Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

A nine-year-old boy is found murdered at the bottom of a well near a beach resort in southern Italy. In what looks like a hopeless case for Guido Guerrieri, counsel for the defence, a Senegalese peddler is accused of the crime. More than a perfectly paced legal thriller, this relentless suspense novel transcends the genre. A powerful attack on racism, and a fascinating insight into the Italian judicial process, it... (more)

The Watcher and Other Stories

by Italo Calvino

The three long stories in this volume show the range and virtuosity of Italy’s most imaginative writer. “Like Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino dreams perfect dreams for us” (John Updike, New Yorker).Translated by William Weaver and Archibald Colquhoun. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Why Read the Classics? (Vintage)

by Italo Calvino

From the internationally-acclaimed author of some of this century's most breathtakingly original novels comes this posthumous collection of thirty-six literary essays that will make any fortunate reader view the old classics in a dazzling new light. Learn why Lara, not Zhivago, is the center of Pasternak's masterpiece, Dr. Zhivago, and why Cyrano de Bergerac is the forerunner of modern-day science-fiction... (more)

Numbers in the Dark: And Other Stories (Vintage International)

Numbers in the Dark: And Other Stories (Vintage International)

by Tim Parks, Italo Calvino

For the first time in paperback--a volume of thirty-seven diabolically inventive stories, fables, and "impossible interviews" from one of the great fantasists of the 20th century, displaying the full breadth of his vision and wit. Written between 1943 and 1984 and masterfully translated by Tim Parks, the fictions in Numbers in the Dark display all of Calvino's dazzling gifts: whimsy and horror, exuberance of... (more)

La vita nuova (Penguin Classics)

by Dante Alighieri, Mark Musa

La Vita Nuova marked a turning point in European literature, introducing personal experience into the strict formalism of medieval love poetry. The sequence of poems tells the story of Dante’s passion for Beatrice, the beautiful sister of one of his closest friends, transformed through his writing into a symbol of love that was both spiritual and romantic. From unrequited passion to the profound grief... (more)

Travels in Hyperreality (Harvest Book)

by Umberto Eco

Serendipities is a careful unraveling of the fabulous and the false, a brilliant exposition of how unanticipated truths often spring from false ideas. From Leibniz's belief that the I Ching illustrated the principles of calculus to Marco Polo's mistaking a rhinoceros for a unicorn, Umberto Eco offers a dazzling tour of intellectual history, illuminating the ways in which we project the familiar onto the strange to... (more)

Dirty Italian: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*ck Off!"

Dirty Italian: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*ck Off!"

by Gabrielle Euvino

This useful guide contains phrases for every situation, including insults to hurl at the refs during fútbol games at stadium in Rome. The author gives helpful tips for adding emphasis to slang through the body language, gestures, and intonation. Readers learn sweet words to entice a local beauty into a romantic gondola ride, not-so-sweet remarks to ward off any overzealous Venetians, and more.

Pasta & Italian (Super Cookery)

Six Characters in Search of an Author

by Luigi Pirandello

This 1921 intellectual comedy contrasts illusion with reality by introducing six individuals to a bare stage occupied by actors in rehearsal. Proclaiming themselves the incomplete creations of an author’s imagination, the six demand dialog for the story of their lives. A classic dramatic exploration of the many faces of reality. Publisher’s Note.

The Queen of the Big Time: A Novel

by Adriana Trigiani

Known and loved around the world for her sweeping Big Stone Gap trilogy and the instant New York Times bestseller Lucia, Lucia, Adriana Trigiani returns to the charm and drama of small-town life with Queens of the Big Time. This heartfelt story of the limits and power of love chronicles the remarkable lives of the Castellucas, an Italian-American family, over the course of three generations. In the late... (more)

The Baron in the Trees

by Italo Calvino

I, Claudius

by Robert Graves

Considered an idiot because of his physical infirmities, Claudius survived the intrigues and poisonings of the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and the Mad Caligula to become emperor in 41 A.D. A masterpiece.

