Opening Sentence of the Day: The Indiscretions of Archie

"It wasn't Archie's fault really."

-- The Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse.

Snow is falling here in Portland.  This is definitely the weekend to tuck in with a funny Wodehouse classic.

Overlook Press is reissuing Wodehouse's books in a spiffy edition all with these bright, graphic covers.  I have about a dozen of them now and plan to collect more.

A Venice Book List: Bella Città; Bellissimi Libri

Venice is at the top of my armchair travel destinations. It is such a magical city. I love to be there. I love to think about it. And I love to read about it.

This is a list of books about Venice, including fiction, non-fiction, and cookbooks. It is not a comprehensive list. These are the books about Venice that are on my TBR shelf now (in blue), on my wish list, or that I have already read (in red).

There is a much lengthier list of Venice books on a great website called Fictional Cities, along with lists of books about Florence and London. 

Any suggestions? Please leave comments.

The general list is in alphabetical order, by title. Following that is a list of mysteries by Donna Leon featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, all set in Venice. The lengthy series is listed in publication order, starting with the first book in the series.

GENERAL LIST

Alibi by Joseph Kanon (novel)

The Aspern Papers and Other Stories by Henry James (short stories)

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt (non-fiction)

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan (novel)

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (novel)

Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier (short stories)

A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich (non-fiction)

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (non-fiction) (reviewed here);

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (novel)

Locations by Jan Morris (non-fiction) (reviewed here)

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (play)

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro (short stories)

Serenissima by Erica Jong (novel) (reviewed here)

The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin (non-fiction; abridged)

Stone's Fall by Iain Pears (novel)

Stone Virgin by Barry Unsworth (novel)

Temporary Kings by Anthony Powell (novel)

Territorial Rights by Muriel Spark (novel)

A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena de Blasi (non-fiction)

A Traveller's Companion to Venice, edited by John Julius Norwich (non-fiction)

Venetian Affair by Helen MacInnes (novel)

Venetian Holiday by David Campbell (novel)

Veneto: Authentic Recipes from Venice and the Italian Northeast by Julia della Croce (cookbook)

Venice Observed by Mary McCarthy (non-fiction)

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (novel)

The World of Venice: Revised Edition by Jan Morris (non-fiction)

DONNA LEON'S

COMMISSARIO GUIDO BRUNETTI MYSTERIES

Death at La Fenice

Death in a Strange Country

Dressed for Death

Death and Judgment

Acqua Alta

Quietly in Their Sleep

A Noble Radiance

Fatal Remedies

Friends in High Places

A Sea of Troubles

Willful Behavior

Uniform Justice

Doctored Evidence

Blood from a Stone

Through a Glass, Darkly

Suffer the Little Children

The Girl of His Dreams

About Face

A Question of Belief

Drawing Conclusions

NOTE: Last updated December 28, 2012.

Teaser Tuesday Two-fer

"He thought intelligence a function of the individual and that groups of persons were intelligent in inverse proportion to their size.  Nations had the brain of an amoeba whereas a committee approached the condition of a trainable moron."

-- Bech: A Book by John Updike.

This is a novel-in-short-stories about a fictitious American novelist named Henry Bech. It is the first of a trilogy, followed by Bech is Back and Bech at Bay. 

This has renewed my faith in Updike after my somewhat disappointing run in with The Witches . . . and The Widows of Eastwick a few months back. 

"In most places and at most times, appreciation of savor in food has usually gone cheek by jowl with appreciation of beauty in women. The pleasures of the table have a natural affinity with the pleasures of the bed."

-- The Food of France by Waverley Root.  Well said, Waverly. 

While not given much to anecdote, Root does occasionally offer this kind of amusing generalization in his comprehensive account of the regional foods of France.

This is on my French Connections list and is the first book I am reading for the Foodie's Reading Challenge. It will also count as one of my Chunkster Challenge books, coming in at exactly 450 pages, plus an introduction.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Happy Birthday, George Washington!

The story of Washington chopping down the cherry tree loomed large in my childhood, but I never think of it as an adult. It took me a minute to think why a hatchet symbolizes George Washington.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

The Library of Clean Reads is hosting in February.

I got two books last week:



Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption by William Cope Moyers.  The author is the son of Bill Moyers and a former journalist himself.  He struggled with drugs and alcohol for years, before getting himself cleaned up.  He now is the vice president for external affairs at Hazelden Foundation, which provides addiction treatment and recovery services across the country.

I saw Moyer speak here in Portland last week.  He is an ardent speaker who told his story with animation and humor. Hopefully the book will be just as good.



Maps and Shadows by Krysia Jopek.  This is a novel based on the WWII experiences of the author's relatives, who were sent to Siberia from Poland during the war, then spent years drifting around the Middle East and Africa before reuniting and moving to America.  It looks terrific and I am going to turn to it soon.