Since I always seem to remember where I read a particular book, I like to take books with me which "fit" my destination. For example, I read Trollope's "Barchester Towers" in London, Wharton's "Custom of the Country" in Paris, etc. Does anyone have any suggestions for Italy? I have already thought of Henry James and "A room with a view". I prefer to take books that will take a while to read, otherwise I have to carry too much reading material. Please, no cracks about this only being the kind of question you get from someone with an edu address, I've already thought of that! Thanks.

Would you prefer a crack about people with edu addresses who don't live up to the computer-geeky stereoptype? A few months ago there were threads about reading lists for France, Italy, and England. Where were you? Why weren't you hunched over your screen? Shocking. <BR>Anyway, one quick trick from that post is to visit www.galleyslaves.com <BR>I'd vote for Hellenga's "Sixteen Pleasures." <BR>

Without knowing exactly where you're going or what your tastes are, I'll just throw out a few titles, for what it's worth. (Judging from the English Vicotrian-Edwardian slant of your examples, these may not be worth much, but...) <BR> <BR>Tuscany: I agree w/Martha, the Sixteen Pleasures was fun. Tuscany, if it doesn't have to be fiction: Iris Origo's War in the Val d'Orcia (WW II memoir) or The Merchant of Prato (Renaissance historical). Sicily: The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa (a classic), The Silent Duchess by Dacia Maraini. The hills near Asti: The Moon and the Bonfire by Cesare Pavese (another classic). Everywhere and nowhere in particular: anything by Italo Calvino. <BR> <BR>I'm not sure these are all in print, but judging from your address you have good access to used bookstores, and they're more available than many other books in translation. <BR> <BR>An if you like mysteries, there are a jillion of them set in Italy. Two authors that come to mind are Steven(?) Saylor for mysteries set in ancient Rome and Michael Dibdin (Dibden?) for <BR>contemporary mysteries, usually in Venice. <BR> <BR>

How about "The Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irving Stone, historical fiction about the life of Michaelangelo?

How about DH Lawrence? <BR> <BR>Or John Mortimer, if in Tuscany?

As it's the Europe forum... <BR> <BR>Try Bill Bryson's 'Neither Here Nor There' - about his European Travels. Yes, I know a lot of you don't like him but it's very, very funny.

I just read "The Hills of Tuscany" by Ferenc Mate. I only wish I had saved it to read during our trip to Tuscany in May! Perhaps not in the category you are looking for( a memoir), but definitely not to be missed!

Under the Tuscan Sun-- Forget the author, but she's an American with an edu e-mail address. What about an Italian fashion or travel mag? It takes me a LONG time to read one of those, flipping back and forth with my dual language dictionary. But it's a great way to improve your Italian, even if you're an absolute beginner.

Under the Tuscan Sun is by Frances Mayes. I am currently reading her newest, Bella Tuscany, and it is excellent.

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'm hoping to find some of them at a used bookstore. I may try to read a couple of the "faster" ones before I go, I love the idea of mysteries set in Venice. Sorry most of you didn't like the edu joke, my husband was telling me that this was a "geeky" question, and I just wanted people to know that I had already been told!

I really liked Colleen McCullough's series about Republican Rome. The first is called "The First Man In Rome", then "The Grass Crown", "Fortune's Favorites", "Caeser's Women", and the most recent one, "Caeser". They definitely take a while to read, and are packed with details of life in ancient Rome. I believe they are fairly well researched as well, so there is at least some historical accuracy.

Don't forget to tell your husband that you've been outgeeked by a couple of coms and a net (the earlier reading list questions). <BR>Geekiness is a vast and powerful force that cannot be contained within a single domain.

Cheryl,I don't think that this is a geeky question and even if it was I like geeks.I bet Bill Gates was a geek and look where it got him ! <BR>For books I agree with Sheila and Tony.Bill Bryson and D H Lawrence.I haven't read any of the others though. <BR>I like the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and H V Morton,A Traveller in Italy. <BR>

I recommend See Naples, by Douglas Allanbrook; a beautiful, lyrical memoir.

Room With a View is unbeatable, but I second the Colleen McCullough series if ancient Rome interests you, and I also thought of Hawthorne's Marble Faun and the great Sicilian novel, The Leopard, if you're going there.

Cheryl -- Here's something way less serious, but delightfully fun. "Evening Class" by Maeve Binchy. It's about an unusual group of people who come together at an Italian evening class. You might want to check book reviews on the web. I think the paperback is about 500 pages. <BR> <BR>

Don't know where you'll be in Italy, but <BR>all of the other suggestions sound fine. Here are my two: <BR> <BR>Three Hands in the Fountain by Lindsey Davis featuring Marcus Didius Falco, a freeland investigator in Emperor Vespasian's Rome.( A hand is found in the aqueduct--serial killer in Rome--attempts to pollute the water supply...) <BR> <BR>On Persephone's Island by Mary Simeti ( close if not exactly right on the name)--Sicily. She's an American who married a Sicilian and has lived there for over twenty years. Very lyrical without being unrealistic, good backfround on Greek myths, also. <BR> <BR>Personally, I enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun, but it is soooo wrapped -up in the beauty and poetry of it all that I found it a bit distant. After all, restoring a house is a real chore ( I've done it twice and I couldn't wax rhapsodic about it all.) <BR> <BR>a

<BR>Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin is a wonderful novel set in Italy around World War I. It is beautifully written and has a nice mixture of history, adventure and love story. Perhaps best of all for you, it is very long (I think the paperback is approximately 800 pages). If you bring it on your vacation you probably won't need to pack any more books! I've read many of the great suggestions offered by other posters and I think you can't go wrong with any of them. Still, if I could take only one book it would be this one.

Jessica- <BR> <BR>That sounds like a great book to take, and best yet, I already own it, but never got around to reading it. Thanks.

You want geeky? I remember buying a copy of Thomas Pynchon's (?) Gravities' Rainbow about 20-some years ago to read on vacation. I think I carried it with me for three years. Never made it through. Had something to do with rocket bombs and World War II. Must have made some reference to Italy. It's probably still in a bookcase somewhere in our house, as we never throw out books. But do you really want it?