Dear friends,

Where do you turn when you’re looking for your next great read? What about asking people who write books for their recommendations? Shepherd.com, a terrific, informative website for avid readers, has asked more than 10,000 authors to list the five best books on their area of interest or expertise. I recently posted my recommended books for inspiring a passion for Italy and Italian.

As the author of La Bella Lingua, I had to start with Dante, Italy’s greatest poet, and to confess that the first adaptation of The Divine Comedy that I read was a comic book with Mickey Mouse (Topolino) as Dante. Hooked by the plot, I tackled English translations and was soon ensnared by Dante’s fantastic images and lush language.

Another crown of Italian literature, Giovanni Boccaccio, also made my list. The lusty, humorous, ever-entertaining tales in The Decameron continue to resonate centuries after they were published.

In Botticelli’s Secret, Joseph Luzzi recounts the mysterious loss and recovery of the artist’s illustrations for The Divine Comedy. In Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel brings to life the worlds of the renowned scientist and his illegitimate daughter, whose spirit and intellect soared like his. 

Four Seasons in Rome was the first Anthony Doerr book that I read—which is the literary equivalent of eating dessert first. I chose this touching memoir of his family’s year in Rome both for its elegant prose and for its tender portrait of a city that eternally surprises and seduces visitors.

These days I’m drawn to very different books, such as Rachel Carson’s The Edge of the Sea and The Sea Around Us , Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus, and Ed Yong’s An Immense World. But I’m finding my greatest inspiration outdoors. In recent years, I’ve trained and volunteered as a naturalist and docent. A few months ago, I started a new blog, “Wondering on a Blue Frontier,” about my explorations on the northern California coast.

Along the way, I’ve experienced a sea change that I never anticipated. Immersed in the natural world, I’ve learned to live to different rhythms—by the seasons of the sea rather than the calendar and by the two-step tango of the tides rather the time of day. I’ve been energized by the flamboyant blooms of wildflowers in Spring and captivated by creatures, such as purple sea urchins and giant green anemones, that I never knew existed. You can find an archive of my previous posts here.

As a writer, I’ve always wanted to share the excitement of my discoveries with others. That’s why I’m inviting you to subscribe to my blog. Upcoming posts will feature seabirds in love, a lullaby for harbor seals, a very big fish story, and the true tale of how I became, as a friend put it, “a concubine of the coast.”

Click the button below to subscribe—absolutely free, with a guarantee that we won’t share your email:

Happy reading—of books and blogs!

Dianne