Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m learning Penelope Fitzgerald was a special writer. Fell in love with The Blue Flower earlier this year, and have now read this one - a bad good marriage in 1950‘s Florence with a doctor too rational to acknowledge his emotions. Ok, that‘s humble. Now hand it over to Penelope and her backhanded, almost absurd, striking lines. 🥰

August 1963.Florence,Italy,a deserted city. Searing heat. Bleary-eyed,sleep deprived Inspector Bordella,a chain-smoker in his mid-50s.Biting hordes of mosquitoes torment him at night.Flashbacks to his years as a soldier in WWII are interspersed throughout.His new police protégé is coincidentally the son of his soldier partner.A highly unusual,deviously clever murder of a wealthy, elderly Signora.A wonderful,eclectic cast characters:semi-retired?

It‘s only Monday, but what a day at work! Popcorn, Sam Adams October Fest (split with my husband), & a book. He is making dinner.🧡

After my trip to Italy I wanted to learn more about this family.

Serendipity lead me to this novel at the Library, it‘s been around for a while. I do enjoy a good historical mystery, and this generally fits the bill, although the historical premise is a bit shaky. Wilson posits a fictional reason for the disappearance of Hans Holbein in 1543 that involves the (factual) Prebendaries Plot to bring down Thomas Cranmer and restore Catholic rule. I enjoyed “meeting” his protagonist, London goldsmith Thomas Treviot.

A solo travel book and a discussion of the benefits of alone time.

Haven't done one of these in a couple of months. Too hard to plan! But I'm gonna be honest: I've been looking forward to Salman Rushdie as #AAM all year and expect to read mostly him this month. So many of his works I've put off reading, including the tagged. I've started it a few times but didn't feel like I could give it the attention it required at the time. Wish me luck! 🤞🤞
#Bookspin #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks @Soubhiville

I‘m giving this a pick because it fit my mood. Chronological. The writing is really only ok, and I encourage readers to explore other options. But ok can work when the story is this fantastic, and the presentation is clear. It took me over 18 hours to slog through, but I was motivated and forced it in before our trip (and then forgot to review it).

Front and center in the window of a bookstore near our hotel in Florence. So glad I read it (the English version!) before visiting.

Vespasian became a bookmaker in Florence, Italy at a tender age and grew up to become the greatest bookseller and bookmaker at just the moment scribes and illuminators were being replaced by the printing press, a technology Vespasian refused to accept. He could find just about any book that existed in the known world for a discriminating buyer, or he could hire the best scribes and illuminators to transcribe (& translate) if need be for kings & ⬇️