--- title: Author Crystal King's Blog - Tasting Life Twice | Books (2) description: Books | Author Crystal King muses on life, history, writing and food. (2) --- # Tasting Life Twice Author Crystal King muses on life, history, writing and food. Browse by All Blog Books italy ancient rome Italian History Recipe Writing When in Rome food Feast of Sorrow fun historical fiction Bartolomeo Scappi Viva Italia! The Chef's Secret reading history Apicius Italian Language Renaissance 52 books Boston Cinquecento Publishing italian recipes grub street renaissance recipe roman video Ancient Roman Food Colosseum Culinary Delights books set in italy renaissance italy Ancient history YouTube authors cooking fiction music 52 books in a year Author Book Christmas Language Learning Maine Poetry Pope Roman Forum Scappi The Renaissance Venice Writer Writers Resources fantasy learning Italian travel writers Anne Rice Art Book Clubs Christmas carol Christopher Castellani Circus Maximus Florence Gillian Flynn Greek Harry Potter Honey Italiano Italo Calvino Latin Literary agent Marcus Aurelius Marcus Gavius Apicius Muse and the Marketplace Pantheon Papal conclave Pope Benedict XVI Research Roman Empire Sardinia Sistine Chapel Turkey Ursula K- Le Guin Vestal Virgin Wine ancient recipes architecture baking beauty blogging book recommendation book review christmas gift cibo cookies crystal king gelato giveaway holiday ice cream interview italian cooking literary literature middle ages new year's resolution rejection renaissance Italian food recipe roma rome sci-fi shopping social media special event summer television xmas 100 favorite books 1950s 1960s 1970s 2016 2017 320 AD 3D Achilles Aelia Agostino Chigi Alice Alina Reyes All This Talk of Love Amanda Palmer Amaryah Orenstein Anais Nin Ancient Greece Ancient Roman architecture Andrea Bocelli Anita Shreve Anjali Mitter Duva Anne Carson Anne Rampling Antonio Latini Arch of Constantine Arts Artusi Astrology Augustus Author Life BBC BDSM Baldassare Peruzzi Baroque Bell-ringer Bells Benvenuto Cellini Black tea BlogHer Bloggers Bologna Boodles Byki Cake Catholic Church Cellini Charles Dicken Chuck Palahniuk Clark Frasier Colleen McCullough Cologne Colum McCann Concord Cook Cookbook Corsica Cosimo de Medici Critical & Creative Thinking Dante Dante Alighieri David Bowie David Wishart De Re Coquinaria Doge's Palace Dormouse Durham Cathedral E-L- James Earth Egypt Eleonora Galasso Emily Browning England English language Ernest Hemingway Erotic literature Etsy Faint Promise of Rain Fifty Shades of Grey Fight Club Flamingo tongue snail Forum Forvo France Francesa Michielin GO Literary George Orwell Germany Gone Girl Gone Girl (novel) Google Translate Got Milk Grasso Grub Grub Street Muse Gunter Grass Hairstyle Harvard Harvard University Henry David Thoreau Henry VII of England Hunger Games Independence Day International Space Station Isabella Dalla Ragione Italian American Italian food J-R-R- Tolkien James Wood Jane Austen Janet Fitch Julius III July Justin Rowe Karl Lagerfeld Katie Caldesi Kennebunkport Maine Kessler Twins Keurig Kindle Deal Kit Harington Kurt Vonnegut L'Amore Esiste La Cucina Leicester Leonardo Da Vinci Linguistics Livia Lucca ## Posts about Books (2): ![I Did It! 52 Books in 2015: November - December](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Reading-1.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [lynne griffin](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/lynne-griffin) [52 books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/52-books) [52 books in a year](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/52-books-in-a-year) [a book a week](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/a-book-a-week) [alice hoffman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/alice-hoffman) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [david baker](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/david-baker) [david mitchell](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/david-mitchell) [emile zola](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/emile-zola) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [ghost story](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ghost-story) [mary beard](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/mary-beard) [reading](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/reading) [resolution](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/resolution) [Wine](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/wine) My 2015 New Year's Resolution of reading 52 books in 2015 is complete! I even did better than that and read a few more too. 60.  [Slade House - David Mitchell](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S3RILQW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o01_)  Ending the year with Slade House was a good decision. I slurped it up in about two nights of reading--it was that good. It's one of the most unusual ghost stories that I've read. Mitchell toys with point of view in the most artful of ways and his method of telling the story across the decades is equally masterful. I didn't find it to be a scary story, just one that kept me wondering what on earth might happen next. ![52 books in 2015: A reading list for Jul-Oct](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/offscreen-magazine-260704.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [foodie](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/foodie) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Pope Alexander VI](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-alexander-vi) [Venice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/venice) [52 books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/52-books) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [books set in italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books-set-in-italy) [Dante](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/dante) [Dante Alighieri](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/dante-alighieri) [fantasy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fantasy) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [gourmand](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/gourmand) [historical fiction](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/historical-fiction) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Italo Calvino](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italo-calvino) [reading](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/reading) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) I have been rather remiss, I fear, in keeping my book list updated here on my blog. I've been reading far more than I had hoped, but certainly not as much as I would like. I am happy to have passed the 50 book barrier with more than a month to spare! Let's see if I can get close to 60 books this year. I'm confident I'll finish at least 2-3 more this month, and hopefully another 3-4 in December. **October** [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Gillian Flynn](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/gillian-flynn) [Witch of Napoli](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/witch-of-napoli) [52 books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/52-books) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Gone Girl](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/gone-girl) [Harry Potter](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/harry-potter) [Jane