Official Review: Florence and Tuscany by Enrico Massetti

CatGitane · Post by **CatGitane** » 15 Jan 2016, 21:12

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Florence and Tuscany" by Enrico Massetti.]

4 out of 4 stars

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I have chosen to review Florence and Tuscany by Enrico Massetti because Italy is of great interest to me. I thought this would help me learn about their culture since I speak Italian and always need to learn more about it.

This ebook is a simple and quite affordable e-guide of Florence and Tuscany.

It’s always fun to start with the good sides, so here we go! I dream of going to Italy and this e-guide lets you visit it as though you were there yourself, thanks to its vivid images. It also offers a descriptive tour of Florence and Tuscany’s architecture, History, and art. It gives us directions, the places’ open hours, tips, advice, information (both on Internet and old-school style), and explanations on what to do in Florence and Tuscany, where to do it, when to do it, and how. It really shows that the author knows what he’s talking about and it’s a pleasure to read his passion about art and History! It also features famous places such as the Piazzale Michelangelo and uses a good vocabulary to do so along with titles. Moreover, all the titles and places’ names are in Italian along with their translation, a special touch I quite appreciated as it makes you dive even more into the virtual tour.

I also enjoyed the fact that the author put in links to actual attractions’ Websites, although I’m always afraid with the use of links for they can quickly become outdated. Plus, he uses sentences like ‘’The day’s tour begins with…’’ and other related expressions to make us feel in a real tour, a point worth mentioning as one can easily imagine being there (which I did, of course)! The author gives us directions to go by car, by public transportation, and by feet. There are also pages about where to buy souvenirs (and what you can buy), how to get to Florence (either by air, train, or car), what are the parking places available, and how to rent a car in Tuscany; all of which are very useful tips for those in search of information or those ready to visit Florence and Tuscany! I enjoyed that there was an author’s page and the clickable titles of his other e-guides. His grand vocabulary is also to be remarked. Lastly, one particular thing that caught my curiosity and interest was that this e-guide was written by an authentic Italian who often visits his hometown, which means he knows what he’s talking about when he describes the places to us and their History.

Now, let’s go with the bad sides. First of all, there are typos and punctuation mistakes – there are not many, though. There is an inconsistency with the translations; sometimes he gives us the translation of the places’ names and sometimes he does not. This might get somewhat annoying and confusing for someone who doesn’t speak Italian. Moreover, the places’ names are sometimes written in bold, and sometimes not – it would be preferable to choose either style, but not both at the same time. Also, I would have liked to have pictures of the restaurants. But then again, the author gives us the distance and time, and links to their respective Websites.

Overall, it’s a great e-book in order to make us discover Florence and Tuscany and it also gives us the desire to either move there or at least visit these beautiful regions. I give it a rating of 4 out of 4 for the amusement I had while visiting Florence and Tuscany and the wonderful information it gave me about these stunning places. I was surprised to see how big this book is – 203 pages. I was expecting a small e-guide and received this ebook thick with useful information. Thus, it is a fun ebook worth reading if you love Italy or simply want to discover new places and art in general! I greatly recommend it to everyone, even to connoisseurs of Italy.

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Florence and Tuscany
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chytach18- · Post by **chytach18-** » 16 Jan 2016, 06:21

Great review, CatGitane! The book seems to be very useful since in Italy some places have no directions in English, only in Italian.

CatGitane · Post by **CatGitane** » 16 Jan 2016, 13:01

Thank you very much, Chytach18-! I'm glad you liked it. Oh really? I didn't know for I never went to Italy, but it doesn't surprise me. Yes, it's a very useful book; it describes exactly what directions to take and what to see and where. It was an interesting read. Thank you for commenting!

gali · Post by **gali** » 16 Jan 2016, 13:08

Nice review! It sounds like a good book for tourists.

Post by **bookowlie** » 16 Jan 2016, 13:12

I enjoyed reading your review. I've visited Italy and it definitely helps to read a book like this beforehand, with tips, directions, hours of sightseeing places, etc. You also can find great restaurants and shopping places that are not widely known, although I remember every restaurant was delicious.

CatGitane · Post by **CatGitane** » 23 Jan 2016, 23:19

gali wrote:Nice review! It sounds like a good book for tourists.

Thank you very much, Gali

. Yes, it is! I've quite enjoyed it - more than I thought I would, actually.

-- 24 Jan 2016, 00:21 --

bookowlie wrote:I enjoyed reading your review. I've visited Italy and it definitely helps to read a book like this beforehand, with tips, directions, hours of sightseeing places, etc. You also can find great restaurants and shopping places that are not widely known, although I remember every restaurant was delicious.

Thank you very much, I am glad you enjoyed it (I always hope people will whenever I write a review)! No way?! You have? It must have been so great! I completely agree with you, reading a book like this prior to visiting a country is one of the best things one can do. Interestingly, you're right; some little gems hide away in these books ^.^. Ooooohhh, you're making me want to pack up and leave for Italy right now! Haha!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 07 Feb 2016, 06:01

Sounds like a very entertaining, informative and helpful book about a fascinating place. I would love to go to Italy someday

. Congratulations to Enrico Massetti for a well-written book!

CatGitane · Post by **CatGitane** » 11 Feb 2016, 15:48

kimmyschemy06 wrote:Sounds like a very entertaining, informative and helpful book about a fascinating place. I would love to go to Italy someday . Congratulations to Enrico Massetti for a well-written book!

It is!

I found it easy-to-read and informative; it was a good reading experience. Oh dear, how I'd love to visit Italy too! One day, one day...

Yes, congratulations to him! He deserves it. I have seen he has other similar books about places in Italy, I might just go and buy some.

Thanks for commenting. It's appreciated.