The Botticelli Secret

I am definitly a HUGE bookworm. I like buying books, I like reading books, I like collecting books. My favorite Disney movie is Beauty & The Beast purely for the fact that I love the library the Beast shows Belle. I know...soooo weird. Plus, I love the fact that she is always twirling around and singing with a book in her hand.

I'll be spending a lot of time reading this summer since I'm not taking classes until August and all I'll be doing is work. My first book review will be on The Botticelli Secret...I finished it a few days ago.

The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato. US release March 30, 2010. In this exhilarating cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Birth of Venus, an irrepressible young woman in 15th-century Italy must flee for her life after stumbling upon a deadly secret when she serves as a model for Botticelli... When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra is asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind serving as the model for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece "Primavera." But when the artist dismisses her without payment, Luciana impulsively steals an unfinished version of the painting--only to find that somone is ready to kill her to get it back. What could possibly be so valuable about the picture? As friends and clients are slaughtered around her, Luciana turns to the one man who has never desired her beauty, novice librarian Brother Guido. Fleeing Venice together, Luciana and Guido race through the nine cities of Renaissance Italy, pursued by ruthless foes who are determined to keep them from decoding the painting's secrets. Gloriously fresh and vivid, with a deliciously irreverent heroine, The Botticelli Secret is an irresistible blend of history, wit, and suspense.

La Primavera, Sandro Botticelli

I picked this book out from Target because I needed a seemingly easy read on the plane to Philly anything involving art and Italian history is an easy read because I love it all so much, plus I'm a huge fan of Botticelli.

All of that being said, I did not like this book at all. The characters were well put together and they were very interesting but that was about it - while they were a random group (a monk and a whore). It was very much an attempt at riding the Da Vinci Code wave of popularity but I don't think it really hit the spot. Without giving to much away, the way Brother Guido and Luciana went about discovering the clues was just lame. They would kind of pick out a random figure in the painting and find some type of clue in it to lead them to a city. Through half the book I just sat there and was kind of like "where the heck did THAT come from!?!"

The ending was entirely to predictable. I won't give it away, but I could have told you the entire ending before I even got halfway through the book. Basically, I don't recommend it to anyone, and it will definitly be one of the books I am adding to my stack to go in my next yard sale.

Currently Reading:

...The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

On My List:

...Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

...Sweet Tea At Sunrise, by Sherryl Woods.

...I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, by Tucker Max

...The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks

...How the Other Half Hamptons, by Jasmin Rosemberg

...The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

Anyone have any other suggestions for good summer reading?