Bookbot

Laura Pignatti

    Hoge bomen in Hanoi
    Op zoek naar Caleb
    Narratori Corbaccio: Storia di un cane e del padrone a cui insegnò la libertà
    The Twelve Little Cakes
    The News from Ireland
    Anne Frank's diary : the graphic adaptation
    • 'June, 1942- I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.' In Amsterdam, in the summer of 1942, the Nazis forced teenager Anne Frank and her family into hiding. For over two years, they, another family and a German dentist lived in a 'secret annexe', fearing discovery. All that time, Anne kept a diary. The Diary of a Young Girl is an inspiring and tragic account of an ordinary life lived in extraordinary circumstances that has enthralled readers for generations. Anne Frank's Diary- The Graphic Novel is a stunning new adaptation of one of the greatest books of the last century.

      Anne Frank's diary : the graphic adaptation
      4,3
    • The News from Ireland

      • 288pages
      • 11 heures de lecture

      A collection of short stories by the author of "The Silence in the Garden", "Nights at the Alexandra", "Juliet's Story", "Fools of Fortune", "Two Lives" and "The Old Boys".

      The News from Ireland
      4,0
    • Long before she was born, Dominika first appeared to her mother in a dream, so when she came to be, she was welcomed with eager expectation and much love. Though her arrival was auspicious, as the child of recognized dissidents associated with the failed Prague Spring uprising, Dominika's life would be far from charmed. Her mother was disowned by her parents, who were members of the Party elite. Her father was an inventor whose politics resulted in his working as a taxi driver, but who nevertheless remained an unrepentant optimist. Rounding out the family-colorful, even by local standards-were a beautiful, voluptuous teenage sister with many male admirers and an enormous St. Bernard who was a famous Czech TV star. In a village on the outskirts of Prague, full of gossipy neighbors, state informants, friendly old "grandmothers," and small-town prejudices, Dominika grows up a self-possessed child, whose openness and curiosity often lead her, and her family, into trouble. Yet the love, pride, and quirky ingenuity that bind them together will guarantee their survival-and ultimately their happiness-through the best and worst of times. The Twelve Little Cakes is equal parts testimony to the struggles of a bygone era and a love letter to a joy-filled childhood that no external forces could dim.

      The Twelve Little Cakes
      4,0
    • “Faccia bello è un bulldog realmente esistito, e abbiamo voluto annotare alcune delle sue avventure e disavventure. Io ho avuto la fortuna di essere suo compagno e custode. La magia della storia è autentica e si è manifestata spontaneamente al convergere dei nostri due mondi.”

      Narratori Corbaccio: Storia di un cane e del padrone a cui insegnò la libertà
      3,7
    • Op zoek naar Caleb

      • 318pages
      • 12 heures de lecture

      Dit is de kroniek van de Pecks, een uiterst eigenzinnige en wonderbaarlijk ouderwetse familie in Baltimore, en het verhaal van de Pecks, die de verschillende familieleden door goed vier generaties heen, ondanks al hun merkwaardige eigenaardigheden, als onmiskenbare Pecks verbindt. Toch valt af en toe een Peck ten prooi aan de verleidingen van de wereld en wijkt af. Zo verdwijnt Caleb, een dromerige jongeman, in 1912 plotseling spoorloos en maakt hij zich, onder de betovering van de eerste klanken van de blues, op naar New Orleans. Bijna 50 jaar moeten verstrijken voordat iemand serieus naar hem op zoek gaat, maar de inspanningen van zijn halfbroer Daniel, een inmiddels zeer bejaarde man, om Caleb - en daarmee een stuk van zijn eigen kindertijd - terug te vinden, zijn des te intenser. Samen met zijn kleindochter Justine, een charmante en liefhebbende vrouw met een hoed, reist de oude man kriskras door de Verenigde Staten op zoek naar Caleb. Justine's bijzondere gaven blijken daarbij van groot nut: ze kan de toekomst uit kaarten lezen, sluit iedereen in haar hart en heeft op de een of andere manier de gave om de chaos bij elkaar te houden.

      Op zoek naar Caleb
      3,5
    • Hoge bomen in Hanoi

      • 234pages
      • 9 heures de lecture

      Impressies van een Nederlandse journaliste van Vietnam.

