Donna Leon Series...

I usually don't read mystery/crime novels....but I have to admit I'm hooked on all things Donna Leon.

How could I not? 

She wraps every one of her mysteries in a cloak of all things Venetian...

Venice Sketchbook by Huck Scarry

Venice Sketchbook by Huck Scarry

 I love Mr. Scarry's watercolors....

he captures his images and shadows with gorgeous precision.

I also really enjoy his poetic musings.....

Piazzeta

Sharp, white morning sun fill the 

sky of the Bacino.  It reflects off the

Sansovino library into the still damp

and shaded Piazzeta.

A montonave has pulled in from the

 Lido, and commuters from the island

pass through here on their way to 

work.  What finer way to begin one's

day!

The lion normally perched atop one of

the granite pillars of the Piazzeta

has taken to wing.  Away for

restoration.

Cafe Life Venice - A Guidebook to the Cafes and Bacari of La Serenissima  

Written by Joe Wolff and photography by Roger Paperno

A little book of daydreams!

It's divided by each sestiere, making it easy to use for reference.

Love the atmospheric photos that highlight the anecdotes and interviews with the owners.

A great book to read before a Venetian adventure.

(click on images to enlarge)

Italian Wines for Dummies

Italian Wines for Dummies by Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy

This is my go-to book for Italian wines.  

Mary and Ed have been friends of ours for years...so nice to have such friendly knowledge!!

It helps to have an overview of Italian wines....I would always ask my husband for his advice before I'd head to Venice on solo adventures.  (Paul, my husband, wrote about wines for over 40 years before his stroke....now I have to rely on Ed & Mary's advice.)

"The esteem in which I hold the authors of Italian Wine for Dummies is boundless.

I have known Ed & Mary, individually and as a team for over 50 years and am able to say that I have 

yet to encounter more knowledgeable guides to the ins and outs of Italian wine.

I was honored when they asked me to write the foreword to their Wine for Dummies and thrilled to be endorsing this very important book, written with infinite skill and passion equal to that of the most

committed Italian winemaker."

Peiro Antinori, Proprietor, Marchesi Antinori  Winery, Florence, Italy

My Venetina Sketchbook by Isabelle de Borchgrave

Here's another visually exciting book about Venice....it's a cloth-bound beauty.

Full of her lovely sketches...watercolors....ephemera.

Mary...sorry....you may need to add this to your collection too!!

Venice and its Lagoon by Giulio Lorenzetti

Venice and its Lagoon by Giulio Lorenzetti

This book was originally published in 1926....this is the 2003 reprint.
It is a biggie...over 1000 pages....I don't take this book with me to Venice.
I do use it as a reference book when I'm home. It is extremely detailed and has quit a few photos...but the grainy photos are of another era...which make them interesting from an historical viewpoint...not necessarily an esthetic treat.

Bert...this one is for you!

(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)

Another Venice by Jacopo Fasolo

Another Venice by Jacopo Fasolo


"Venice architecture both deserves and demands the visitor's close scrutiny.
This delightful book is an unusual guide to Venice, lavishly illustrated with watercolour sketches, black and white line drawings, maps, and photographs throughout.
The architectural culture of the city, transporting the reader to areas of interest and beauty.
Each monument has been extensively researched in order to provide the visitor with attractive and remarkable information. The six areas covered are San Marco, San Paulo, Santa Croce, Dorsoduro, Cannaregio, amd Castello.
A discerning introduction is also included as well a general map, locations, and a full
bibliography."


This is a little gem of a book...just slightly over 5" x 7"...you could almost slip it in your pocket.
I wish I could find out some more information about the artist....would love to know if he exhibits his work. I haven't seen any of his art in the local galleries in Venice.
This is a book high on my list!


(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)

Chow! Venice by Shannon Essa & Ruth Edenbaum

Chow! Venice by Shannon Essa and Ruth Edenbaum

"The city of Venice is one of the most beautiful in the world, but visits are too often marred by meals at bad restaurants with high prices, unscrupulous waiters, and tasteless food. This new edition of "Chow! Venice" reveals the best places to eat and drink, from simple sandwiches and pizzas to elegant four-course meals. Discover places off the beaten track as well as steps away from St. Mark's Square. Learn how, when and what the Venetians eat and drink, where to get the best cichetti (Venetian bar snacks) and where to find restaurants and bars open after 10.00pm. In addition to restaurants and bars, there's a list of markets, specialty food stores and wine shops. Whether you are visiting Venice for three days, three weeks or three months,
"Chow! Venice" will prove to be an invaluable resource and guide."


