Adam Lambert recommended track Aquarius by The Cast of Hair in Hair OST by The Cast of Hair in Music (curated)
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Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick
Book
‘Genius’ Alice Walker ‘Rigorous, convincing, dazzling’ Zadie Smith on Their Eyes Were...
The Poison Keeper
Book
Naples 1633 Aqua Tofana – One drop to heal. Three drops to kill. Giulia Tofana longs for...
Historical Fiction Renaissance Italian
Screen Memories by John Maus
Album Watch
It has been six years since We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves appeared like a...
dance
The Birth of Venus
Book
Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young...
ClareR (6067 KP) rated The Glassmaker in Books
Sep 2, 2025
Murano comes across as a magical place, both in its ability to make beautiful pieces of art from glass, and also its ability to keep those who live there in a kind of time warp or stasis. If you live on Murano, you don’t age.
Such is the case with the main character, Orsola Rosso.
We join her family when she is 9 years old and her father dies suddenly. Her brother struggles with the responsibility and skills needed to run the business - that is until a rival matriarch teaches the Rosso women (via Orsola) how to make glass beads.
I loved how real people from history were brought into the story (Casanova and Josephine Bonaparte, amongst others), and how when time jumped hundreds of years, Orsola only aged a few in that time. We see how Italy changes over time, how it modernises and how climate change endangers both lives and livelihoods.
The story and characters felt as vibrant as the glass beads. This was such a refreshing, different read. Just outstanding 🤷🏼♀️
I let too long go between reading books in this series, but it was nice to be back in Jaya’s presence. The story grabbed me quickly and I was hooked the entire way through. This is different from a typical murder mystery, and I was on board for it. I loved how it all came together at the end and how some clues had been woven in early. The characters were interesting, and I need to read more soon to find out about what happens next to them. Fans of the author’s new Secret Staircase series will enjoy some references to those characters thanks to a crossover character. This is a fun book that will keep the pages turning.
Teammate: My Life in Baseball
David Ross, Don Yaeger and Theo Epstein
Book
Of the many storylines to the Chicago Cubs incredible 2016 season was the late career renaissance of...




