Weekend Reading

Now that I’m officially done with Italian class, language maintenance–for lack of a better word–falls on me.  So what better way to begin than with a book? I’m addicted to books and have never left a libreria without buying at least one. This addiction renders my Kindle both a blessing and a curse. It has significantly lightened my load and enabled me to “bring” many books to Italy without taking up valuable luggage space, but books are something that I regard very highly. I love holding one in my hands and flipping my fingers through its pages as well as tangibly seeing and feeling the amount that I have left to finish. (Anyone who thinks this seems suggestive, please get your mind out of the gutter!)  Also–dare I admit this–if I’m dying to know the ending, I peek at the last few pages. I still read the entire book of course, but sometimes I just like to know what happens for peace of mind. You can’t do all of this with a Kindle. However, I refuse to use my Kindle to read Italian books because I need to underline (in pencil only, of course!) any words I don’t know, so I decided to tickle my fancy, pop into La Feltrinelli and treat myself to a book.

I didn’t have to do much browsing because as soon as I walked in, La Cucina degli Amori Impossibili  by Roberto Perrone  grabbed my attention from one of the tables strategically placed near the entrance. I read the trama on the inner flap and this sounded right up my alley:  two critically acclaimed, “starred” restaurants owned by two separate families leads to some conflict in a small Ligurian town.  Truth be told, as much as I love anything gastronomy-related, Liguria–home to the magnificent Cinque Terre–is what sold me. It’s a beautiful part of the world…heavenly, in fact. Needless to say, I’m eager to crack open the book, dig in and get lost.

Should you want to lose yourself in Liguria as well, I recommend Beautiful Ruins and The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes, both partially set in the region. On a personal note, I’d love to buy the rights to the latter and turn it into a feature film. Now that would be a worthwhile investment. Who knows? Maybe one day.

Buon fine-settimana!