I always refer to Ruth and Shannon's guide....it's a valuable asset to any foodie heading to Venice.

(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)

Michela Scibilia's three terrific books!

Venice Osteria by Michela Scibilia

"Eating out is Venice can be a traumatic affair especially for your wallet yet the local food has much to offer the inquiring diner. That's why this compact guide to the eateries of the city is so useful. Most of the eateries in the guide offer one or both of two distinct eating formats.
Some serve traditional Italian sit-down meals of anti-pasto, primo, secondo and dolce (starter, pasta, meat or fish, and dessert) while others concentrate on the typically Venetian cicheto, or snack, to be consumed standing at the bar with a glass of wine, known as ombra.

This guide will tell you where to find tasty traditional and innovative cicheti. To keep
explanations in the eatery profiles to the minimum, Venetian and Italian terms are explained in the glossary.
The great virtue of this guide is that is tells you how much yo can expect to pay in each of the restaurants featured. It it given that everything in Venice costs more that elsewhere in Italy but sometimes the disparity can ruin the visitor's dig."

Venice Botteghe by Michela Scibilia

"Venice Botteghe is dedicated to those who already know the Venice of museums and carnivals, but who wish to deepen their knowleddge through the products of those who continue today, skillfully and competently, to paint, assemble, hone, fuse, sew, knead, cook, engrave, or perhaps just sell, in Venice. Readers will find shops and workshops that have survived as if by magic, one or two ever-popular classics and lots of exciting new ventures.

The 160 pages contain 600 illustrations and 300 addresses where shoppers can browse and purchase everything, from pearls to lamps and gondolas, as well as cakes, cloaks, soft-shell crabs and door knockers. It is a tour of sounds, fragrances and everything else the city has to offer. Each entry in accompanied by a commentary and illustrations.
There are twelve pages of detailed maps to guide the self-assured shopper around the city's most labyrinthine corners."

A Comprehensive Guide to the Island of MURANO by Michela Scibilia & Nicolo Scililia.

"The guide you were waiting for: all the art sites, the best restaurants, accommodation and events, together with an extensive section on history, glassmaking and the current state of affairs of Murano glass. Almost one hundres glassworks, studios and shops have been personally inspected by the authors.
No paid advertisements or less than disinterested recommendations. A copious apparatus of maps, church plans, useful addresses and 370 colour photographs will help you organize your day to best advantage with art, good food, the culture of glass and a little self-assured shopping."

Michela Scibila's three books are winners! I'm just hoping that she writes more....I'd buy 'em all!


(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)

Venice & Food by Sally Spector

Sometimes a book deserves its own post...especially a book with fabulous illustrations!!
It's chocked full of illustrations...history...recipes... something for everyone.
What's not to love?

"This is an almost indescribably ethereal work of love that portrays Venice and
its food as no other book has ever done. The illustrations are lush, detailed and deeply
reflective of not only the look of Venice, but it's very soul, its moods, its history-weighted
sadness' "
Italian Food & Wine Magazine - January 1999.

"In this book, Sally Spector, who is fromChicago and now lives in Venice, takes us
on a mouth-watering culinary trip; her historical love affair with food quite literally gives
us a taste of Venice. Each page is beautifully illustrated with the text written in her own
hand, sharing her personal impressions of this beloved city. It also provides practical
Venetian recipes along with the history of Venice and its long relationship with food,
and the ingredients are illustrated in stunning pen, ink and pastel drawings.
Sally reveals historical anecdotes about Venice, its food, herbs, spices and cooking
implements, as well as buildings, warehouses and even various Venetian personalities."

ISBN # 88 7743 173 3

(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)

Love Affair - A Venetian Journal by Wright Morris

(Click on images to enlarge)

We have a great bookstore near our town...the store is in Morristown, New Jersey....
it's called Old Bookshop.
Not THE Old Bookshop.....just Old Bookshop.
I find treasures here....great books...postcards...maps and other assorted ephemera.

A few years ago I stopped in and I hit the big bonanza....an entire shelf of books about Venice.
Evidently some family member had passed onto bluer lagoons...and the survivors weren't as enamored of Venezia.
Guess who bought almost allllll of them?

