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Past
Book Club Selections
View Archived Book Club Selections
SUMMER 2006 SELECTIONS:
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Falling Palace: A Romance of Naples
By Dan Hofstadter
It was founded
2,500 years ago by the Ancient Greeks, was once the culture capital of
Europe and became a battleground during World War II, when its citizens
drove the Nazis out. Small wonder that Naples and its charming,
eccentric people have thoroughly captivated writer and New
Yorker contributor Dan Hofstadter. Through his stories and vivid descriptions,
Hofstadter captures both the allure and sorrow of Naples and the
Neapolitans. [$24.00; hardcover; 247 pages; Knopf]
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The Stonecutter's Aria
By Carol Faenzi
The true story of Aristide
Giovannoni, a stone carver from Carrara with a passion for opera, is the
basis for this novel, which, like an opera, is divided into three acts
that span over 100 years. It begins with Aristide's 30-day crossing to
America in the early 1900s on a ship where "disease, exhaustion and fear
clung to us like our wrinkled and filthy clothes," and ends in the
present with his great-granddaughter, the author of the novel. [$16.95;
paperback; 314 pages; Aperto Books. To order: 800/345-6665]
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Sometimes I Dream in Italian
By Rita Ciresi
Angelina ("Angel") and Lina
Lupo rebel against the rigid Old World values of their immigrant Italian
parents as they seek their own road to happiness and success in this
series of inter-connected short stories about second-generation
immigrant children and their conflicts.In her honest, vivid and often
funny description of life in a traditional working class Italian family,
Ciresi examines what it means to be an Italian American woman in America
with its paralyzing freedom and disturbing lack of moral guidelines. [$23.95; hardcover; 209 pages; Delacorte Press]
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ALSO WORTH READING:
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The Innocent
By Magdalen Nabb
Salvatore Guarnaccia, a Sicilian detective living in Florence, attempts
to solve the murder of a Japanese woman, mysteriously found floating in
a fountain in the Boboli Gardens. After identifying the victim, he
uncovers her dramatic escape from her homeland while suspicion of guilt
falls on one of his colleagues in this novel that is both a social
commentary on modern Italy and an entertaining crime story. [$22.00;
hardcover; 240 pages; Soho Crime]
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Penny From Heaven
By Jennifer L. Holm
Inspired by Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm's own Italian American
family, Penny
from Heaven is a heartwarming book for pre-teens age 9 -
12 that reveals a lot about what keeps families together or tears them
apart. It's the summer of 1953. Penny Falucci, 11 going on 12, lives
with her American mother and grandparents, but she has an open
invitation to visit her father's Italian family, who refuse to talk
about his death. [$14.00; hardcover; 288 pages; Random House]
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Sebastiano: A Sicilian Legacy
By Connie Mandracchia DeCaro
Both an historical novel and a love story, the saga of Sebastiano, an
iron worker, and Costanza, an aristocrat, is set against the background
of the historical events that led to Sicily unifying with Italy in 1860. [$14.95; paperback; 232 pages; Legas]
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*Reflects list price. Discounts may apply through
amazon.com.
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