May 21

25

September To Remember by Carole Bumpus: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on May 25, 2021
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2021 • Memoir • Travel | Tagged With: Culinary Travel, Italy, September To Remember by Carole Bumpus | 2 Comments

A September to Remember: Searching for Culinary Pleasures at the Italian Table (Book Three) – Lombardy, Tuscany, Campania, Apulia, and Lazio (Roma) (Savoring the Olde Ways Series, 3) by Carole Bumpus

Publisher: She Writes Press (April 27, 2021)
Category: Culinary/Travel Memoir & Non-Fiction
Tour dates: April 12-May 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1631527272
Available in Print and ebook, 245 pages

Description September To Remember by Carole Bumpus

This culinary travel memoir is an invitation to join in on a month-long trek through Italy, all in the search of the true Italian experience. Sprinkled with unforgettable characters, you will sup on sumptuous traditional foods, sip regional wines, and enjoy vast panoramas of extraordinary beauty. You may find yourself dancing at harvest festivals, climbing through Etruscan tombs, traipsing among Roman ruins, or bathing in ancient Roman termes (hot springs).

You may also enjoy climbing to the heights of wonder in Capri or to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica. Or delight in soaking up the ancient and cultural history in Milan, Firenze (Florence), Amalfi, Pompeii, Lecce and Rome. You can bask in the sun and rugged beauty of the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Adriatic Sea, or the gorgeous Amalfi Coast. Or you can chat for hours over family meals while collecting a compendium of regional and traditional recipes (cucina povera), while you capture a rare glimpse inside the secrets to the Mediterranean psyche. It is truly a trip of a lifetime.

My Thoughts September To Remember by Carole Bumpus

“While traveling abroad, have you ever strolled down a cobblestone street, passed an open window, and heard laughter flowing out to greet you? Have you ever stopped to listen to the banter while wondering what it would be like to live there? In that house? That village? And, oooooh! What are those wonderful aromas? Well, you were not alone. I have too.”

I swear, this book should be officially endorsed by the Italian tourism board. I have never wanted to take a vacation to this beautiful country so much as I have after reading this memoir! Where else are you going to get locally grown olive oil, colorful festivals and historical buildings and sites that date back thousands of years?

I’m assuming that Carole Bumpus asked herself the same questions and it was this interest in Italy that led her and her husband, Winston to take a trip there in 1998. That very trip is immortalized in this memoir, ‘A September to Remember: Searching for Culinary Pleasures at the Italian Table.’

This is a true tale with historical settings, wonderfully friendly people and food that is absolutely to die for, if it were veganized, of course).

If there is anything that the Italian people do better than everyone else, it’s probably food and Bumpus proves this by not only describing delectable meals, but also including many of the recipes for these meals in the end of the book. Luckily, some of these recipes can be easily be made vegan but be ware, some cannot. This way, you can sample some of them for yourself and decide if they are everything that she describes. If you’re like me, you won’t be disappointed.

This memoir has much to love and salivate over, without dragging on like some others do. I loved Bumpus’ writing style and I plan to read more from her in the future! I actually read her novel, ‘A Cup of Redemption’ back in 2014 and loved it as well. You can read my review here.

Nothing says love quite like food, and Carole Bumpus has hit on that perfectly in this one-of-a-kind memoir. I highly recommend that you read it. Great arm chair traveling, especially during a pandemic. 5/5!

Note: For my fellow vegans, I found several vegan friendly restaurants in Italy via a Google search and there is also a vegan tour company to help you plan your trip there. Check out this article: How To Travel As A Vegan In Italy

I received the ebook for my honest review.

About Carole Bumpus

Multi award winning author, Carole Bumpus is a retired family therapist, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She began writing about food and travel when she stumbled upon the amazing stories of women and war in France. Her historical novel, A Cup of Redemption, was published in October 2014, and her unique companion cookbook, Recipes for Redemption: A Companion Cookbook to A Cup of Redemption, was released in August 2015.

Books One and Two of her Savoring the Olde Ways series, Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, were published in August 2019 and 2020; her third book in the series, A September to Remember: Searching for Culinary Pleasures at the Italian Table is due out April 27, 2021. All five books have been published by She Writes Press which is part of SparkPoint Studio, LLC.

Website: https://carolebumpus.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolejbumpus
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaroleBumpus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carole.bumpus/

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May 19

13

Devil Comes to Town by Paolo Maurensig: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on May 13, 2019
Posted in My Current Giveaways | Tagged With: dark Humor, Devil Comes to Town by Paolo Maurensig, Italy | 2 Comments

A Devil Comes to Town by Paolo Maurensig

Thanks to Sabrina Greene of World Editions, I am giving away one print copy of ‘A Devil Comes to Town’ by Paolo Maurensig.

