the unknown tenor, her younger sister, Rina, arrives home from the market and falls fatefully in love.
With the help of singing lessons from Ada, Caruso wins the leading role in Puccini's new opera La Bohème. Although Caruso loves Rina, it is Ada he adores, and they soon become lovers. Heartbroken, Rina becomes an opera singer too, hoping to take her sister's place. For decades, the two sisters are locked in a struggle to be the star on Caruso's stage and in his bed, while Caruso's voice grows more and more unimaginably beautiful.
But as his relations with the two sisters break down in scandal and tragedy, the now world-famous Caruso builds a new life for himself as the star of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. There, far from the drama and passion of Caruso's Tuscan life, a shy young American woman will win his heart and, taking the greatest leap of faith of all, supplant Ada and Rina as his one true love.
The Flower of Youth by Mary Di Michele
I got three audiobooks from Post Hypnotic Press for review:
To smooth over five decades of constant clashing, determined daughter Jane Christmas decides to take her arthritic, incontinent, and domineering mother, Valeria, to Italy. Will being at the epicenter of the Renaissance spark a renaissance in their relationship? As they drag each other from the Amalfi Coast to Tuscany — walkers, shawls, and a mobile pharmacy of medications in tow — they find new ways to bitch and bicker, in the process reassessing who they are and how they might reconcile. Unflinching and often hilarious, this book speaks to all women who have faced that special challenge of making friends with Mom.
Monster wildfires in Australia, January golfers in PEI, ruined fruit crops in California, snowless ski runs in Switzerland, starving polar bears in the North, devastated trees in Stanley Park. Climate change is no longer a vague threat. The climate change we are in store for over the next few centuries will be larger and occur faster than at any time in the last 10,000 years. Brilliantly researched, Keeping Our Cool is a comprehensive and engaging examination and explanation of global warming, with a specific emphasis on climate change in Canada. In an engaging and accessible way,Weaver explains the levels of greenhouse gas emissions needed to stabilize the climate and offers solutions and a path toward a sustainable future.
Beginning naked in the darkness Brian Brett takes us on a journey through a summer’s day that also tells the story of his affectionately named Trauma Farm—exploring the garden, orchards, fields, the mysteries of live-stock and poultry, and the social intricacies of rural communities.
Both a memoir and a natural history of the small mixed farm, this eighteen-year-long day travels forward and backward in time, taking us all the way from Babylon to globalization and demonstrating the importance of both tall tales and rigorous science as Brett contemplates the perfection of the egg and the nature of soil or offers a scathing critique of agribusiness and the modern slaughterhouse. Whether discussing the uses and misuses of gates, examining the energy of seeds, or bantering with his family and neighbors, Brett remains aware of the miracles of life, birth, and death and the ecological paradoxes that confront the rural world every day.
Threaded with a deep knowledge of biology and botany, Trauma Farm is an erudite, poetic, passionate, and frequently hilarious portrait of rural life and a rich and thought-provoking meditation on the modern world.
And I got this one book for review:
Beyond the Valley by Rita Gerlach
Caught in the talons of servitude, she falls in love with a young conscientious doctor, Alex Hutton, who has arrived in Virginia to care for his widowed sister in law and two young nieces. Called back to serve in Washington's army, he promises he will return for her, gain her freedom and wed her. Other plans were made for Sarah when her owner finds himself bankrupt and sells her the first chance he gets. She's taken out into the frontier, captured by Indians, and faces unbearable hardship.
When the mistress of River Run along the Potomac encounters Sarah's plight after she has escaped, Eliza Morgan pities her, and a way is made for Sarah to remain with her and care for Eliza's young daughter, Darcy. Revolution has ignited in America, and together they endure many hardships which bring them together in friendship. But when Sarah learns that Zachary Halston, a local landowner, has seduced Eliza, she is troubled about what to do.
Grateful for Eliza's kindness, Sarah is forever bound to keep silent. She promises Eliza to never reveal the secret that Ilene is Eliza's child, even at the risk of living a life in shame if her master should ever discover the truth upon his return.
This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. This is where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read. The kidlit version is hosted by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts.
Read and reviewed:
Keeper of the Black Stones by P.T. McHugh
The Granddaughter Necklace by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Currently Reading:
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (wonderful so far...)
Listening To:
Incontinent on the Continent: My Mother, Her Walker and Our Grand Tour of Italy by Jane Christmas
Hope you all have a great reading week!
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