Italy is such a historically and culturally rich country and there are so many great Italian authors. Taking this into account and since I loved some Italian books I’ve read recently I’ve decided to make 2022 my year exploring Italian literature and set up the Italia Reading Challenge (to run between January and December 2022). To make this challenge more manageable for myself, I have decided to limit my reading goal to just 10 books written by Italian authors and I am tracking both my and the participants’ progress on this page:
I. Book Around the Corner – The Island of Souls by Piergiorgio Pulixi
II. Book Around the Corner – The Day Will Come by Giulia Caminito
III. The Moon and The Bonfire by Cesare Pavese
IV. Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
V. A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome by Alberto Angela
VI. La Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri
VII. The Siren: A Selection of Short Stories by Dino Buzzati
VIII. Arturo’s Island by Elsa Morante
IX. Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
X. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
XI. Catastrophe & Other Stories by Dino Buzzati
My Books-to-Read:
- Cesare Pavese – The Moon and The Bonfire (READ)
- Luigi Pirandello – Six Characters in Search of an Author (READ)
- Alberto Angela – A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome (READ)
- Dante Alighieri – La Vita Nuova (READ)
- Dino Buzzati – The Siren: A Selection of Short Stories (READ)
- Elsa Morante – Arturo’s Island (READ)
- Dario Fo – Accidental Death of an Anarchist (READ)
- Marcella Hazan – Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (READ)
- Dino Buzzati – Catastrophe & Other Stories (READ)
- Carlo Levi – The Watch
- Alberto Moravia – Two Women
- Giorgio Bassani – The Heron
If you want to join me on this journey this year (reading any number of books), you can grab the banner and leave links to your reviews throughout the year in the comments section below and I will add them to the general list on this page, as well as do a summary post in December 2022 – #ReadItaliaChallenge.
Thoughts on Papyrus 
I’ll join in! Despite having lived in Italy for more than a year when I was younger, I’m woefully under-read in Italian authors. Time to put that right. I only found you because you ‘liked’ my last post, so thanks!
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Thank you, that would be great! There are certainly many hidden gems in Italian literature, but unfortunately in comparison to the French, it is certainly generally under-read.
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Let’s change that, one book at a time!
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I’m planning to have my own Italian Fortnight straddling July/Aug, but will aim to slip in a couple more during the year if I can. I tend to read more French books in translation than those from other countries, and Italy was underrepresented in my reading last year. A good nudge for me.
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Love to join up! Are nonfiction works allowed as long as they’re by Italian authors?
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Great, thanks and yes, definitely!
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Thanks!
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Hello,
Here’s my first read: The Island of Souls by Piergiorgio Pulixi.
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Great, thank you!
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Just added you to my page of 2022 reading challenges.
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Great, thank you, I hope you enjoy the challenge!
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Hello, here’s my second post about A Day Will Come by Giulia Caminito.
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Great, thanks, I am going to add you straight away!
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Woow, what a fantastic idea! 😍 I think I have only read Pirandello but I have heard great things of all the others, especially Carofiglio and Sciascia! It also reminded me that I absolutely HAVE TO read Primo Levi’s book, which is supposed to be fantastic. I probably don’t read as much as you do, but I always try to read some books in Italian (my native language) throughout the year. The next one will be Saviano’s Gomorra and then I might just follow you and read Primo Levi! Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you! It’s great to hear from native speaker! I did write a short review of Saviano’s Gomorra some posts back and also liked the film. I agree about Levi. I only read his The Periodic Table and found it great.
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As Italian I would recommend Umberto Eco, In the name of the rose, and Oriana Fallaci, A man. Enjoy!
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Thank you! The Name of the Rose is one of my favourite books, and I also enjoyed Foucault’s Pendulum, which I reviewed last year: https://thoughtsonpapyrus.com/2021/10/13/review-foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/ I will have to explore Oriana Fallaci. I do want and need more women on my list, so thanks again!
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