Austen](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/jane-austen) [Michael Schmicker](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/michael-schmicker) [Patricia Park](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/patricia-park) [Re Jane](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/re-jane) [reading](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/reading) I posted last month about [my goal ](https://blog.crystalking.com/crystal-king/blog/2015/06/09/way-52-reading-book-week)of reading at least 52 books this year. The good thing is that I'm well on my way! Here are the books I read in June. [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Gillian Flynn](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/gillian-flynn) [52 books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/52-books) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [book review](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/book-review) [Gone Girl (novel)](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/gone-girl-novel) [historical fiction](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/historical-fiction) [reading](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/reading) One of my goals this year is to read, on average, a book a week, or at least 52 books this year. I'm right on track...even a little ahead! **May ** ![My Favorite Books of 2013 So Far](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Celli.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Ancient Greece](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-greece) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Madeline Miller](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/madeline-miller) [Achilles](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/achilles) [Anne Carson](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/anne-carson) [Benvenuto Cellini](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/benvenuto-cellini) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Cellini](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cellini) [Christopher Castellani](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/christopher-castellani) [fiction](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fiction) [Florence](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/florence) [historical fiction](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/historical-fiction) [Murderer's Daughters](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/murderers-daughters) [novel](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/novel) [Patroclus](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/patroclus) [Randy Susan Meyers](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/randy-susan-meyers) [reading](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/reading) This weekend,  at my fave cocktail bar, Clio, while sipping on Manhattans and rummy drinks called The Sanchez, I got into a conversation with some friends about books. I promised some of my all around historical fiction recommends to them, but I realized that I've read a lot of great books this year that I want to tell others about. And I have a book pile a mile long after the recent Grub Street Muse and the Marketplace conference. I'd love opinions on which one to read first! This list of 2013 is in no particular order...it would be too hard to do! ![Chuck Palahniuk at the Muse and the Marketplace 2011](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/chuck.jpg) [Writing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Amanda Palmer](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/amanda-palmer) [James Wood](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/james-wood) [keynote](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/keynote) [Manuscript Marts](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/manuscript-marts) [Muse](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/muse) [social media](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/social-media) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Boston](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/boston) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/chuck-palahniuk) [Fight Club](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fight-club) [grub street](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/grub-street) [reading](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/reading) We're coming up on the next [Grub Street](http://www.grubstreet.org) [Muse and the Marketplace ](http://www.grubstreet.org/index.php?id=2910)and I couldn't be more excited! I have a session on social media at the conference, but I will also be there as a writer, participating in the Manuscript Marts (I'm meeting with two agents this year, more on that in a future blog post), and attending classes. This year's keynotes include [James Wood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wood_%28critic%29) and [Amanda Palmer](http://amandapalmer.net).  It's the first year that the Muse has had two keynotes (one on the Muse, one on the Marketplace) so that should be interesting! James and Amanda will have their work cut out for them though, to top this amazing keynote by [Chuck Palahniuk](http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/)  (author of [Fight Club](http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Club-Novel-Chuck-Palahniuk/dp/0393039765%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dcreatofcircu-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0393039765)) two years ago. Absolutely brilliant. And while it's long, it's definitely worth watching in its entirety. I still have chills thinking about it. He's an absolutely masterful storyteller. ![A New Fragrance Trend? Smelling Like Old Books & Dead Authors](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/books.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/karl-lagerfeld) [Steidl](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/steidl) [William Shakespeare](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/william-shakespeare) [authors](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/authors) [Black tea](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/black-tea) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Cologne](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cologne) [Ernest Hemingway](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ernest-hemingway) [fragrance](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fragrance) [old books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/old-books) [perfume](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/perfume) [Seattle](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/seattle) Last year, Karl Lagerfeld, an avid book lover and collector himself, worked with Steidl books to create a fragrance called[ Paper Passion](http://www.steidlville.com/books/1312-Paper-Passion.html) that supposedly smells just like old books. And who doesn't love the smell of books?! Well, ok, maybe my husband might not want me smelling like a musty library but I find something terribly romantic about the idea! ![Brilliant Literary T-Shirts](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/bb1984.png) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [literature](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/literature) [t-shirt](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/t-shirt) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [fun](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fun) [shopping](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/shopping) I came across these awesome literary inspired t-shirts over at [Meanfellas](http://meanfellas.com/store/literary-tshirts-c-0_201.html?zenid=3t42do0hiocjce32ni0abgb3e3). They have a whole bunch but these are my faves:   ![Book Review: All This Talk of Love by Christopher Castellani](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/allthistalkof.