Here are 100 books that All Things Move fans have personally recommended if you like
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I fell in love with Italy when I traveled there with my family in 2013. While touring through this fascinating country, I felt inspired to write about it. When I came home, I threw myself into research. That research spawned my debut novel, Into the Lion’s Mouth, which is set in Renaissance Venice. I am always on the lookout for all things Italian, podcasts, TV shows, and definitely books. Since middle grade is my sweet spot, I am a sucker for a middle grade book set in Italy. Here are some of my favorites that will have you browsing airplane tickets to Italy and beyond.
This last book is a classic and part of a series that would be helpful for other travel adventures. It’s the only non-fiction book on the list. But it’s a great introduction for kids wanting to know more about the place they are travelling. While originally published in 1960 the book was updated in 2007. This is a great overall introduction to Rome and its history and a good place to start piquing a young traveler’s interest.
Like the other Sasek classics, this is a facsimile edition of the original book. The brilliant, vibrant illustrations have been meticulously preserved, remaining true to his vision more than 40 years later. Facts have been updated for the 21st-century, appearing on a "This is . . . Today" page at the back of the book. These charming illustrations, coupled with Sasek's witty, playful narrative, make for a perfect souvenir that will delight both children and their parents, many of whom will remember the series from their own childhoods. This is Rome, first published in 1960, traces the history of Roman…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
More than anything, I consider myself an artist. I rely on intuition or “gut feelings” to guide me. The laws of the universe have proven to me that thoughts do become things. I often say, think good thoughts. The books I’m recommending, are all about following your instincts and releasing any outcome to find the treasures in your life. I believe in the law of attraction. I love food, music, and Hollywood and have invited it all into my restaurant. I’m a chef with a culinary arts degree, an award-winning author and chef to the stars. Feeding many celebrities from Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling to The Cake Boss and Alton Brown. Dreams do come true!
Did you ever want to escape your life? Like that soap commercial, “Calgon, take me away!” That just so happens in this book. The Pope and the Dalai Lama decide they need a break from their high-profile lives and just want to slip away into society. To be unnoticed and ordinary. So they don a disguise and escape the Vatican in a Maserati? Thus begins this story, a part whimsical, part spiritual road trip touring Italy, detailing cultural and political differences alongside the identities with which we define ourselves and that one difficult question gets asked, exactly where and how far does one person’s tolerance or openness end? This delightful story kept me captivated while sharing spiritual inspirations and words of hope and kindness.
What happens when the Pope and the Dalai Lama decide they need a secret vacation?
Roland Merullo’s playful, eloquent, and life-affirming novel finds the world’s two holiest men teaming up for an unsanctioned road trip through the Italian countryside--where they rediscover the everyday joys and challenges of ordinary life.
During the Dalai Lama’s highly publicized official visit to the Vatican, the Pope suggests an adventure so unexpected and appealing that neither man can resist: they will shed their robes for several days and live as ordinary men. Before dawn, the two beloved religious leaders make a daring escape from Vatican…
Why do I love Vatican Intrigue? Well, here’s just one example. When the cardinal electors vote for a new pope, they process through a locked Sistine Chapel toward Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment and drop their twice folded paper ballots into a large golden chalice, a process that hasn’t changed for centuries. The faster the world turns and evolves, the more I am drawn to the Vatican’s many ancient traditions and protocols. And, the funny part is, I am not a particularly conservative person; it’s just that I appreciate the Vatican as a huge counterweight to the rapid changes taking place in the rest of the world.
If you are one of those people (you know, the sort that read The DaVinci Code but didn’t read any of Dan Brown’s other—much better—books) stop what you are doing and upload Angels & Demons into your Nook or Kindle right now.
Dan Brown has his shortcomings, yes, but nobody does Vatican Intrigue better. Nobody. And his plotting and background research are truly exceptional. Read it.
CERN Institute, Switzerland: a world-renowned scientist is found brutally murdered with a mysterious symbol seared onto his chest.
The Vatican, Rome: the College of Cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Somewhere beneath them, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion.
In a breathtaking race against time, Harvard professor Robert Langdon must decipher a labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols if he is to defeat those responsible - the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years, reborn to continue their deadly vendetta against their most hated enemy, the Catholic Church.
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
I have a passion for the family story, and I have been blessed with a plethora of them. My mother grew up in Appalachia during the Great Depression and faced shame because her mother left the family to commit a felony. Her accounts of a childhood without and sleeping in an abandoned log cabin have been seared into my soul. My father, one of fourteen children during the Great Depression, worked on neighboring farms from the age of seven. History has two parts, the facts and details, but the telling of the story wrangles the purpose and sacrifice of those involved.
After a trip to Florence to see Michelangelo’s earlier works and then David, I struggled to understand the genius, his intense pursuit of excellence, and how his surroundings influenced his art.
