Some pictures from Pistoia.. the top two are from Piazza Duomo (yes, those are the Beatles, i think there's a pop art show in one of the museums), then the bottom left is Teatro Manzoni and the last photo is from the event with Corrado Augias, one of the most famous and experienced historians in Italy. I loved these two days of culture and meetings with professors, scientists, authors, journalists.. 🤍❤

Someone said "The Martian"?!
My next event is on the agriculture in space, just like the book/movie..

Day 2 at Dialoghi di Pistoia.. it's going to be a busy day!!! 🥰

This is the weekend I'm proud to live in Pistoia! It's time for Dialoghi di Pistoia: three days of conferences, lectures and shows, a cultural festival dedicated to anthropology (and many others disciplines)..
I've got tickets for one event on Friday (the one in the picture, with Stefano Mancuso) and then four on Saturday!! 🎉🥰🤓

(I'll post some pictures, but you can follow the official page of the event on instagram for everything else 📷)

Next up 🔜🎧📚

It's an "audiobooks only" weekend for me (I got pink eye from my nephew and I can't read anything for more than two minutes ?)
This novel is in the longlist for Premio Strega, so it's a new entry in my TBR and also a new author for me

I'm a little late (it's already Friday🙃) but here it's my list.. thanks again to @BeeCurious for the tag and @dabbe for the game 💚 #TLT

In no particular order
📚How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
📚The Giver by Lois Lowry
📚Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
(Special mention to the classics: Little Women, Jane Eyre and Anne of Green Gables)

It's been a crazy week (or two..) but I want to begin this weekend in the best way possible! 🤓📚💚 Happy Friday, dear Littens!!!

#LuckyInLove
Day 6: sunset
🌄 here's a sunset from last november, up on the hills it was a beautiful day.. but a few meters down, there was only fog (that looked like an endless sea of clouds!)

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#LuckyInLove
Day 5: wine ?
The two main characters sing together "Poison & Wine" (and "Barton Hollow") by The Civil Wars..
I'll be forever grateful to this book for introducing me to this band ❤
(sadly I can't remember anything else of the plot! Sorry..)

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#LuckyInLove
Day 4: bouquet💐
I haven't found a book cover with a bouquet on it, but I've found this drawing on Pinterest (I think it was on the Etsy page, but I can't read the tag)..
and now I know what I would love to receive for Valentine's day ❤📚💐

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#LuckyInLove
Day 3: candlelit
🕯 this book is in my house since forever, I think my mom bought it in 1999 or 2000 (the price is still in Lire and not Euros) but I've never read it..

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

The author, a plant neurobiologist, with short essays discusses plant intelligence, propagation, evolution and diversity in a way that is both sometimes humorous and always informative. This book isn't an 'in-depth' study and I think everyone can enjoy this read (even if you're new to any botany knowledge).

#LuckyInLove
Day 1: holding hands
👰🤝🤵 This is the first cover that has come to my mind, even though we can't see the hands clearly behind the veil..

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My January #wrapup
I read 8 books in total (~2300 pages + 15 hours)
1 comic, 1 audiobook and 1 nonfiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ White Holes by Carlo Rovelli
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Foe by Iain Reid; The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne; Eragon by Christopher Paolini

#JanuaryStats #monthlywrapup

Stoner: ⭐⭐1/2
The Necessary Lie: ⭐⭐⭐

#unpopularopinion
I struggled a lot with Stoner, the book and the character: it took a while to grab me, for most of the novel I was not interested enough and I really disliked the side characters.. at the end I was just waiting for him to react and fight for what he loved.
Anyhow, it's not all negative.. i really appreciate Williams's writing style and the poem collection "The Necessary Lie".

My next audiobook ??????

(From the blurb of the English edition "The Incredible Journey of Plants": a leading neurobiologist presents fascinating stories of plant migration that reveal unexpected connections between nature and culture.)

I'm re-reading Eragon.. and then all the other three books of the series, just for Murtagh!
I've bought the fifth book a few months ago but then I've realized that I don't remember much of the plot 😅

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist and a great writer.. this is my third book of his, and I loved it the most! And we're talking about a book on White Holes, which are completely theoretical and have never been observed and so are based only on mathematical calculations (the same calculations that describe Black Holes).
Maybe it is the continuous reference to Dante Alighieri, but I think this is Rovelli's most poetic work.

#JoyousJanuary This readathon was a success!! I reached all my three goals 💪✅
(and i finished the audiobook of Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow)

Thanks @andrew65 😊

⭐⭐⭐1/2

This one left me perplexed: I had high expectations but I'm here with a few doubts and many "why?"
The beginning was a massive pick! But as the story developed, i was losing interest because it felt like an endless (and toxic) cycle.. and then the DRAMA happened and I was furious!! At last, the final part that didn't feel like an end at all..

?: ai ichigo ? by nevada, found on pinterest.

⭐⭐⭐
A soft pick, just like the first book..

For me, it was waaaay too long! Part 1 e part 2 could have been 2 separate books, so the author could have focused better on the new characters and the plot development of the finale that felt rushed and chaotic (but great cliffhanger!)
I preferred part 1, but overall it was entertaining and I'm really curious to see where the story goes..