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [italian](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [literary](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/literary) [literature](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/literature) [Maddelena](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/maddelena) [All This Talk of Love](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/all-this-talk-of-love) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Christopher Castellani](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/christopher-castellani) [family](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/family) [Grasso](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/grasso) [grub street](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/grub-street) [Italian American](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-american) With all this talk of love, I have to begin by saying that in one's life there are always certain people who you feel proud to know, who you want all your other friends to meet, and who you wish could always come to every party. One of those people is [Christopher Castellani](http://www.christophercastellani.com/), who I still thank the stars that I met many years past. Christopher is a rare soul, and the hundreds upon hundreds of people in the book industry that know him (he's a key driving force at the magnificent [Grub Street](http://www.grubstreet.org) writing center) are likely to tell you that. I have grown to know Christopher more and more over the years but after our initial meeting, my first foray into understanding a little about him was by reading his first book, which still ranks among my most memorable reads in my life, "[A Kiss From Maddelena](http://amzn.to/YXlMlB)." In it we meet the protagonist of all three of his books, Maddelena Grasso, a sweet, shy and beautiful woman who is swept away by the circumstances around her-- the ending of WWII and a father who wants to arrange her marriage, but not to the boy she loves. I can still picture Maddelena as a girl, flying through the town on her bicycle. I can feel the emotion of the clandestine moments with Vito, the boy who steals her heart. I can still remember the roller coaster of emotions that first book put me through. ![Beautiful Book Art: Justin Rowe](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/still-no-soul-appeared-upon-her-decks.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Justin Rowe](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/justin-rowe) [Visual Arts](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/visual-arts) [beautiful](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/beautiful) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Book](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/book) [book art](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/book-art) [Etsy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/etsy) [paper sculpture](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/paper-sculpture) I ran across this [Seattle PI article](http://blog.seattlepi.com/bookpatrol/2012/07/17/book-art-from-a-bookseller/) this week, about a wonderful paper sculptor, Justin Rowe, and I had to share. As a bookseller, Rowe was looking for ways to decorate his window. And suddenly, an artist was born. ![On the Fourth of July...](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Thoreaus-Cabin-Exterior.jpg) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [July](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/july) [Walden Pond](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/walden-pond) [Walt Whitman](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/walt-whitman) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Boston](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/boston) [Concord](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/concord) [Henry David Thoreau](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/henry-david-thoreau) [history](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/history) [Independence Day](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/independence-day) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/nathaniel-hawthorne) [Scarlet Letter](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/scarlet-letter) No, this is not an [X song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHBaOiQ3J8)! Instead I thought it was a good day to remind of you of a few writely events that had nothing to do with fireworks, baseball, or apple pie. ![Fifty Shades of Green](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/2117447039_6e48f8c70f_z.jpg) [Writing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/writing) [Books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/books) [Alina Reyes](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/alina-reyes) [Anne Rice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/anne-rice) [sex](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/sex) [Anais Nin](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/anais-nin) [Anne Rampling](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/anne-rampling) [BDSM](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bdsm) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [bondage](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bondage) [Book](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/book) [e-books](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/e-books) [E-L- James](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/e-l-james) [Erotic literature](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/erotic-literature) [erotica](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/erotica) [Fifty Shades of Grey](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fifty-shades-of-grey) [Pauline Reage](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pauline-reage) [Publishing](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/publishing) [Twilight](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/twilight) One of my fave blogs, [Jezebel](http://www.jezebel.org), recently reported on a [CelebrityNetWorth article](http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/celebrity/fifty-shades-grey-author-making-1-million-week/) about the [*Fifty Shades of Grey*](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/034580404X/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clk140c-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=034580404X) author, E.L. James,  making one million dollars a week.  Yes, that's right -- **A WEEK**. For poorly written [Twilight](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_%28novel%29) fan-fiction turned [BDSM](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM) erotica. ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1481231558851356&ev=PageView&noscript=1)