      Hoge bomen in Hanoi
      3,4
    • Narratori della Fenice: Per puro caso

      Romanzo

      • 384pages
      • 14 heures de lecture

      Per puro caso è la storia di una quarantenne, Delia Grinstead, una donna sposata con tre figli ormai quasi grandi, che all’improvviso – semplicemente allontanandosi da una spiaggia – si lascia alle spalle il matrimonio e la famiglia per costruirsi una nuova vita in una cittadina non molto distante da Baltimora. Tutto avviene apparentemente per caso, eppure nulla è veramente casuale. Cosa ha spinto Delia a compiere un gesto in cui, forse, ogni donna può riconoscere un proprio desiderio? È la sensazione di essere diventata inutile? Il ricordo di un uomo incontrato al supermercato? Il piacere della fuga? O, semplicemente, il senso di insoddisfazione e di limitatezza che pare inevitabilmente connesso alla vita famigliare? Mirabile ritratto di matrimonio, Per puro caso è, probabilmente, il più intenso, struggente e insieme divertito romanzo della Tyler, come sempre straordinariamente sensibile ai dettagli di cui è fatta la sostanza della vita quotidiana, e capace di offrirci una disamina tra spiritosa e impaurita del destino che ciascuno porta dentro di sé, già scritto.

      Narratori della Fenice: Per puro caso
      3,5
    • Celestial Navigation

      • 273pages
      • 10 heures de lecture

      By the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Breathing Lessons", this is the tale of Jeremy Pauling, a 38-year-old bachelor who has never left home. The death of his mother leaves him in charge of a ramshackle boarding house and the arrival of a female lodger brings him a challenge he can't handle.

      Celestial Navigation
      3,7
    • Vengeance aveugle

      • 411pages
      • 15 heures de lecture

      Des morts par overdose de cocaïne, à l'institut médico-légal de New York, on en voit hélas des centaines par an... Cinq d'entre eux, pourtant, attirent l'attention du Dr Laurie Montgomery. D'abord parce que les victimes n'avaient apparemment jamais touché à la drogue. Ensuite parce que tous étaient clients du très séduisant Dr Scheffield, spécialiste des greffes de cornée oculaire, dont le cabinet est également fréquenté par un des caïds de la mafia new-yorkaise... Trafics d'organes, fascination et corruption de la médecine par l'argent-roi : tels sont les thèmes d'une brûlante actualité qu'explore ici le romancier de Naissances sur ordonnance, au fil d'une intrigue où voisinent les bas-fonds new-yorkais et les luxueux appartements des " yuppies " de la finance. Cela fait froid dans le dos, mais quel roman ! Jean-Claude Delaygues, La Montagne.

      Vengeance aveugle
      3,8
    • Naissances sur ordonnance

      • 441pages
      • 16 heures de lecture

      La 4è de couv. indique : "Marissa Blumenthal a tout pour elle : beauté, réussite, bonheur. Sauf l'essentiel : elle ne parvient pas à avoir un enfant, en dépit des traitements les plus coûteux. Décidée à se battre jusqu'au bout, elle va chercher à en savoir plus sur l'affection très rare dont elle est victime, malgré l'hostilité ou le silence des médecins. Mais son rêve, pourtant légitime, va se transformer en cauchemar. Des centres de fécondation artificielle de Boston ou d'Australie à la puissante Fertility Inc. de Hong Kong, Robin Cook, ancien chirurgien, nous fait découvrir, au fil d'une intrigue haletante, les coulisses diaboliques d'une science dévoyée dans les trafics du « marché de la vie », et les enjeux éthiques et financiers de la technologie biomédicale."

      Naissances sur ordonnance
      3,8
    • Bonita Avenue

      • 538pages
      • 19 heures de lecture

      A darkly hilarious tale of a model family's disintegration. Professor Siem Sigerius - maths genius, jazz lover, judo champion, Renaissance man. When Aaron meets his girlfriend Joni's family for the first time, her multitalented father could hardly be a more intimidating figure, but somehow the underachieving photographer manages to bluff his way to a friendship with the paterfamilias. With his feet under the table at the beautiful Sigerius farmhouse, Aaron feels part of the family. A perfect family. Until, that is, things start to go wrong in a very big way. A cataclysmic explosion in a firework factory, the advent of internet pornography, the reappearance of a forgotten murderer and a jet-black wig-all play a role in the spectacular fragmentation of the Sigerius clan...and of Aaron's fragile psyche.

      Bonita Avenue
      3,7
    • The Amateur Marriage

      • 320pages
      • 12 heures de lecture

      Michael and Pauline seemed like the perfect couple - young, good-looking, made for each other. The moment she walked into his mother's grocery store in Baltimore, he was smitten, and in the heat of World War II fervour, they marry in haste.

