July Books

I've had an extraordinary reading month.  Maybe because it's been too hot and humid to go outside.  This weather makes me physically sick.  I feel faint if I'm out very long.  It's so frustrating.  I'm going cabin crazy!

But I've read a lot of books this month and they span several genres, not just my usual list of mysteries.  I'm happy I've read so many books, but I'd gladly read fewer if only I could have some cooler weather!

V is for Vengeance  -  Sue Grafton
Temples of Delight  -  Barbara Trapido
Extra Virgin  -  Annie Hawes
The Blue Castle  -  L. M. Montgomery
Dreamthorpe  -  Chet Williamson
A Cathedral Courtship  -  Kate Douglas Wiggin
Cimarron  -  Edna Ferber
The Suspect  -  L. R. Wright
Walking Home  -  Simon Armitage
Death of an Old Goat  -  Robert Barnard
The Drowning  -  Camilla Lackberg
There's a Porcupine in My Outhouse  -  Michael J. Tougias

Extra Virgin - Annie Hawes

Another blogger, I think it was Danielle, mentioned this book.  I'm a sucker for 'outsider moves to a  place populated with colorful and opinionated locals' books, especially now that I've decided travel is too stressful.  There's an interesting interview with Annie Hawes here.  She's certainly one for  adventure.

I'm not quite sure when she bought the property in San Pietro, Liguria, Italy.  The book was copyrighted in 2001 and she says or implies that she's been there about 15 years.  She and her sister  work in London for months at a time to earn money to come back and live in Italy for the rest of the year.  They gradually make improvements to the property, in Italy called 'Adjustments'.  The locals feel sorry for them because they don't have their own men to do things for them.  So the locals pitch in.

As they get to know the dialect and the people, they form friendships, hear the gossip, find out about rivalries between people and villages, and learn local traditions and superstitions.  Only do certain work on olive trees at certain times of the moon.  Many things are done because that's the way they've always been done.  When new ideas are introduced, they're often rejected as silly.  They have readily accepted motorized vehicles to travel up and down the steep hills, though.

Food plays a big part, whether it's the way the people insist on eating it (no sliced tomatoes, only chunked tomatoes!) or drinking wine, only their own wine, of course.  There's rumor that wine bought in stores isn't made with grapes!  Never drink that stuff!  If you don't eat the right food, at the right times, in the right way, your digestion will be compromised.  Annie and her sister shake their heads.

There is a drought, the well runs dry, then the well is pumped dry by someone who thinks he's bought the rights to it.  There's a forest fire.  There are dances and walks to cool pools in the summer.  The locals teach them how to forage for greens and mushrooms, although there are disagreements about which mushrooms are safe to eat.

I feel like I've been to the Italian hill villages without moving from my comfy chair.  Yes, that's the way to travel.