Litsy

Having read a few historical fiction novels this year, my love for the genre has def been reignited (no pun intended). Mina's novella tells of Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola who would go on to challenge the most powerful Italian political families of his time. Published in 2023, Mina does not shy away from drawing parallels between Savonarola & his ambitions & the power of rhetoric & what is happening in politics today. (CONT)

vivastory A lot of historical fiction tends to be bigger books, however I felt that Mina was able to tell the story that she needed to tell in the 144 pages that can easily be read in one sitting, 6d

LeahBergen I‘ve been enjoying historical fiction again lately, too. 5d

TheKidUpstairs Have you read her earlier historical fiction novella? It is fabulous

Rizzio: A Novella

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vivastory @TheKidUpstairs I have it checked out from the library, but haven't read it yet. I actually grabbed Three Fires during the same trip when I went to check out Rizzio, I noticed earlier that Rizzio is part of a series of historical fiction novellas by different authors: Darkland Tales. They all sound really interesting! 5d

vivastory @LeahBergen Any favorites? I finished this one a few months ago & LOVED it

The Book of Longings: A Novel

AlaMich Oooh, I‘ve always been sort of low-key interested in Savonarola. 5d

vivastory @AlaMich I would definitely recommend this one. The impression that I have reading it was that he was in the vein of a modern politician using rhetoric to manipulate the emotions of different classes. He made “predictions but they were dumb luck It's a quick, fascinating read. Some of his teachings found their way into Martin Luther's doctrines 5d

AlaMich @vivastory Now I really want to pick it up! 5d

vivastory @AlaMich I don't know if you do audio (I read this one with one my eyes) but I did notice that the dark lands historical fiction series are short on audio 5d

AlaMich @vivastory Thanks for the tip! 5d

TheKidUpstairs Ooh, I didn't know there was a series. I'll have to check them out. I know we've got Queen MacBeth at my library, because I've been eyeing it (anything Shakespeare adjacent automatically piques my interest!) 5d

vivastory @TheKidUpstairs Queen Macbeth is the only other one in the series that my library has. I placed a hold on it immediately. Will probably do mix of ebooks and audio for the rest. 4d

52 likes2 stack adds12 comments

lil1inblue

Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude | Stephanie Rosenbloom

We do not care what else is happening this weekend, or what may come up. We will be attending the protest Saturday (if our joints cooperate), then promptly heading home to hermit up for the rest of the weekend. We do not want company. We will be reading, napping, and watching trash.

#wdncw #wedonotcarewednesday @dabbe

Sparklemn Sounds like the perfect weekend! 1w

Aims42 Fingers crossed your joints cooperate!!! ✊🏻💙 1w

dabbe After a day of protesting you need a day of rest and watching trash. I'm hoping to do the same. May our bodies cooperate. 😂😍😂 1w

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Amiable My joints and I will be protesting on Saturday too! 👊🏼💙💙👊🏼 1w

lil1inblue @Sparklemn I'm so excited. 🥰 1w

lil1inblue @aims42 @dabbe @amiable I have a plan to sauna Saturday morning, which should appease the joints long enough to protest. The weather and pressure have been so up and down, it's been a rough week. My mind loves Autumn; my body does not. 😂 1w

AnnCrystal Be Safe 👸👏🏼🥳✊🏼💙. (edited) 1w

Dilara Good luck for Saturday. I think it's fair to say that people all over the world are rooting for the protesters... 7d

AmyG 🙌🏻 7d

lil1inblue @AnnCrystal We will be! I'm fortunate to live in an area where protesting is still safe. 7d

lil1inblue @Dilara Thank you! 💙💙💙 7d

lil1inblue @AmyG 💙✊🏻💙 7d

AnnCrystal That's good @lil1inblue 👏🏼😉👌🏼💝. 6d

33 likes13 comments

charl08

Death of an Englishman | Magdalen Nabb

Almost matches...

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MaGoose

Inferno: A Novel | Dan Brown

so-so

Boring. 😴 I almost DNF several times. This is a stroll through Renaissance art in Florence, Venice and the mixture of art and culture in Istanbul. All disguised as a rather slow chase of Robert Langdon by unknown pursuers. Brown even takes time to mention two ugly sculptures in the Boboli Gardens through which a lengthy portion of the chase ran. I love art and art history but yeah...Plus, a great deal about Dante and his Divine Comedy.
#litsylove

35 likes

charl08

Perspective(s) | Laurent Binet

Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence, to Giorgio Vasari
Livorno, 20 March 1557

So, if I understand correctly, Florence, the city that God entrusted to my care, is now infested not only with conspiracies of murderous nuns but with seditious plebs too? Enough. I must put an end to all this. Find me this Marco Moro, arrest him and throw him in a damp cell.

I regret getting rid of those lions that were stinking up the palace.

34 likes

charl08

Perspective(s) | Laurent Binet

Do love a map (even one that looks like it needs a chapter of context to be understood....)

Graywacke Cool! 2mo

humouress MAP! 💟 2mo

48 likes1 stack add2 comments

Mattsbookaday

Perspective(s) | Laurent Binet

pick

Perspective(s), by Laurent Binet (2023, transl. 2025)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: An epistolary mystery set in the midst of the political, social, artistic, and religious upheavals of Renaissance Florence.

Review: An ‘entertaining‘ and accessible Binet novel is still smarter and stranger than most literary fiction. ⬇️

Mattsbookaday He superbly wrangles a vast cast of characters and correspondents to craft a novel that is simultaneously an effective mystery, reflection on the importance of perspective in shaping (or blinding us to) the truth of an event, and discussion of artistic freedom. I didn‘t think this would get full marks from me, but the more I think about it, the more impressive it seems.

Bookish Pair: Umberto Eco‘s The Name of the Rose (1980) 3mo

13 likes2 stack adds1 comment

vlwelser

Perspective(s) | Laurent Binet

pick

An epistolary novel? A mystery? Art? Italian history? How could I not read this?

#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

Ruthiella He‘s such an interesting writer. 3mo

Cathythoughts Stacking ❤️ 3mo

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3mo

38 likes2 stack adds3 comments

Butterfinger

The House Of Medici: Its Rise and Fall | Christopher Hibbert

so-so

I admit that I confused this family with the Borgia family. They were very similar, in fact, so I don't feel too foolish. They started as bankers in Florence. It seemed to me that every other generation was patrons to the arts, while the other generations were lazy and/or violent. The family was often fighting the papacy except when they had a son or nephew as a pope. I'm glad I read it. I learned more about Italy's history before unification.

Crazeedi Would you definitely recommend? I need a good book to immerse myself and I love reading about this period 4mo

Butterfinger @crazeedi I can't honestly recommend it unless you want to take notes. All the names that the family was fighting ran over each other, and I would forget why they're fighting. It was interesting to learn the different personalities and how each one added to art and architecture. 4mo

Butterfinger #FoodandLit @Texreader @Catsandbooks my Italy book for this month. 4mo

Crazeedi @Butterfinger thanks for the info!! 4mo

45 likes4 comments

giu-world

The Kingdom of Light | Giulio Leoni

pan

I couldn't finish it. Too many characters to remember. The narration was at times fluid: Dante Alighieri's adventures occasionally stopped for explanations, descriptions of the places, the landscapes that surrounded him, the customs and traditions. After that the story returned to Dante Alighieri and I was so lost with all those useless explanations, that every time I had to go back several pages to understand where I had left off.

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