Description Devil Comes to Town by Paolo Maurensig

A small village full of aspiring writers + The devil in the form of a hot-shot publisher = A refined and engaging literary fable on narcissism, vainglory and human weakness

Wild rabies runs rampant through the woods. The foxes are gaining ground, boldly making their way into the village. In Dichtersruhe, an insular yet charming haven stifled by the Swiss mountains, these omens go unnoticed by all but the new parish priest. The residents have other things on their mind: Literature. Everyone’s a writer—the nights are alive with reworked manuscripts. So when the devil turns up in a black car claiming to be a hot-shot publisher, unsatisfied authorial desires are unleashed and the village’s former harmony is shattered. Taut with foreboding and Gothic suspense, Paolo Maurensig gives us a refined and engaging literary parable on narcissism, vainglory, and our inextinguishable thirst for stories.

Praise Devil Comes to Town by Paolo Maurensig

“This nested narrative is an entertaining exploration of the manifold powers―creative, confessional, corrupting―of fiction.” ―Publisher’s Weekly

“Maurensig gives us a masterfully constructed gothic horror story designed to keep aspiring writers up at night. A macabre little Alpine horror story elevated by masterful storytelling and language.” ―Kirkus

About Paolo Maurensig

PAOLO MAURENSIG was born in Gorizo, and lives in Udine, Italy. Now a bestselling author, he debuted in 1993 with The Lüneburg Variation, translated into over twenty languages. His novels include Canone Inverso, The Guardian of Dreams, and The Archangel of Chess. For his novel Theory of Shadows, published by FSG in the US in January 2018, he won the Bagutta Prize. A Devil Comes to Town is his latest novel.

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Mar 18

21

Italian Party by Christina Lynch: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on March 21, 2018
Posted in My Past Giveaways | Tagged With: Historical Fiction, Italian Party by Christina Lynch, Italy | 6 Comments

Italian Party by Christina Lynch

Thanks to Staci Burt of St. Martin’s Press, I am giving away one print copy of ‘The Italian Party’ by Christina Lynch.

Description Italian Party by Christina Lynch

A delicious and sharply funny page-turner about “innocent” Americans abroad in 1950s Siena, Italy. Newly married, Scottie and Michael are seduced by Tuscany’s famous beauty. But the secrets they are keeping from each other force them beneath the splendid surface to a more complex view of ltaly, America and each other.

When Scottie’s Italian teacher–a teenager with secrets of his own–disappears, her search for him leads her to discover other, darker truths about herself, her husband and her country. Michael’s dedication to saving the world from communism crumbles as he begins to see that he is a pawn in a much different game. Driven apart by lies, Michael and Scottie must find their way through a maze of history, memory, hate and love to a new kind of complicated truth.

Half glamorous fun, half an examination of America’s role in the world, and filled with sun-dappled pasta lunches, prosecco, charming spies and horse racing, The Italian Party is a smart pleasure.

Praise Italian Party by Christina Lynch

“Set in Siena in 1956, this debut novel is a spy thriller, comedy of manners, and valentine to Italy, spiked with forbidden sex and political skulduggery…The ending is unexpected, with the author displaying a sophisticated, nuanced view of love and marriage that feels very modern. Or maybe it’s just Italian.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[Lynch’s] affection for and knowledge of the Italian people and way of living are evident: her food descriptions in particular are droolworthy. Readers will be rooting for Michael and Scottie through the story’s many adventures and intrigue, while political and social commentary add an extra layer of depth.” —Booklist

“In her gracefully written debut, as effervescent as spumante, Lynch dramatizes the allure and power of secrets – in politics and in marriage – while depicting with sly humor the collision between the American do-gooder naïveté and Italian culture. Italophiles and anyone interested in spying and the expat experience will love the spot-on social commentary.” —Library Journal (Starred Review)

”This novel is dashing, fun, sexy and witty—a fun read on multiple levels.”—The Historical Novel Society

About Christina Lynch

Christina Lynch is a professor of English at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. A former Milan correspondent for Wand Women’s Wear Daily, she has written on staff for television shows such as The Dead Zone, Encore! Encore!, Unhappily Ever After and Wildfire. The Italian Party is her first novel.

Website: http://christinalynchwriter.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/clynchwriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinalynchauthor

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This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ends on April 6, 2018 midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.