The author set me in one of the most fascinating eras of history and made me feel as if I were an apprentice in Michelangelo’s shop. I wept to comprehend the artist and realized that perfection was not a choice for Michelangelo, but a non-negotiable burden.
As I now observe genius in a musician, a scientist, or a mother caring for an autistic child, I give credence to what I learned from Oliver Stone’s portrayal of Michelangelo.
Irving Stone's classic biographical novel of Michelangelo-the #1 New York Times bestseller in which both the artist and the man are brought to vivid, captivating life.
His time-the turbulent Renaissance, the years of poisoning princes, warring Popes, and the all-powerful de'Medici family...
His loves-the frail and lovely daughter of Lorenzo de'Medici, the ardent mistress of Marco Aldovrandi, and his last love, his greatest love-the beautiful, unhappy Vittoria Colonna...
His genius-a God-driven fury from which he wrested brilliant work that made a grasp for heaven unmatched in half a millennium...
His name-Michelangelo Buonarroti. Creator of the David, painter of the ceiling…
I’ve been fascinated by history my whole life, and have been reading historical fiction for as long as I can remember. I have a particular passion for the history of Italy, in all its complicated, bloody, and dazzling glory, from the politics to the music to the art to, of course, the food and wine. There is so much within Italian history that captivates, and as a woman of Italian descent it holds a special interest for me. I try to capture the drama, beauty, and complexity of Italy in my own historical novels, and the books on this list all do that in the most compelling way.
Stephanie Storey brings Renaissance giant Raphael to life in this gorgeous and impeccably researched novel. We see Raphael’s early career through his time in Rome as painter to popes, and watch as he navigates the potentially deadly politics inherent in being an artist to the powerful. The novel also gives us an up-close and personal look at Raphael’s rivalry with his contemporary, Michelangelo. Raphael’s antics will entertain even as his lifelong question for perfection in his work will resonate with artists of every stripe – I know it did with me!
Another Fabulous Art History Thriller by the Bestselling Author of Oil and Marble, Featuring the Master of Renaissance Perfection: Raphael!
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the most iconic masterpieces of the Renaissance. Here, in Raphael, Painter in Rome, Storey tells of its creation as never before: through the eyes of Michelangelo's fiercest rival-the young, beautiful, brilliant painter of perfection, Raphael. Orphaned at age eleven, Raphael is determined to keep the deathbed promise he made to his father: become the greatest artist in history. But to be the best, he must beat the best, the legendary sculptor of the…
Why do I love Vatican Intrigue? Well, here’s just one example. When the cardinal electors vote for a new pope, they process through a locked Sistine Chapel toward Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment and drop their twice folded paper ballots into a large golden chalice, a process that hasn’t changed for centuries. The faster the world turns and evolves, the more I am drawn to the Vatican’s many ancient traditions and protocols. And, the funny part is, I am not a particularly conservative person; it’s just that I appreciate the Vatican as a huge counterweight to the rapid changes taking place in the rest of the world.
I love Vatican intrigue, and Conclave has it in spades.
The characters, especially the various Cardinals vying to be pope, are the strength of the book. I recommend it highly, even if, as I did, you watched the movie first. And as far as "I didn’t see the end coming" is concerned, Conclave wins that competition hands down.
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY EDWARD BERGER AND STARRING RALPH FIENNES, STANLEY TUCCI, JOHN LITHGOW, AND ISABELLA ROSSELLINI • The page-turning thriller set in the Vatican's secretive halls of power by the best-selling author of Enigma and Fatherland
"Pulsates with intrigue. . . . Ambition, sex scandals, financial corruption and terrorism all rear their ugly heads. And Harris saves one whopper of a surprise for the final pages." —USA Today
The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will gather to cast…
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
Religion, faith, and belief are very personal things that can invoke powerful emotional and intellectual responses. Responses are shaped by social conditioning during childhood that can last a lifetime, engendering spiritual comfort or deep disturbance in adulthood. I began to question my Catholic indoctrination as I started to delve into historical accounts of early Christianity and the evils inflicted on the world under the banner of doing God’s work, politics waged by the Vatican to maintain secular power, distilling it all into something I finally felt comfortable with.
Fascinated by the Roman Catholic Church and its internal organization, many years ago, I naively assumed the Vatican was the world’s center of piety and righteousness and the guardian of the world’s morality. This book helped me shed a stark light on reality.
I never knew that from the 16th century, the Church maintained a secret service, the Holy Alliance, that meddled in every aspect of European politics. In 1930, they were renamed ‘The Entity,’ with its counterespionage arm, the Sodalitium Pianum, and the Vatican had its CIA. Once I started, I couldn’t put this book down, shaking my head. Laundering money for the Mafia, helping Nazi officers escape to South America, funding revolutions, assassinating those who stood in their way…This work blew me away and left me stunned and much wiser.
