This was a tough one. There were parts in this book that I really liked so I had a hard time choosing between 3 or 4 stars. I liked Enza's character very much and reading about her life and about her friends in America and the Met. Ciro was also interesting though at times I grew quite frustrated...
Not my normal read but a really enjoyable one. A good story of an Italian family in New York with all the quirky characters, love, disagreements and dysfunction that affect most large, close families and, more abundantly, those of Italian descent. The author provides a portrait of the city from...
This is the second book in a (Valentine) trilogy and I enjoyed reading the continuation of book #1 . Trigiani's stories are believable family sagas, that make you laugh and make you cry. The setting is Manhattan, where the large Italian family's shoe company is located. The Angelina's family dyna...
Viola wants to spend another year in Brooklyn but her parents have already decided for her too move to South Bend, Indiana to an all-girls bording school. She hates the idea so she thinks that she is having the worst life in the world and that she is doomed for eternity. Then suddenly she starts ...
I read this book twice. The first time in 2012 and the second time in 2013. It's a very nice book and it gives off this cosy feeling. I really enjoyed reading it. However, I didn't like the ending of the book. It was all going so well but why did Valentine have to kiss that her friend? And it was...
Well if you didn't read the books in the series, you won't have the foundation necessary to understand the dynamics of this Italian clan.I have a BFF who comes from a large Italian family, married a Jewish-Italian just like Valentina. The author nailed the familia dramas.The descriptive prose br...
Well, after binging through the whole trilogy, this was my least favorite. I was bored in the first chapter. It seemed like every character had some long soliloquy. Pamela rants, then the great Aunt...who up to this point was a great character...then Mike. Jeez...it was boring. It seemed like ev...
It's been a while since I read the first two books of this series, and I'd forgotten that I really didn't care for the second book. When the library got this one in, I decided to revisit Big Stone Gap and finish the trilogy. Now I find out there is a fourth book. (I'm going to pass on that one...
Amusing and filled with memorable characters (and some nice recipes.) Took me a little while to get into the decorating details, as I really don't know much about fabrics and furniture. I did like the details about renovating Our Lady of Fatima...and I still think the portrait was a young Aurela ...
In the late 1800s, the residents of a small village in the Bari region of Italy, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, made a mass migration to the promised land of America. They settled in Roseto, Pennsylvania, and re-created their former lives in their new home–down to the very last detail of who ...
I finished the last book of the series and now I am very depressed, like on the day after Christmas when all that's left is the clean-up. I don't know if I'd have liked this book as much if I read it first without becoming acquainted with the characters and all their lovely human flaws in the pr...
Another ex-bookworm group review:Since I chose this book it will come as no surprise to anyone that I like it. I like it a lot. Yet, at first glance, it doesn't seem my sort of book at all. Had someone outlined the plot, I might have rolled my eyes heavenwards and thought to myself "Mills and ...
This is one of those times that I really want to use half stars again. I enjoyed the first book, Big Stone Gap, quite a bit and gave it 4 stars. However, I enjoyed this book more and, to me it is almost (but not quite) in the 5 star category. So, in my heart, this is a 4.5 star book.While Big Sto...