1st goal of #JoyousJanuary ✅

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

🚗 Yes, I've always used a manual transmission (I drove an automatic once, it was a friend's car, and it was chaotic!!!)
🚙 Tagged, the protagonist makes a road trip across England; if you liked Harold Fry, this is a good sequel..

If you want to play, consider yourself tagged! 🚘

I finished The Scarlett Letter early this morning and I've just started White Holes by Carlo Rovelli.. I was listening to the audiobook in the afternoon, doing some chores around the house.

@rachelsbrittain #weekendreads

I'd like to read more nonfiction, especially about science, biology or botany and maybe a couple of biography..
My goal for 2024 is to read at least one NF book/month 📚💪

@BookmarkTavern #SundayFunday

“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”

#JoyousJanuary @Andrew65

This readathon is perfect for tackling my January TBR, so my own goals are pretty simple:
❄ to finish "Iron Flame"
❄ to read my nonfiction pick "White Holes: Inside the Horizon" by Carlo Rovelli
❄ to start reading "Stoner" by John Williams

If I can complete 2 out of the 3, I'd consider it a win! ?

❄(Bonus) to read "In amore vince chi rischia" by Anna Premoli, a book on my TBR since since may/june 2023..

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. Not a must, but much appreciated.. usually tea/herbal tea in winter and iced coffee or fruit juices in the summer.
2. During the holidays I've read a few comics sipping hot cocoa 😋

A new audiobook for an easy sunday morning.. I've heard great things about it!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm starting 2024 with a great first book!!!
This novel was anxious and very compelling, I wanted to know what was going on between Hen and Junior, what about those beetles.. I knew there was a plot twist waiting to explode at the end, and even if I had many theories and predictions, I didn't see THAT coming!!!
The ending was perfect *chef kiss*

#storygraph

#goodreads

(I don't think the number of pages read is accurate.. gr doesn't differentiate pages read from minutes listened)

This is my last book for 2023 (and the first for 2024 🎉🥳🎆🎊)
The cover is just gorgeous!!! 🤩

And yes, I'm reading it before the movie (I think it will be available in Italy next week..)

⭐⭐⭐

This is my third novel by Ishiguro and it's the one I liked the least..
The humanity of AI isn't the most original theme and I found occasionally the plot a bit boring; i hated most of the characters, the mother above all.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was 👌👌

(I love this cover!! 🤩 the Italian publisher made a great choice.)

“..people often felt the need to prepare a side of themselves to display to passersby - as they might in a store window, and that such display needn't be taken so seriously once the moment had passed.”

“You all listen now, this is a real lesson in life. Yes, we got stuck, but what‘d we girls do? We made it fun, we laughed. That‘s what sisters and girlfriends are all about. Sticking together even in the mud, ‘specially in mud.”

I'm catsitting for my brother and I'm enjoying some time with my furry nephew Bibi.. but he doesn't want me to read my book 😂 #catsoflitsy

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Ettore Majorana was an Italian theoretical physicist, defined a "genius" such as Newton and Einstein by Fermi; on 25 March 1938 he disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
In this short book published in 1975, Sciascia summarizes some of the results of the investigations and hypoteses about the disappearance, ruling out the suicide theory. Recent investigations confirmed that Majorana was still alive in the '50 and lived in Venezuela.

⭐⭐ 1/2

I think I didn't fully understand this book.. I liked the premises of the story, but then it took a few turns and twists that left me perplexed 🤔🤨 And the writing style wasn't captivating (or just interesting) enough to compensate for it.

August wrap-up #stats
(Best month for my readings this year 🙂💪)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (both nonfiction) Silent Spring & The Order of Time
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 I re-read the Heartstopper graphic novels

Next up..
I've read a few chapters, but I'm already hooked 🤓📃

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This one has been sitting on my TBR for way too long (2008, maybe?!)
A few months ago at a meeting with Paolo Giordano, one of my favorite authors, he spoke mainly about this book (he wrote the foreword of the new italian edition).. so I decided to finally read it!

🇬🇧 “A stone is a prototypical “thing”: we can ask ourselves where it will be tomorrow. Conversely, a kiss is an “event.” It makes no sense to ask where the kiss will be tomorrow. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬.”

#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain

A nonfiction kind of weekend for me.. 📚🤓

⏰ The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli
🦋 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

My August TBR 📚📚📚

Next up ➡️

Trying to read this lying on the bed it's quite an exercise.. it's a big and heavy book, literally!!

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
Here's the winner for the "Premio Strega" 2023 (one of -or THE most prestigious italian literary award)
This is a memoir, the author faces her diagnosis (and her battle against cancer) and how it changes the relationship with her disabled daughter.
The writing style is almost poetic, but some chapters felt like a punch straight to the heart! ?
Sadly,Ada D'Adamo passed away just a few days later learning she made it to the Strega finalists

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

I've always loved the Darkling, such a great tormented character / villain (and even more after Ben Barnes played him in the tv series! ?)
This graphic novel is a glimpse in his "youth", it's a quick read and the art is really good.

"As Wendy Darling pushed through the door, all conversation died and every eye focused on her."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl