MOST POPULAR POSTS

Thursday, January 14, 2010 at

When We Were Romans

My lovely readers, you always have great book recommendations, so I wanted to share one of my own. I've been reading the amazing When We Were Romans by British author Matthew Kneale.

The tale is narrated by a nine-year-old boy, whose mother abruptly moves him and his sister from England to Rome when she becomes convinced that his estranged father is spying on them, turning the neighbors against them and trying to hurt them. As their adventure turns more madcap, you start realizing that things may not be quite what they seem. The little boy has such a sweet, authentic voice and your heart swells for him; the whole story is told with misspellings and run-on sentences. (He also loves talking about the universe and crazy Roman emperors.) It's one of those books you can't put down; at bedtime, I'm always fighting to keep my eyes open...

If you liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, you'll adore this book. xoxo

(Photo by Faceout Books)
Tags: ,

77 comments:

  1. I love hearing about what other people are reading. This sounds great I am going to add it to my list of 10 books Im trying to read for by 101 in 1001.

    Keri
    http://inspire-keri.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

  2. great suggestion! I've been looking for a new book to read! xoxo

    ReplyDelete

  3. I had to read the Curious Incident for a psych class in college and loved it. I'll have to check this one out. Thanks!

    Alaina

    ReplyDelete

  4. WOW, keri! so impressive!

    ReplyDelete

  5. I've been looking for a good book, and this sounds great!
    I'm going to stop at the library on my way home.

    ReplyDelete

  6. Joanna, I just got the History of Love from the library, I can't wait to start reading it! Thanks for the recommendation! xo

    ReplyDelete

  7. thank you! I just finished a few of my long to-do books so this sounds like it'd be a nice treat!

    ReplyDelete

  8. oh, dennise, you're going to LOVE it! i'm so jealous that you get to read it for the first time :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous12:34 PM

    im going to pick this up at the library this weekend. thx for the rec!

    ReplyDelete

  10. I loved The Curious Incident......
    I might have to check this out.
    However, do the run-on sentences and misspellings distract from the book at all?

    ReplyDelete

  11. Sounds great! You should read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon.

    ReplyDelete

  12. Sounds fascinating...thanks for the suggestion!!

    ReplyDelete

  13. This sounds like a splendid story! :-) I'm reserving at the library now :-)

    ReplyDelete

  14. It's funny, as I was reading your review of the book it was reminding me of one of my favorite books - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - haha!

    Thanks for the recommendation, I needed a good book : )

    alina
    www.alinasdaydream.com
    www.dreamingchic.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  15. Big fan of Curious Incident. Have added this to my list to buy:)
    Thanks for the suggestion. I also fight myself to keep my eyes open at night with a good book.

    ReplyDelete

  16. Thanks for the recommendation! I just finished "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and it was great.

    ReplyDelete

  17. the boob nazi, not at all -- you get really used to it. it flows really easily, like someone is talking to you. it's REALLY sweet.

    ReplyDelete

  18. I feel curious about the book, I will try to find it.

    ReplyDelete

  19. I've been so busy that my bedtime reading's been eliminated... I'll have to reinstate it because I want to read this book! Sounds very lovely indeed :)

    ReplyDelete

  20. Sounds like a great story! I will definitely check it out.

    ReplyDelete

  21. That sounds fantastic! I'm adding it to my list right now :)

    ReplyDelete

  22. Thank you Joanna! I absolutely loved "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time", so I went right to my library site and requested it!

    ReplyDelete

  23. I'm always looking for book recommendations. I really enjoyed "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" and this one sounds just as interesting. Great cover, as well. Thanks!

    My goal for 2010 is to read 50 books. Already have one book down, 49 more to go. Impossible? I think (hope!) not...

    ReplyDelete

  24. Sounds great, thanks for the recommendation!

    ReplyDelete

  25. I LOVED The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time!! Thanks for the recommendation! xo

    ReplyDelete

  26. I did enjoy "The Curious Incident..." but not sure I want to read the same type of book again. Oh wait! I already did. I think it was called Incredibly Large and Super Close. Or Amazingly Large and Incredibly Close. Hmm. Can't remember.

    ReplyDelete

  27. Thanks for the recommendation! I might have to add this one to the pile of books I want to get around to read.

    ReplyDelete

  28. "The Curious Incident..." was a fabulous book. Thanks for the suggestion!! *Runs off to Amazon*

    ReplyDelete

  29. Along similar lines, I just reread Extremely Loud and Incredibly close for a book club, which is also from the point of view of a young boy. I'm sure you've read it, but I highly recommend it if not!

    ReplyDelete

  30. LOVED Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, so I will definitely pick this up! Thank you!
    Also LOVED Up in the Air...so unexpected, and so good.

    I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse series...a little escape every evening to help with the lapse between True Blood series.

    Have you read, The Road?
    SOOOo good.

    ReplyDelete

  31. I JUST finished reading Dog In The Nighttime, and I loved it, so thanks for the recommendation- this is going on my list!

    ReplyDelete

  32. So excited to check out this book!!! I love it when a book is so good you can't go to bed at night. Hasn't happened in a while so a good book is much needed.

    P.S. Curious Incident was definitely a can't put this down book.

    ReplyDelete

  33. I so Loved the Curious Incidient of the Dog at Night-Time! i will have to give this one a read!

    -Anna
    http://annawalker1992.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

  34. This book was one of my favorites from last year.

    flipflopsonlex.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  35. I always love a new book recommendation!

    ReplyDelete

  36. this book sounds lovely. I'll be picking it up tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete

  37. Thank you for the recommendation! I, like many others who commented, loved "The Curious Incident..."

    I think I recommended this before but I love "Born on a Blue Day", by Daniel Tammet. It's an autobiographical account of living with Asperger's syndrome...he's super-fascinating! I also just read "The Lovely Bones", and it was every bit as good as everyone had said it is (I'm in library school and HAD to read it...so glad I did!).

    Cheers,
    mindi

    ReplyDelete

  38. Post Grad Hair Cut is right- Shadow of the Wind is amazing. I work in a bookstore and the best part is being able to read whatever I want. I recently read The Sweetness at the bottom of the Pie, which is rapidly gaining in popularity, and it's amazing. The heroine is a fiery 11 year old alchemist. It's told from her perspective. You should give it a try.

    ReplyDelete

  39. Sounds like such a lovely book! I love Rome and so love to read just about anything written about or set in Rome or Italy. This is certainly going on my "To read" list.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

  40. I was getting excited to check out this book until you mentioned the two dreaded words of death: "misspellings" and "run-on sentences." I could deal with the run-ons, but definitely not with the misspellings! I'm a writer!

    ReplyDelete

  42. This looks great! I will read it. And I love the cover.

    ReplyDelete

  43. Thank you! I was regretting not giving you a good suggestion when you asked a couple weeks ago. But no one has recommended this, and I haven't even noticed it in a store yet.

    ReplyDelete

  45. picked this up at the library on saturday + finished it tonight! thanks for the recommendation. i loved it!

    ReplyDelete

  46. Thanks for the suggestion...it was a great quick read!

    And if you liked this book, you'll LOVE "Asta in the Wings" by
    Jan Elizabeth Watson.

    "When Autumn Leaves" by Amy Foster was great too.

    ReplyDelete

  47. Thanks for the tip - have just finished it! It was really charming, and I was blown away by the ability of the author to narrate as a nine-year old. And thank goodness nothing happened to the children in the end! :)

    ReplyDelete

  48. Hey...I just finished when we were romans.....I really liked it.....I knew the Mom was a bit crazy, but didn't really realize it until she hid knifes under her son's pillows and blamed it on the Dad...I was just as shocked as the boy. I'm going to start reading English Passengers by Matthew Kneale. I hope it's good, I know it's not narrated by a little boy.... (I really love when children narrate books) I am also reading the Elegance of the Hedgehog....I like it so far..Oh and Gourmet Rhapsody is fun....You would love the description of food.

    ReplyDelete

  55. I am thoroughly convinced in this said post. I am currently searching for ways in which I could enhance my knowledge in this said topic you have posted here. It does help me a lot knowing that you have shared this information here freely. I love the way the people here interact and shared their opinions too. I would love to track your future posts pertaining to the said topic we are able to read.

    ReplyDelete

  56. Thanks for the recommendation...great read!

    Now, you HAVE to read "ROOM".
    Also written from the perspective of a little boy, this book is INCREDIBLE!

    ReplyDelete

  57. These kind of post are always inspiring and I prefer to read quality content so I happy to find many good point here in the post, writing is simply great, thank you for the post penis enlargement penis enlargement pills VigRX Plus

    ReplyDelete

  59. Another excellent article ,I am extremely impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog.

    ReplyDelete

  60. This is very good article, I am very interested in its topic and read them was a pleasure.

    ReplyDelete

  62. The writer is totally right, and there is no skepticism.

    ReplyDelete

  63. i really like your blog post. i really enjoyed it to read. thanks a lot for sharing informative stuff.

    ReplyDelete

  64. Hi Joanna -

    I loved "When We Were Romans"! I actually had forgotten about it until I saw your post. I just started a travel blog (inspired a lot by your blog - the first blog I ever read a few years ago)and I may have to read it again.

    I just finished "Gone Girl" - I literally could not put it down.

    I love all your posts - Toby is a doll!!

    Sandy

    ReplyDelete

  65. your blog comments are getting majorly spammed!! so annoying (for you!)

    anyway, I just put "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" on request at the library. My mom highly recommended it! It's about an 11-year-old girl in the 1950s who tries to solve a mystery.

    ReplyDelete

  66. Hi Joanna!

    You mentioned the BFG -which I love too- and I want to recommend Roald Dahl's memoir named Boy. It's so wonderful and heartwarming. He writes about his youth and his hatred of boarding schools, writing letters to his mother -the sweetest!- and the inspiration for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And the way he describes his idealistic summers spent with his family in Norway... I only wish I could have been there.

    While Boy covers his youth, his memoir called War covers his young adult life. It's also great and full of his real life adventures.

    Looking forward to When We Were Romans. I loved The Curious Incident and this book sounds like my kind of read.

    Thanks again!
    Alison

    ReplyDelete

  67. Funny -- I just started Curious Incident. I find it refreshing.

    Can I plug my book club? I have no affiliation but I found this book swap a few years ago and it has literally (pun intended) saved my hundreds of dollars (and thousands of trees)! I have been dying to get a Kindle but just cannot justify it when I can get great books for just the cost of shipping.

    http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php

    The also have a CD swap as well as a DVD swap too.

    ReplyDelete

  68. I love using the GoodReads.com website and the iphone app to keep track of books to read in the future when I hear about them, books my friends are reading, and to help me remember what I've already read when I need to recommend.

    ReplyDelete

  69. Loved "Curious Incident." Here's a fun summer book about Ted Williams returning to life, "Extra Innings" by Bruce E. Spitzer. Cryonics brought him back to life in 2092. Once again Williams plays for the Red Sox, yet the best part resonates with a redemptive theme: Given a second chance, what would any of us do diffently?

    ReplyDelete

  70. I just finished reading Girl Gone by Gillian Flynn. It was a very good suspense book. Not something I'd normally choose but a nice change of pace and a good Summer read.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Stacey4:25 PM

    If you liked Cooking for Mr Latte, I think you'd like Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard: A Love Story, with recipes. :) highly recommended, and the recipes that I've tried from it are delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Rapunzel5:51 PM

    I had never heard of someone else loving "Cooking for Mr Latte"! I loved it, too, and "The Glass Castle."

    So...you might like other favorites of mine...

    "The Magician's Assistant"
    "Where the Heart Is"
    "Prodigal Summer" & "The Poisonwood Bible"
    "Fall on Your Knees"
    The Griffin & Sabine Series (older, but magical)

    Thanks for your blog, and enjoy!

    ReplyDelete

  73. You should join Good Reads - it's free and is a social network of book reviews. It's so good.

    I've just finished Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet, which was fantastic. It's a YA book but so rich with detail and wonderful.

    I always recommend The Hut Builder and The Forrests too but they're New Zealand-written books so might be harder to find.

    I can also vouch for The Night Circus - great but with one of the world's worst-ever most cringeful sex scenes.

    ReplyDelete

  74. always love recommendations! i'll put these on my goodreads list. my faves of the last year have been:

    somewhere inside (by the ling sisters)
    hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet
    major pettigrew's last stand
    sense of an ending
    the forgotten garden

    i saw a few others recommended shadow of the wind. enjoyed that one, too!

    ReplyDelete
  75. Lauren in LA1:22 AM

    I recently finished The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and *loved* it as well as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. I gobbled them both up! I was a Dahl fan growing up and for Christmas two years ago my husband bought me the whole collection: James and the giant each to Matilda to fantastic mr fox to the magnificent BFG and many more... I highly recommend rereading them. They better with age : ) on that note, the Secret Garden, too.

    ReplyDelete

  76. Craig Thompson's graphic novels Habibi and Blankets are highly recommended. They'll change your life.

    ReplyDelete

  77. I always forget about your blog then 'binge read' it over a few days until I catch up again. The book Pigeon English is written from the perspective of a small boy also, one of my favorite books. Give it a go, you wont be disappointed!

    ReplyDelete

Nice comments only, please! (That means you, anonymous.)

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Site design by Apartment One
Federated Media Publishing - Style