Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
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    • Books and Movies
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    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
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Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Books and Movies

Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Book lovers, here's your spot. Pull up a cozy chair, a glass of vin santo, and peruse these books. I hope you'll stumble upon a new favorite, I hope you'll share your own favorites!

If your tastes veer towards television and movies, I’ve got your covered with both favorites in Italian and favorites set in Italy.

I'm starting small, but have lists almost ready to go of favorite expat memoirs, favorite travel memoirs, favorite Italian cookbooks, and more. So check back often, or even better, sign up for my newsletter (on the right, you’ll get a free book!), and I'll let you know when there is new content here.

November 07, 2022

My Seven Favorite Books Set in Italy

November 07, 2022/ Michelle Damiani
My Seven Favorite Books Set in Italy

As an author who writes about Italy, I’m often asked which books show an Italy beyond the postcards. These seven are my go-to recommendations—for their insight, atmosphere, and the way each reveals a different facet of Italian life. Whether you're a reader, traveler, or writer, they’re worth a spot on your shelf.

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November 07, 2022/ Michelle Damiani/ 14 Comments
books
books
October 18, 2015

Top 5 Books of Ever

October 18, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Top 5 Books of Ever

These are the books that lingered—forever books.

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October 18, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
books
books
October 18, 2015

Top 5 Books about Food and/or Cooking

October 18, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Top 5 Books about Food and/or Cooking

My favorite books about cooking, food, and cooking with food.

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October 18, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
food, books
food, books, cooking
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Michelle Damiani

Website for Michelle Damiani, author of Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, the funny and heartfelt memoir of an American family living in Spello, as well as Santa Lucia, a page-turner set on the Umbria border. 

Rumors. Romance. And more than a little espresso.

Get Santa Lucia, a novel set in Italy, FREE by signing up for my monthly newsletter, The Grapevine. Recipes, travel tips, and free wanderlust stories delivered right to your inbox.

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Five years ago today we returned to Spello after the pandemic tossed aside our year-around-the-world plan like a house of cards in a tempest. We were able to hard-pivot thanks to my husband’s clear-sighted pursuit of Italian citizenship by desc
How is it possible we’re moving this tater tot into college in 2 weeks?
Matera: Italy’s comeback queen.

Once called “the shame of Italy” for its cave homes and crushing poverty, Matera is now a UNESCO World Heritage site with boutique hotels tucked into stone grottoes and aperitivo bars where donkeys u
Twelve years ago we were preparing to leave Spello. Lunch with friends, a swim and spontaneous dinner with our landlord’s family, one more reveling at the beauty of the life we built in our medieval village.
As promised, I’m back in Aramezzo! And just came up with the most fun, totally Italian clue! I wonder if you’ll be able to spot it when you read “Making a Killing in Aramezzo” in the fall 🇮🇹 Speaking of, for my Book Club wit
So what’s your favorite gelato flavor?
After the Dolomiti, my family returned home and I continued on to Padua with a friend. What a find! Every corner revealed surprises—a sudden piazza filled with life, a painted arcade, a riot of color. I think many people give Padua a pass becau
I’ve shown you dramatic landscapes, fabulous meals, adventurous moments, the contrast between small charm and towering beauty…but maybe the most awe-inspiring aspect of our trip to the Dolomiti was that it happened at all. I am awash wit

A trip to Italy is better with language basics! Here’s my recommended course to learn Italian and make your trip fantastico!


Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”