I’m not going to make a habit of the literary mix tape but Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins demands it. Because it’s a story of operatic proportions.

If you want a detailed review, I liked this one (it captures the complexities of the story without making it sound like a dog’s breakfast… Because there are lots of characters and lots of layers in this story).

And so, because there were over 8,700 reviews of this book on Goodreads at last count, I’m saying it with song.

That’s Amore – Dean Martin

“But then she turned directly to him, and the disparate features of her drastic face came together as a single, perfect thing, and Pasquale recalled from his studies how some buildings in Florence could disappoint from various angles and yet always presented well in relief… That the various vantages were made to be composed; and so, too, he thought, some people. Then she smiled, and in that instant, if such a thing were possible, Pasquale fell in love, and he would remain in love for the rest of his life – not so much with the woman, whom he didn’t even know, but with the moment.” Continue reading →