Sicily Guides & Touring Books

  1. Sicily – Insight Guides  – standard tour books
  2. Sicily – Lonely Planet Guide - ditto
  3. La Sicilia
  4. Sicily: An Architectural Guide – Guido – detailed classic guide to archeology
  5. Palermo – City Guide – detailed up to date guide (will bring with us)
  6. Golden Book of Sicily
  7. Art & History of Sicily
  8. Sicilia Greca
  9. Sicilian Scenery
  10. Monreale – City of the Golden Temple -
  11. Piazza Armerina – Imperial Villa of Casale
  12. Itinerari per la Sicilia
  13. Sicily Before the Greeks – Brea (UC)
  14. CD on Temples and Theaters in Sicily – nice guide
  15. CD on Palermo, Citta del Sole – nice pictures and music

 

(mostly) Non-Fiction Books

  1. Sicilian Lives – Dolci – ***classic study of Mafia and Sicilian poverty
  2. Myths Legends and Customs in Greek and Roman Sicily
  3. DH Lawrence & Italy
  4. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara – Kertzer – true story of a low-point in the Catholic Church
  5. A House in Sicily – Phelps – ****interesting story of British woman’s life in Sicily – we met her in Taormina in spring ‘00
  6. Desiring Italy – edited by Cahill
  7. Mattanza – Maggio – ***** wonderful story of her love of the tuna fishing near the isle of Favignana
  8. Lives of the Artist – Vasari – classic biographies of famous artists
  9. Under the Tuscan Sun – Mayes -**** sumptuous descriptions of living in Tuscany
  10. On Persephone’s Island - Simeti – hope you liked it!
  11. The Stones of Florence & Venice Observed – McCarthy
  12. The Hills of Tuscany – Mate
  13. Mother Tongue – Wilde-Menozzi
  14. A Valley in Italy – StAubin de Teran
  15. Italian Neighbors – Parks – ****wonderful recounting of living in Italy
  16. Midnight in Sicily – Robb – ****recent history of Mafia in Sicily
  17. No Pictures on my Grave – Lloyd – ****one woman’s trek for spiritual freedom in Trapani and around Sicily
  18. Sicily – Sammartino & Roberts – ****a nice concise history (with lots of typos)
  19. That Fine Italian Hand – Hoffmann – ***Italian culture
  20. Sicilian Carousel – DH Lawrence – ****wonderfully written, of course, trek around the island
  21. The Sun at Midday – Alhadeff – ***Tales of a Mediterranean family
  22. The Wind Off the Island – Bradford – ****sail around Sicily in the ‘50s with this British couple
  23. Were You Always an Italian? – Laurino – stories of the Italian-American experience
  24. Dances with Luigi – Paolicelli – an Italian-American’s search to understand his roots
  25. Unto the Sons – Talese – *****wonderful story of Italian immigrants
  26. Italian Days – Harrison – ***Well-written travelogue of Italy, including Sicily
  27. Passion Justice Freedom – Photographs of Sicily – Battaglia (UC) – ****photos of the struggle against the Mafia by a progressive woman photographer
  28. Pictureque Sicily – Paton (UC) ****turn of the last century tour of Sicily with old photos

 

Novels

  1. The Skin – Malaparte – ****very powerful set of autobiographical episodes in WW II
  2. The Bethrothed – Manzoni – ****classic – first modern Italian novel – set in Lombardy in the early 1600’s
  3. The Silent Dutchess – Mariani – ****takes place in Bagheria just outside of Palermo
  4. The Sparrow – Verga – ***beautifully written short tale of old Sicily
  5. Reeds in the Wind – Deledda – ****lovely book – set in Sardinia
  6. Sometimes the Soul – Timpanella – ***very well-told pair of novellas of Sicily
  7. Silk – Baricco – ****very nice short and sweet tale
  8. Little Jesus of Sicily – Pasqualino – ***pre-WW II village life- short multi-level well-done tale
  9. In The Garden of Papa Santuzzu – Ardizzone – *****beautiful, enticing tale of immigrants from Agrigento, Sicily with lots of remembrances of the island
  10. The Sun Train – Reggiani – ****wonderful children’s book for all ages
  11. The Last Cannoli - Cusumano - *****excellent story of immigrant family – her first book, too
  12.  Paper Fish – De Rosa (UC) – ***Italian immigrants in Chicago in the 1940’s
  13. The House by the Medlar Tree – Verga (UC) – takes place in a small Sicilian village
  14. The Myrtle & The Rose – Messina (UC) –***1982 lovely short novel
  15. Little Novels of Sicily – Verga (UC) – ***short novellas of Sicilian life
  16. The Leopard – Lampedusa (UC) – ****classic story of Sicily of old (hopefully we will be able to see the movie)