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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
There were moments of true beauty in this book, but there were also lots of things I didn't care about. Many of her vignettes reminded me of my time living in Europe. But I didn't really care that much about her fixing up the house, because that is not really something I can relate to in any way.
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
This is truly a story about privilege and wealth. Once I got past the author’s grumbling about first-world problems of buying a summer house in Italy and the repetitive mentioning of purchasing new linens for the too many rooms, there were some gems. The beauty of living in the circumference of your locality- knowing your land, eating what’s in season, learning from neighbors, walking, walking, walking. I’d like to take some Italian habits to heart too; livingly slowly (what’s the rush?), siestas, long meals with plenty of wine.
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This book may not appeal to everyone, but honestly I found it completely enthralling. Beautiful prose that highlights the wonder of the everyday, and reminds me of how my own mind works and how I see the world around me. So I may be a bit biased in how much I enjoyed this book. I did, however, skip the recipe sections. ;)
I enjoyed this book not so much because anything crazy actually happened but I felt like I was right alongside the author and her husband while they completed all of the small projects involved in their one big project of buying, fixing, and living in a house in Tuscany. The food they cooked and ate sounded simple yet delicious. Each meal only called for a few ingredients but the end result was always gourmet because each ingredient was local and fresh. This book helped to scratch my travel itch a little bit. At least until I can actually go to Italy myself. I got the movie after I finished the book and was a little surprised that the story was so completely different but it was also entertaining in a different sort of way. Both gave me a glimpse into what life in Tuscany might be like. Not as a tourist, but as one who actually lives, farms, shops, and eats right alongside the bloodlines that have been there for centuries.
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This is the first book I've read where I actually wanted to scrap my life and move away to another country and live simply. While this book is the basis of the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun", I would have to say that I liked the movie more. I enjoyed the parts where the author described the renovations and every day life of her and her partner in Tuscany. I could have done without the chapters of every minute detail of the local churches and buildings. Those were extremely boring to me. Now, granted, had I seen the churches and buildings in person...I would have loved it.
I loved that the author included a lot of her recipes in the book. I should really get the book back out of the library and copy some of those recipes. They were great!
I loved that the author included a lot of her recipes in the book. I should really get the book back out of the library and copy some of those recipes. They were great!
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Okay, so I may have not finished this, but it was pretty boring and rambly. The premise is nice and I love hearing about people’s lives of moving to other countries, highly appealing to my romantic notions of someday moving abroad. I have not seen the movie, and I know it deviates a lot from the book, but I can tell it’s better than this. I can read pages about rekindling a room and cooking Italian food, but my imagination will not suffice in conjuring up imagines of what I’m sure is a lovely looking life. There was too little plot and too much description of things I couldn’t picture or imagine, leaving it very dry in written form.
It really transports you to Italy. Lots of cool Italian recipes that make you hungry while reading it too fair be warned! It is a bit slow at times talking about her day to day fixing up this house, but I am thankful for taking Western Civ back in college reading Dantes Inferno and the Aeneid since there were lots of references to those works. It also brought me back to several things I saw while driving through Tuscany and visiting Florence years ago. Time to go back but in a mask free world!