Love Affair - A Venetian Journal by Wright Morris is one of these gems.
The book was published in 1972...(I checked and you can still find some back copies.)

I love the layout of this book.....a photo on the right and a journal entry on the left.
One thing that I don't like...there are no captions on the images..... some of the places in the photos will always have to remain a mystery to me....sigh!

I'm surprised at some of the changes in Venice since 1972.
Some are subtle....more cats...laundry hanging in areas other than eastern Castello...tables loaded with souvenirs, instead of the rolling monsters that now take their place...BUT one big change I notice.
The buildings were in much worse shape....crumbling seemed to be the norm.

That's one change that I have to admit is for the better.

(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)

A trip down the Grand Canal

Front

Back

Inside photos....

(click on images to enlarge)

It's been great going through all my books....maps....journals....I'm finding things I forgot I have. This is one of the treasures I hadn't look at in awhile.

It's a looooong photo of all the buildings along the Grand Canal....both sides. When closed it's 5 - 1/2" X 13"....open it's 5 - 1/2" X 40'.....
REALLY!!

All the sites are labeled and many also have the century they were originally built.

A real joy for those of us that still love picture books!!

(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)

Books....Venice!!

(click on images to enlarge)

Italy Out of Hand by Barbara Hodgson

This is my kinda book....full of illustrations and quirky stories and tidbits of info...it's a blast.
It does cover all of Italy...
just don't want you Veneziaphiles to go nuts when you realize that she
hits the rest of the boot!

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan
"As their holiday unfolds, Colin and Maria are locked into their own intimacy.
They groom themselves meticulously, as though there awaits someone who cares deeply about how they appear.
When they meet a man with a disturbing story to tell they become drawn into a fantasy of violence and obsession."
This is a wild, dark and intriguing read....
I loved it...
but I do tend to like the dark side of things.
It was made into a movie...starring: Helen Mirren, Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett and Nathasha Richardson.
It is fabulous...if you like a dark and haunting film.......and the cast?
Awesome!

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
From the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil. "Berendt brings the same magic, mystery and decadence when writing about Venice. The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29th, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic opera house La Fenice. Arriving three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective, inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable city, while gradually revealing the truth about the fire."

Along the way he introduces us to a variety of Venetian characters...
American ex-pat that loses the family palazzo after four generations of ownership....
A prominent Venetian poet that commits suicide.....
a master glassblower......
a group of high-society Americans that raise money to preserve the art and architecture of Venice, all the while quarreling in public.
This is a side of Venice that I will only glimpse....(not sure I'd really want to participate anyway...lol)

Rilke's Venice by Brigit Haustedt
translated by Stephen Brown

"Even more than reading, Rilke loved to walk. He was a passionate walker. Stefan Zweig, who often walked with him in Paris, went so far to say that 'knowing every last corner and depth of a city was his passion, almost the only one I ever perceived in him'.
This was equally true in Venice.
Rilke roamed the city for days on end, sometimes by gondola, but mostly by foot. 'My reading ended up being no use at all on this last visit - the best thing was that, with the help of my new topographical education, I for the first time grasped the whole breadth of the city, from San Alvise to San Pietro di Castello.' "

Just a little note: I've been having a blast reading this book. The author actually gives us specific details about locations...it's fun tracking them down on maps....can't wait to really spend time in Venice exploring these places!

My Venice by Harold Brodkey....Photos by Guiseppe Bruno

"Venice is a separate country.
It floats at anchor inside its own will,
among its domes and campanili,
independent and exotic at its heart.
a collection of structures among the waters,
momuments of independent will,
a city of independent will."

Lovely and reflective....a tribute to our charming lady.

Secret Venice by Thomas Jonglez & Paola Zoffoli

With book in hand, discover tiny hidden gems scattered throughout Venezia.
Kinda like going on a scavenger hunt.
I read it at home and couldn't wait to hit the calli in search of these secrets.

Watermark by Joseph Brodsky

This short and sweet book consists of 48 short chapters of essays & prose...a little poetic gem.
I felt as if I were along on a night-time vaporetto ride.



Books...books and more books about Venice or set in Venice.
Sigh...if I can't always be IN Venice at least I can read about Venice...right?
I started to go thru all my books about Venice....holy night...I must have over a hundred.
So I'll post them in segments.


(ps...if you want to see all the books I've posted...click on the LABELS: Books link on the lower left)