books - more categories

more books art & architecture children's food & wine genealogy italian americans language & learning literature & novels travel & adventure more categories

review a book Tell us about your favorite Italian book by submitting a review!

find a book Enter the title of a book or the name of an author below.

talk books If you need a suggestion, or just want to talk "books" join our forum.

Living La Dolce Vita: Bring the Passion, Laughter and Serenity of Italy into Your Daily Life, by Dr. Raeleen D'Agostino Mautner
I was very intrigued by this book. 'A self-help book based on the Italian lifestyle?!?' D'Agostino Mautner simmers down the secrets of Italian living to 9 principles and not only includes her own personal experiences but encourages the reader to experiment and try some things on their own. The author's professional background enables her express concepts about being Italian that Italians themselves have difficulty explaining. From the moment I opened this book I knew the authored valued my time. Everything is carefully laid-out and the text is easily broken-up into categories, bulleted list and inspirational quotes. This means you can either hop directly to the section that intrigues you, or read the book from cover to cover. For me, reading this book was a little reminder of what makes being Italian special. -- by Laura Pazzaglia

Don't miss the excerpted introduction of Living La Dolce Vita hosted on virtualitalia.com!

biographies & autobiographies
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel

culture
2001 Italian and English Idioms, Daniela Gobetti
The Art of Living Italian Style, Edmund Howard
Dictionary of 1000 Italian Proverbs: With English Equivalents, Peter Mertvago
Falconara: A Family Odyssey, Rose Muscacchio Higdon, Hal Higdon, Laura Albanese
Gender and Society in Renaiisance Italy (Women and Men in History series), Judith C. Brown
Gianni Versace: Fashion's Last Emperor, Lowri Turner
Giuseppe Garibaldi: A Biography of the Father of Modern Italy, Dr. Benedict Lipira
The Italian 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential, Cultural, Scientific, and Political Figures, Past and Present
A Primer of Italian Fascisim
Italian Neighbors or, a Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona, Tim Parks
Italian Politics Today, Hilary Partridge
Judaism and Christianity in the First-Century Rome, Karl P Donfried
The Machiavellian Legacy: Essays in Italian Political Thought, Joseph V. Femia
Mad Blood Stirring: Vandetta in Renaissance Italy, Edward Muir
Mattanza: Love & Death in the Sea of Sicily
My Rise and Fall, Benito Mussolini
Romeo and Juliet (Oxford School Shakespeare Series), William Shakespeare
Sicilian Sun, Andrew J. Montalbano
Tota Italia: Essays in the Cultural formation of Roman Italy, Mario Torelli
Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy, Frances Mayes
Valentino's Magic, Marie Paule Pelle, Patrick Mauries

film
The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini,Tag Gallagher
The Companion to Italian Cinema, Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, James Hay, Gianni Volpi, Geoffrey Nowell Smith
Contemporary Italian Filmmaking: Strategies of Subversion: Pirandello, Fellini, Scola, and the Directors of the New Generation, Manuela Gieri
The Folklore of Concensus: Theatricality in the Italian Cinema, Marcia Landy
Italian Horror Films of the 1960's: A Critical Catalog of 62 Chillers, Lawrance McCallum

gardening

Italian Gardens: A Guide, by Helena Attlee and Alex Ramsey
At first glance, the small format of this book (only 3 x 4 inches, appx.) might lead you to forget about it. Don't make that mistake. Ramsay and Attlee have provided much more information about the history and features of the Italian Gardens than can be found in the "rival" Garden Lovers Guide to Italy by Hobhouse. Little of their material is new, but in compiling the best facts and anecdotes from Wharton, Masson, Lazzaro, et al., Ramsey and Attlee have written the book which I would be most likely to take along with me as a guide to the gardens. The only fault of this book is that since more space has been devoted for each garden, the number of gardens covered is been reduced. For example, at Lago Maggiore, the Isola Bella is covered, but the Isola Madre is not. Probably the best thing to do if one is going off on a garden tour of Italy is to read Edith Wharton and Claudia Lazzaro before you go, and then to take both Ramsay and Attlee's book and Hobhouse's Guide along on the journey.

The Angelli Gardens at Villa Perosa: Two Centuries of a Family Retreat, Marella Agnelli
Edith Wharton's Italian Gardens, Bibbian Russell
Garden Lover's Guide to Italy, Penelope Hobhouse

music
Opera Production and Its Resources
Papal Music and Musicians in Medieval and Renaissance Rome, Richard Sherr