Petrarch: The Canzoniere, or Rerum vulgarium fragmenta

Petrarch: The Canzoniere, or Rerum vulgarium fragmenta

by Mark Musa, Francesco Petrarca

"Mark Musa, in editing and translating Petrarch's Canzoniere, has performed a wonderful service to the English-speaking reader. Here, in one volume, are included the poet's own selection of the best lyric verse he wrote throughout his life, accompanied by brief but useful notes . . . " --Chronicles "As well as skillful and fluent verse renderings of the 366 lyrics that make up this milestone in the development... (more)

Italian Cooking Encyclopedia: The definitive professional guide to Italian ingredients and cooking techniques, including 300 step-by-step recipes

Italian Cooking Encyclopedia: The definitive professional guide to Italian ingredients and cooking techniques, including 300 step-by-step recipes

by Linda Frazier

Each Italian region has its own favourite ingredients and cooking techniques and its own unique character. Common to all regions is the importance of quality ingredients. This book is an authoritative guide to them, and the recipes of Italy.'

Pure Dead Trouble (Pure Dead (Paperback))

Pure Dead Trouble (Pure Dead (Paperback))

by Debi Gliori

After a vacation in Italy, the Strega-Borgia clan arrives home to a shocking discovery: their faithful butler Latch lying comatose on the front doorstep, reeking faintly of sulphur. Horrified and troubled, Titus and Pandora suspect this may be an omen of bad fortune, but both are soon distracted by their own problems. Only Nanny McLachlan realizes the truth: Whatever it was that came for Latch is coming back. And... (more)

Pure Dead Wicked (Pure Dead)

by Debi Gliori

Just when the Strega-Borgias think it’s safe to relax in their ancestral castle . . . it isn’t. First their roof collapses, forcing them into the Auchenlochtermuchty Arms–the only local hotel that will accomodate three mythical beasts and one crocodile. Then Titus accidentally creates 500 tiny naked pink clones. And 500 tiny naked pink clones are not easy to manage. But not surprisingly, this isn’t the biggest... (more)

Pure Dead Magic (Pure Dead)

by Debi Gliori

Things are not right at the Strega-Borgia castle. Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia has been kidnapped. Signora Baci Strega-Borgia is struggling with her spells at the Advanced Witchcraft Institute.Titus and Pandora don’t like their suspiciously cheerful and fearless new nanny. Baby Damp has been accidentally shrunk, e-mailed, and lost on the World Wide Web. And to top it off, there’s a gangster in a bunny suit lurking... (more)

The Day of the Owl

by Leonardo Sciascia

A dark-suited man is shot dead as he runs for a bus in the piazza of a small town. The investigating officer suspects the mafia, and soon finds himself up against a wall of silence and vested interests. As he uncovers a chain of nasty crimes, bystanders and watchers, complicit with secret power, gossip among themselves. Their furtive conversations have only one end: to stop the truth from coming out.

Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food

Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food

by Mary Taylor Simeti

Pomp and Sustenance is a celebration of one of the oldest, most varied, and best-loved cuisines of Europe, at once frugal and extravagant, robustly simple yet often handsomely ornate. For twenty-five centuries, the people of Sicily have been creating what is perhaps the basic cuisine of Europe on the beautiful island in the heart of the Meditteranean. Beginning with the oldest and most elementary components in... (more)

Cooking from an Italian Garden

by Paola Scaravelli

This book features over 300 classic meatless recipes covering the geographical and culinary range of Italian cooking, from antipasti to desserts. A Harvest Book. Line drawings throughout.

Shelfari Book Activity

Browse Subjects: italian

Top Books

by Gianrico Carofiglio

by Italo Calvino

by Italo Calvino

by Tim Parks, Italo Calvino

by Dante Alighieri, Mark Musa

by Umberto Eco

by Gabrielle Euvino

by Luigi Pirandello

by Adriana Trigiani

by Italo Calvino

by Robert Graves

by Mark Musa, Francesco Petrarca

by Linda Frazier

by Debi Gliori

by Debi Gliori

by Debi Gliori

by Leonardo Sciascia

by Mary Taylor Simeti

by Paola Scaravelli