March Reviews: Book 1 - The City of Fallen Angels - Standalone Non-fiction-Venice, Italy-Cont. John Berendt Corona - G+ - I enjoyed the trip to Venice and the peek into the society. I was disappointed not to find the Fenice fire vases on line, I found several Seguso site but not the vase collection inspired by the fire, I’d love to see them and will continue my search from time-to-time. But Berendt did take me to Italy and I appreciate it. But the trouble with a true story is there is no neat tying of strings at the end. Like, um, who done it? Libby - G+/VG - Libby is over half-way through it and is enjoying it although it is not a grabber. She loves Venice, having been there. Libby finds the book interesting and will definitely finish it. Linda - OK - She wanted to like it more than she did. Much of it felt like gossip and that was annoying. The book seemed padded with detail that didn't need to be there. She was charmed by the rat poison guy and the descriptions of the city. Linda wanted to live vicariously and take a little trip to Venice; some parts of the story worked for that but not all. She liked that our group read a non-fiction book as she would not have finished it otherwise, but she was glad she did. LJ - VG+ - I loved this book. No, it’s not on the same level as Berendt’s first book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” but it’s a very different book. “Midnight” was about a murder and followed a very specific cast of characters. In this book, the central character is the city of Venice and it was fascinating. Berendt excels at sense of place so real with the city. I really did have a sense of the lady beneath of veil of whom one catches intriguing glances. I loved learning about some of the history of the people; Ezra Pound and his mistress Olga, the glassblower and his sons and part about Francesco da Mosto, who hosted “Italy Top to Toe” on the Travel Channel recently, about the politics and how the city runs, or doesn’t, and the dissension within the organization Save Venice. All the sub-stories wound about as do the canals of Venice and I was enthralled. I am not normally a non-fiction reader, but this was a one-sitting read for me. Nancy - G - Nancy got fed up with the gossip-y ton so she downgraded it from G+. The protagonist was definitely the city and it's characters.
Book 2 - THE ALEHOUSE MURDERS (Historical Mystery-Bascot de Marins-Englind-Medieval) - 1st in series - Maureen Ash LJ - G - It was the first time I’ve a mystery set in Puerto, and particularly enjoyed that the setting was a small town. I enjoyed the protagonist and his relationships to others. Although found him a bit dense at times it did add a sense of reality to the story. The book was rife with missed opportunities and Torres does like his bad guys really bad and his good guys good. I particularly enjoyed the bit of irony at the end of the book. It was a good read. It was exciting and kept my attention but I doubt I’ll run out to buy the rest of the series. Book 3 - MESSAGE IN THE FLAMES (Police Proced-Luis Gonzalo-Puerto Rico-Cont) - Steven Torres
Book 1 - The City of Fallen Angels - Standalone
Non-fiction-Venice, Italy-Cont.
John Berendt
Corona - G+ - I enjoyed the trip to Venice and the peek into the society. I was disappointed not to find the Fenice fire vases on line, I found several Seguso site but not the vase collection inspired by the fire, I’d love to see them and will continue my search from time-to-time. But Berendt did take me to Italy and I appreciate it. But the trouble with a true story is there is no neat tying of strings at the end. Like, um, who done it?
Libby - G+/VG - Libby is over half-way through it and is enjoying it although it is not a grabber. She loves Venice, having been there. Libby finds the book interesting and will definitely finish it.
Linda - OK - She wanted to like it more than she did. Much of it felt like gossip and that was annoying. The book seemed padded with detail that didn't need to be there. She was charmed by the rat poison guy and the descriptions of the city. Linda wanted to live vicariously and take a little trip to Venice; some parts of the story worked for that but not all. She liked that our group read a non-fiction book as she would not have finished it otherwise, but she was glad she did.
LJ - VG+ - I loved this book. No, it’s not on the same level as Berendt’s first book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” but it’s a very different book. “Midnight” was about a murder and followed a very specific cast of characters. In this book, the central character is the city of Venice and it was fascinating. Berendt excels at sense of place so real with the city. I really did have a sense of the lady beneath of veil of whom one catches intriguing glances. I loved learning about some of the history of the people; Ezra Pound and his mistress Olga, the glassblower and his sons and part about Francesco da Mosto, who hosted “Italy Top to Toe” on the Travel Channel recently, about the politics and how the city runs, or doesn’t, and the dissension within the organization Save Venice. All the sub-stories wound about as do the canals of Venice and I was enthralled. I am not normally a non-fiction reader, but this was a one-sitting read for me.
Nancy - G - Nancy got fed up with the gossip-y ton so she downgraded it from G+. The protagonist was definitely the city and it's characters.
Book 2 - THE ALEHOUSE MURDERS (Historical Mystery-Bascot de Marins-Englind-Medieval) - 1st in series - Maureen Ash
LJ - G - It was the first time I’ve a mystery set in Puerto, and particularly enjoyed that the setting was a small town. I enjoyed the protagonist and his relationships to others. Although found him a bit dense at times it did add a sense of reality to the story. The book was rife with missed opportunities and Torres does like his bad guys really bad and his good guys good. I particularly enjoyed the bit of irony at the end of the book. It was a good read. It was exciting and kept my attention but I doubt I’ll run out to buy the rest of the series.
Book 3 - MESSAGE IN THE FLAMES (Police Proced-Luis Gonzalo-Puerto Rico-Cont) - Steven Torres