The Neapolitan Streak by Timothy Holme

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!  It was like reading an Agatha Christie novel.  Intricate plot twists and engaging characters made this book entertaining and fun to read.
Achille Peroni is an inspector in the Italian police force.  He is a southern Italian who has been stationed in Northern Italy, specifically Verona.  When a prominent member of Verona society disappears, it seems that the politically motivated Red Brigade are to blame.  As Peroni digs deeper, he begins to realize that there is much more to the crime and that it could be because of an ancient feud that leads back to the most famous of star-crossed couples, Romeo and Juliet.

At first I was a bit leery of the tie to Romeo and Juliet, but Holme managed to incorporate the legend without being cheesy.  While the mystery keeps the book moving forward, it is the characters that make the book entertaining.  Peroni is like a suave Hercule Poirot.  He is intelligent, intuitive, and a bit of a ladies man.  I really enjoyed his interactions with his sister's family.  There is a lot of wry and witty humor, which just makes reading the story that much better.

The story is set in Italy in 1980 and it did take me a while to understand and sort through the background information.  Holme just sort of drops you in the middle of Italy with just a brief guidebook.  Once I had the basics down, I found that I liked his technique.  I liked reading about Italy from an insider's point of view, instead of from that of a tourist or expatriate.  Instead of Italy being treated like a travel destination, it was a home.  It was an honest portrayal of both the good and the bad of Italy.

I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Tuscany for Beginners by Imogene Edwards-Jones

Tuscany for Beginners by Imogene Edwards-Jones

After leaving England and her cheating husband behind, Belinda Smith has enjoyed being the Queen Bee of her Tuscan valley. Not only is she the owner of the bed and breakfast Casa Mia, but she has been declared the "La Contessa of the Valley" by her fellow expatriates. Life is going very well. That is until the American Lauren shows up and declares that she is going to open her own bed and breakfast in Belinda's valley. Belinda can hardly stand being upstaged and replaced, so she resorts to petty trickery to derail the competition. Unfortunately for her, Lauren is a former Wall Street hotshot who specialized in hostile takeovers. As Belinda fights to retain control, she slowly realizes that she is in a losing battle.

This was yet another okay book. I really did not like Belinda. She was scheming, selfish, overbearing, lazy, and stupid. Obnoxious would also describe her. I hated the way she treated everyone, including her daughter. How she managed to even keep her business is a mystery to me since she was absolutely the worst hostess ever. I was actually rooting for Lauren to crush her and was a little disappointed that an earthquake demolishing her house was the worst she got. Her character never grew or learned from the experience. She never apologized and never accepted what a truly horrid person she was. The plot was mildly entertaining, but the distasteful main character made me not really care too much.

I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. The plot was interesting. The main character ruined it for me. There were recipes. They looked pretty good.

Finding Positano by William James

This book was okay. I read it at the beginning of the month and had to re-read the description to remember the main characters. Apparently it wasn't very memorable. I enjoyed the descriptions of Positano. It is definitely a place I want to visit when I get to Italy. However, I just didn't connect with the main character. She was pretty boring to me. The love story was a bit dull. I never felt the spark between Maggie and Stefano. It felt very awkward to me.

I would rate this 2 out of 5 stars.

Sorry the review is so short. I just don't have much to say about this book.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I would have to say that this book is one of my favorite books this year. Told with alternating viewpoints, The Help explores racism in the South during the pre-Civil Rights era. However, it does so without being preachy or depressing, and I think that is because the characters are written so well. I absolutely loved the characters. Aibileen, the sweet caretaker who finally gets fed up with being treated like a second-class citizen; Minny, the sassy maid with a heart of gold; and Skeeter, the college graduate who is determined to actually use her college degree. When Skeeter ropes Aibileen into helping her write a tell-all book about being a black maid in Mississippi, each of the women must decide if telling the truth is worth the consequences.

I found myself really caring about the main characters (as well as "white-trash" Cecelia Foote) and their struggles to grow in a society that did not allow for growth. The ending did leave me hanging, but I was satisfied with it. The injustices that the black women faced made me angry and grateful. While I know that we do not live in a perfectly colorblind society, I'm glad that it is not as bad as it was then. The rampant racism was appalling and sad.

I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars. A great read!

Juliet by Anne Fortier

Julie Jacobs's life is turned upside down after the death of her Aunt Rose. While her twin Janice inherits the estate, Julie only recieves a letter and a key. The letter informs her that she is really Giulietta Tolomei and that her long-dead mother has left her with a legacy in Siena, Italy. She also discovers that she is a descent of another Giulietta Tolomei, the inspiration for Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Julie's search for her heritage in Siena leads to adventure and romance. As Julie searches for the truth behind her family, she encounters several old texts that share the fate of 13th century Giulietta and her Romeo. As she reads these texts, she learns about a curse that may or may not be still haunting her family.

I found this story to be very entertaining. The mystery of Julie's inheritance was filled with DaVinci Code type moments. Honestly, this book was more adventurous than I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a heartwarming tale about a woman discovering herself, instead I got a fast-paced adventure. It was a nice surprise. I also enjoyed the interwoven story of Giulietta and Romeo. Personally I've never been a fan of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I always thought the characters were annoying. I disliked that they chose suicide as a solution to their problem. Fortier's story was tragic, but the main characters were victims of horrible circumstances, not just some silly star-crossed lovers. I liked the character of Giulietta, she was quite a woman. Siena was not a city I had ever read much about, so I enjoyed reading about it as both a medieval and current place. It seems like an interesting place to visit someday.

Overall, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed it.

Sunrise by Jacquelyn Cook

Here is my second review for the Southern Literature Reading Challenge. Sunrise by Jacquelyn Cook is the story of Anne Tracy Johnston and William Butler Johnston. They are the real life southerners that built the Johnston-Felton-Hay mansion in Macon, Georgia. The story follows Anne and William through their courtship, honeymoon in Europe, and marriage. It covers their lives during the civil war and the outlines the lives of the family and friends that surround them.

While this book had the potential to be very interesting, it ended up being one of the most boring books I've ever read. I got it free on my kindle, which is a good thing. I would have been seriously disappointed if I had paid for this book. The main character Anne, was annoying. She was constantly whining and having fits of temper. Then her entire personality would turn around after a little prayer or a bible verse was given to her. Mr. Johnston could have been an interesting character, but he was kept in the background during much of the story. Not only that, but the plot just read like a timeline of events. There wasn't much storytelling involved. The worst part was when it read like a timeline of deaths. I know this time period wasn't the best for a long life expectancy, but it seems that just about everyone died in this book. It is based on fact, but it felt like there was nothing but death after death througout the book.

I would give this book one out of five stars.

Classics Reading Challenge

Okay - so I have found yet another reading challenge to join. This one is in line with my new year's resolution to read the classics I've missed, so I figured that it would be a great one for me.

Kimberly at Sugar Creek Cottage is hosting a Classics Reading Challenge. The goal is to read at least 8 classics by December 31, 2011. I'm already working on a couple, so we'll see how it goes.