      The Amateur Marriage
      3,7
    • La stanza degli spiriti

      • 482pages
      • 17 heures de lecture

      Bombay. Años sesenta. Tras la trágica muerte de su madre, Pinky Mittal, una niña de trece años, vive al cuidado de su abuela Maji, verdadera cabeza de familia de los Mittal. A pesar del amor de su abuela, Pinky no consigue superar cierto sentimiento de abandono y soledad. No obstante, ama como nada en el mundo la casa de frondoso jardín tropical donde vive y su plantación de mangos, y el aroma de sándalo y comino frito que allí se respira. Y también ama a Nimish, un hermoso joven del que le gustaría recibir todas las atenciones posibles. Cuando una noche Pinky sorprende a Nimish con su mejor amiga, cree morir. Pinky llora desconsoladamente mientras un extraño tintineo y rumor de agua atrae su atención hacia la puerta del baño. Una puerta misteriosa que Maji cierra con llave todas las noches, y que le tiene terminantemente prohibido tocar a los niños... Traducida a varios idiomas, la novela debú de Shilpa Agarwal narra una historia profundamente evocadora y maravillosamente subyugante donde el mundo real se encuentra con el mundo espiritual en un relato cargado de magia.

      La stanza degli spiriti
      3,3
    • A lovable loser tries to get his life in order. He is Barnaby Gaitlin, 30, the black sheep of a rich Baltimore family, ex-juvenile delinquent who specialized in housebreaking for kicks. He works for Rent-a-Back, moving furniture for old people, and dreams of having a future

      A Patchwork Planet
      3,6
    • The Clock Winder

      • 295pages
      • 11 heures de lecture

      Mrs. Pamela Evans lives a lonely new widowhood outside of Baltimore, with only a house full of ticking clocks for company. Then she hires eccentric Elizabeth Abbott as a handyman and both discover that parts don't have to be a perfect match to work. "Anne Tyler is a magical writer." LOS ANGELES TIMES From the Paperback edition.

      The Clock Winder
      3,2
    • 'It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoona' This is the way Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she and Red fell in love that day in July 1959. The whole family on the porch, relaxed, half-listening as their mother tells the same tale they have heard so many times before. And yet this gathering is different. Abby and Red are getting older, and decisions must be made about how best to look after them and their beloved family home. They've all come, even Denny, who can usually be relied on only to please himself. From that porch we spool back through three generations of the Whitshanks, witnessing the events, secrets and unguarded moments that have come to define who and what they are. And while all families like to believe they are special, round that kitchen table over all those years we also see played out our own hopes and fears, rivalries and tensions - the essential nature of family life. OVER A MILLION ANNE TYLER BOOKS SOLD

      A Spool of Blue Thread
      3,4
    • Vinegar hill

      • 256pages
      • 9 heures de lecture

      In a stark, troubling, yet ultimately triumphant celebration of self-determination, award-winning author A. Manette Ansay re-creates a stifling world of guilty and pain, and the tormented souls who inhabit it. It is 1972 when circumstance carries Ellen Grier and her family back to Holly's Field, Wisconsin. Dutifully accompanying her newly unemployed husband, Ellen has brought her two children into the home of her in-laws on Vinegar Hill--a loveless house suffused with the settling dust of bitterness and routine--where calculated cruelty is a way of life preserved and perpetuated in the service of a rigid, exacting and angry God. Behind a facade of false piety, there are sins and secrets in this place that could crush a vibrant young woman's passionate spirit. And here Ellen must find the straight to endure, change, and grow in the all-pervading darkness that threatens to destroy everything she is and everyone she loves.

      Vinegar hill
      3,2
    • The Tin Can Tree

      • 270pages
      • 10 heures de lecture

      In the small town of Larksville, the Pike family is hopelessly out of step with the daily rhythms of life after the tragic, accidental death of six-year-old Janie Rose. Mrs. Pike seldom speaks, blaming herself, while Mr. Pike is forced to come out of his long, comfortable silence. Then there is ten-year-old Simon, who is suddenly without a baby sister -- and without understanding why she's gone. Those closest to this shattered family must learn to comfort them -- and confront their own private shadows of hidden grief. If time cannot draw them out of the dark, then love may be their only hope....

      The Tin Can Tree
      2,7
    • La sala da ballo e altri racconti

      • 79pages
      • 3 heures de lecture

      Una donna non più giovane cerca marito in una sala da ballo.Un ragazzo che ha appena perso il padre ne scopre i segreti in un albergo di Dublino.Un giovanotto di campagna sposa la ragazza dei suoi sogni in seguito a una misteriosa gravidanza.Tre storie irlandesi animate da una malinconica tensione, mentre la vita scorre in queste esistenze all'apparenza ordinarie.

      La sala da ballo e altri racconti