If you are a cofee lover, you should read this The Devil's Cup...

 

This is the first book I finished today, January 1st. I started it on December 27th (last year obviously) and ended it today.
At first I was intrigued by the title of the book, because I am a coffee drinker and a bit of a caffeine addict ☕😁
Then I also saw that the wonderful Kim from @bookmarksnbreadsticks read it and reviewed it, and I decided to give it a try.
It's part historical book and part travel diary.
Allen 's quest for the best coffee begins in Ethiopia, then goes to Yemen, India, Turkey, Europe (especially Vienna), Brazil and finally the USA.
Each chapter gives us a historical and cultural overview behind the now famous beverage.
I mostly enjoyed the chapters about Europe, the Viennese coffee houses of the early 1600s and how a group of Italian monks gave rise to the now welknown drink called 'cappuccino'.
Definitely a non-fiction read I recommend to everyone, especially if you are a coffee lover.
#stewartallenlee, #thedevilscup, #justfininshedreading, #firstreadof2022, #instabooks, #bookstagram, #booklover, #induction, #foodnonfiction, #traveldiaries

1 h

My best book of 2011, The Push by Ashley Audrain

 I think I've just finished my best read of 2021. It's so well written and so heartbreaking. It makes me wonder about what family really means, about marriage and most of all motherhood.

It is so well written in such a real and honest way that it totally freaks me out.
This story is so dark, mysterious, unsettling, depressing and nonetheless beautiful. I read it in two days, I just couldn't put it down.
This book highlights every single one of my fears about being /becoming a parent, a mother.
This mother-daughter relationship developed in three generations of women who suffered from mental illness women who tortured their daughter and in the end they committed suicide.
Still Blythe, our main character did her best to connect with her daughter Violet, but there seems to be something wrong with this daughter. Nobody believes her. Even her husband thinks she isn't capable to be a good mother.
Did Blythe suffer from mental illness like her mother and grandmother or is her daughter an evil person? Can children be evil?
This book left me with so many questions and I would love to talk about it with someone
Did you read it, and if so what do you think of it?
#ashleyaudrain, #thepush, #pameladormanbooks, #justfininshedreading, #instabooks, #bestbooks2021, #bookstagram, #booklover, #bookaddict, #psychologicalbooks

My wonderful Christmas books collection

 

Il Duomo di Carrara

 

Opening of the Sarteschi House

 

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

 🌹Nearly the end of July, @duchessofcornwallsreadingroom announced the beginning of the third Season of the Reading Club and the first novel to read was The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I immediately decided to take part in this marvelous journey of re-reading one of my favorite stories, that of the butler Mr. Stevens.

🌹It is always an interesting book to read, even if the second time. I must confess that the first time I read the book at University, I did that after seeing the film. It's still strange how strong the influence of the film is in my head.
🌹Even now after 20 years of seeing the film I cannot imagine anyone other than Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson when I think of Mr. Stevens and Miss Kenton. Both Hopkins and Thompson are actors who can truly inhabit the characters they portray.
🌹What really makes the work shine it's the characterization of Mr. Stevens along with so many interesting themes that the novel explores. Although not very likeable in his rigidity and emotional sterility, Mr. Stevens nevertheless emerges as a fascinating and tragic character.
🌹The ending was just wonderful. The writing is sophisticated and fitting for our narrator, an English post-war butler, still beautiful nonetheless.
🌹Stevens is such a reasonable and accurate narrator when it comes to what words were said during conversations, he is so bad at conveying what emotions he shows during those conversations.
🌹It's a beautiful and emotional book, I recommend it to everyone.
#duchessofcornwallreadingroom, #KazuoIshiguro, #theremainsoftheday, #instabooks, #lovereadingbooks, #justfinishedreading, #faberandfaberbooks, #booksaddict

April and Spring

 Il nome di questo mese deriva da una parola greca che significa "apertura".

In Aprile il tempo piange e ride insieme.
Quando in Aprile il corno suona per il fieno e per il grano è stagione buona.
In Aprile un'alluvione porta via la rana e i suoi ranocchietti.
#edithholden, #ildiariodiunasignorainglesedelprimonovecento, #thecountrydiaryofanedwardianlady, #mondadorieditore, #booksaddict, #booklover, #april, #springandtulips, #bookstagram, #