Next Up

I found my lighter read! I am reading Adriana Trigiani's Rococo... Amazon.com has this to share:

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Trigiani (Lucia, Lucia) offers Italian recipes, family dramas and oodles of decorating ideas (if little narrative tension) in her latest novel, a feel-good story about a New Jersey interior designer tackling his dream job. In Our Lady of Fatima, N.J., plucky narrator Bartolomeo di Crespi, aka B, reigns supreme: he can doll up an ottoman with kicky trim and sparkly crystals with the best of 'em, and he decorates all the area's best houses, including the manse belonging to the mother of his putative fiancée, Capri Mandelbaum. (Really they're just friends, but Aurelia, Capri's mother, is certain they'll marry.) When the local church comes due for a major renovation, B gets the commission, after Father Porporino is convinced (forcibly, it's later revealed) that a tony Philadelphia firm won't do. But can B come up with a timeless yet innovative design for the church he loves? He calls in the experts—all of them sexy—takes trips to London and Italy, and benefits from a minor miracle amid a cast of family and friends who fight, fall in love, have babies and come out of the closet. While overlong and undramatic, the book still manages to soothe, in part because of its cozy design talk and in part because of the likable, competent B. (June 28)

My review is forthcoming... I expect this to be a fairly quick and easy read!

40/101

Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven
for the Anne Frank House

I didn't really learn anything new from this book, after reading Anne's diary, Miep Gies book, learning about Anne Frank in school, and visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, but it was still interesting. It makes a good addition to my collection!

I have got to read something happier next. I'll have to dig through my books and find something that's not about genocide to read... I need to lighten things up!

39/101

The book was an okay guide book. We followed the book's recommendation and tried an Indian restaurant called Kastoori for lunch. It was in the Montmartre area, and we had just come from the Sacre Coeur on Montmartre, so we thought it would be nice. The book said it was cheap and good, so we gave it a try. It wasn't all that great. The restaurant was teeny tiny, and there was a set lunch menu, so we didn't have much choice. The food was okay, but definitely not guide book worthy. Oh and the city and subway maps in the book were helpful, just wish the city map was a little smaller and the subway map was a pullout, so we could have it more handy... Overall, the book was decent and helped us during our long weekend in Paris!

38/101

I'm going to put #38, Catholic Traditions and Customs, on hold for now, and do a little rearranging with my numbers, since I finished #39 already. Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform you that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with our Families will move into #38, and Catholic Traditions and Customs will drop off the list for now. I actually have a new #39 already, and I'll be starting another new book tomorrow, but I'm not sure what yet... I'll write about those in a bit :)


As for the book, it is definitely different from other books I have read on the genocide in Rwanda. I really appreciated the history and explananions given by Gourevitch. It made me understand things in a new light. I did think the book was a little heavy on Gourevitch's personal opinions, but other than that, it was an excellent read. Should be required reading for anyone who was alive in the 1990s and doesn't know about the genocide that was taking place in Africa...

Still Around

I'm actually in the States visiting family and haven't had much time to blog. I'm still around and still reading. I actually just used a Borders gift card to order these books:

"Unaccustomed Earth"
Jhumpa Lahiri

"Child 44"
Tom Rob Smith

"Knitting Under the Influence"
Claire LaZebnik

"Sicilian Feasts"
Giovanna Bellia La Marca

"The Complete Novels (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)"
Jane Austen

As for my reading, I forgot #38 in Germany, but I have #39 with me and should finish it up this week. I have been such a slacker lately!

M