For five centuries, the Vatican - the oldest organization in the world, maker of kings and shaper of history - has used a secret spy service, called the Holy Alliance, or later the Entity, to carry out its will. Forty popes have relied on it to carry out their policies. It has played a hitherto invisible role confronting de-Christianisations and schisms, revolutions and dictators, colonisations and expulsions, persecutions and attacks, civil wars and world wars, assassinations and kidnappings.For the first time in English (already a bestseller in Spain and France), Eric Frattini tells the comprehensive tale of this sacred secret…
Why do I love Vatican Intrigue? Well, here’s just one example. When the cardinal electors vote for a new pope, they process through a locked Sistine Chapel toward Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment and drop their twice folded paper ballots into a large golden chalice, a process that hasn’t changed for centuries. The faster the world turns and evolves, the more I am drawn to the Vatican’s many ancient traditions and protocols. And, the funny part is, I am not a particularly conservative person; it’s just that I appreciate the Vatican as a huge counterweight to the rapid changes taking place in the rest of the world.
To say that I loved this book is an understatement.
I have actually read it three times because it is that good. Daniel Silva has the best prose in thrillerdom, and his characters, especially the pope, are brilliant. Gabriel Allon, the art restorer turned spy, is also my favorite character from any thriller series, and the insertion of Gabriel into Vatican City still makes my heart beat faster. Read it!
As an art school drop-out who'd been majoring in sculpture, I'm fascinated by material culture—artifacts created by early peoples that reveal their cultural values. Often, the relics and sites that engage both archaeologists and readers suggest unexpected depths of knowledge that show human ingenuity through the ages. I strive to incorporate the details of an artifact or monument's creation into the clues and descriptions in my work, hopefully illuminating a little-known historical realm, if only by torchlight as the adventure unfolds. The fact that I get to explore so many exotic locations, in research if not in person, is a definite plus!
Silva's series follows a retired Mossad agent who is now an art restorer. As an art school drop-out, that instantly appealed to me!
Much as I enjoy adventure and history both, it's character that keeps me engaged. Silva's not creating just one person, he builds an entire network of ex-Mossad agents, family members, and more—while still driving a plot that keeps you guessing.
Silva's attention to historical detail is as rich as his protagonist's focus on art history. Every one of his scenes accomplishes so much to bring characters, settings, and conflicts to life. You can read the series out of order, but you'll miss some of the richness of the changing relationships Silva invests in.
Silva's work explores our own relationships with history as well, especially when his characters launch an "op" that requires using every tool in their espionage kit to bring off near-magic results.
Gabriel Allon, master art restorer and assassin, returns in a spellbinding #1 New York Times bestselling novel
'Allon is the 21st century Bond' Daily Mail
Bruised and war-weary following his secret war to bring down a terrorist mastermind, Gabriel Allon returns to his beloved Rome to restore a Caravaggio masterpiece.
But early one morning Gabriel is summoned by his friend and occasional ally Monsignor Luigi Donati, the all-powerful private secretary to the Pope. The broken body of a beautiful woman lies beneath Michelangelo's magnificent dome. Donati fears a public inquiry will inflict more wounds on an already-damaged Church so he…
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
I’ve been interested in ancient Egypt ever since I read Asterix and Cleopatra when I was a boy. The hilarious moment of Obelix accidentally knocking off the Sphinx’s nose has always stayed with me in particular. By my early twenties, I was reading authors like Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, and Colin Wilson, who showed me that what we think we know about ancient Egypt is not wholly correct. For instance, there’s little evidence that the Great Pyramid’s purpose was to be a tomb and the Sphinx seems to be much older than Egyptologists believe. In 2010, at thirty-four years old, I finally got to visit the wonders of Egypt myself.
As one of earth’s oldest civilisations, ancient Egypt can tell us a lot about early religion and how it affected later spiritual practices and faiths. In this book, Tony Sunderland begins with the question: why is there an Egyptian obelisk standing in the centre of St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City? The question becomes even more pertinent when you learn that the obelisk celebrates an ancient sun god! I loved this fascinating book that traces religion from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia through to early Christianity and beyond. Whatever your level of historical religious and spiritual understanding is, The Obelisk and the Cross comes highly recommended.
Why does an ancient Egyptian obelisk celebrating the god of the sun stand in the centre of St Peter's Square in Vatican City, the home of the Pope and the heartland of Catholicism? Taking this mysterious fact as his starting point, Tony Sunderland examines the history of religious belief in an attempt to understand how what has happened in the past continues to exert a ghostly influence in the present. Going right back to the voluptuous mother goddess figures of our ancestors, the pantheons of the Greeks and Romans, the wisdom of the Hebrew Bible, the birth of Christ, the…
