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Reading Italy
From the romantic to the everyday, from travel literature to genre books set there, these are my favorite books with Italy as a centerpiece in some way.
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A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
1 |
The Name of the Rose
by
4.14 avg rating — 389,664 ratings
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2 |
One Hot Italian Summer
by
Karina Halle (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 5,465 ratings
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3 |
The Birth of Venus
by
3.81 avg rating — 99,645 ratings
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4 |
A Room with a View
by
3.89 avg rating — 198,808 ratings
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5 |
The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso
by
4.08 avg rating — 168,570 ratings
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6 |
Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy
by
Frances Mayes (Goodreads Author)
3.77 avg rating — 329,515 ratings
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7 |
Invisible Cities
by
4.10 avg rating — 94,612 ratings
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8 |
Romeo and Juliet
by
3.74 avg rating — 2,781,906 ratings
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9 |
Racing the Sun
by
Karina Halle (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 4,186 ratings
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10 |
The Enchanted April
by
3.89 avg rating — 39,543 ratings
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11 |
The Decameron
by
3.88 avg rating — 42,942 ratings
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12 |
The Leopard
by
4.01 avg rating — 45,291 ratings
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13 |
The Count of Monte Cristo
by
4.32 avg rating — 1,000,217 ratings
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14 |
The English Patient
by
3.86 avg rating — 137,945 ratings
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15 |
The Agony and the Ecstasy
by
4.09 avg rating — 94,468 ratings
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16 |
Sacred Hearts
by
3.79 avg rating — 13,388 ratings
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17 |
The Merchant of Venice
by
3.78 avg rating — 200,113 ratings
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18 |
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler
by
4.02 avg rating — 109,161 ratings
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19 |
Much Ado About Nothing
by
4.06 avg rating — 255,772 ratings
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20 |
Living In Italy: Hilarious Expat Adventures - How To Survive The Good Life
by
Stef Smulders (Goodreads Author)
3.65 avg rating — 591 ratings
score: 900,
and
9 people voted
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21 |
The City of Falling Angels
by
3.55 avg rating — 17,199 ratings
score: 881,
and
9 people voted
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22 |
The Prince
by
3.84 avg rating — 374,583 ratings
score: 878,
and
9 people voted
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23 |
I, Claudius (Claudius, #1)
by
4.24 avg rating — 72,098 ratings
score: 834,
and
9 people voted
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24 |
The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
by
Dan Brown (Goodreads Author)
3.93 avg rating — 2,487,564 ratings
score: 827,
and
9 people voted
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25 |
Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti, #1)
by
3.89 avg rating — 41,699 ratings
score: 789,
and
9 people voted
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26 |
An Italian Education
by
Tim Parks (Goodreads Author)
3.86 avg rating — 1,627 ratings
score: 774,
and
8 people voted
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27 |
Eat, Pray, Love
by
Elizabeth Gilbert (Goodreads Author)
3.64 avg rating — 1,826,140 ratings
score: 759,
and
8 people voted
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28 |
Death in Venice
by
3.69 avg rating — 66,049 ratings
score: 743,
and
8 people voted
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29 |
Othello
by
3.89 avg rating — 430,170 ratings
score: 733,
and
8 people voted
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30 |
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love
by
3.75 avg rating — 30,179 ratings
score: 710,
and
8 people voted
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31 |
The Sweet Life (A Sweet Life Novel #1)
by
Sharon Struth (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 102 ratings
score: 700,
and
7 people voted
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32 |
Where Angels Fear to Tread
by
3.59 avg rating — 17,520 ratings
score: 698,
and
8 people voted
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33 |
A Thousand Days in Venice
by
3.50 avg rating — 7,074 ratings
score: 677,
and
7 people voted
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34 |
Venice
by
4.03 avg rating — 1,858 ratings
score: 661,
and
7 people voted
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34 |
Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
by
Dan Brown (Goodreads Author)
3.95 avg rating — 3,356,662 ratings
score: 661,
and
7 people voted
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36 |
I, Claudius/Claudius the God
by
4.45 avg rating — 2,879 ratings
score: 610,
and
7 people voted
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37 |
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
by
3.91 avg rating — 27,953 ratings
score: 607,
and
7 people voted
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38 |
Paul & Kiki's Guide to Vacationing in Italy: Making Your Tuscany Holiday a Treasured Memory
by
Paul Stuart (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 36 ratings
score: 600,
and
6 people voted
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39 |
Italian Folktales
by
4.18 avg rating — 4,678 ratings
score: 588,
and
7 people voted
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40 |
Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)
by
Dan Brown (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 583,849 ratings
score: 567,
and
6 people voted
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41 |
Blood & Beauty (The Borgias #1)
by
3.70 avg rating — 11,565 ratings
score: 561,
and
6 people voted
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42 |
In the Company of the Courtesan
by
3.80 avg rating — 25,852 ratings
score: 556,
and
6 people voted
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43 |
D.H. Lawrence and Italy: Twilight in Italy/Sea and Sardinia/Etruscan Places
by
3.72 avg rating — 296 ratings
score: 526,
and
6 people voted
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44 |
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
by
4.03 avg rating — 37,460 ratings
score: 512,
and
6 people voted
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45 |
Quo Vadis
by
4.01 avg rating — 41,317 ratings
score: 506,
and
6 people voted
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46 |
Voice of the Violin (Inspector Montalbano, #4)
by
4.06 avg rating — 10,335 ratings
score: 492,
and
6 people voted
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47 |
Pompeii
by
Robert Harris (Goodreads Author)
3.88 avg rating — 52,181 ratings
score: 474,
and
5 people voted
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48 |
The Midwife of Venice (Midwife #1)
by
Roberta Rich (Goodreads Author)
3.61 avg rating — 13,455 ratings
score: 471,
and
5 people voted
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49 |
The Scarlet Contessa
by
Jeanne Kalogridis (Goodreads Author)
3.81 avg rating — 3,250 ratings
score: 458,
and
5 people voted
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50 |
The Wings of the Dove
by
3.78 avg rating — 17,430 ratings
score: 454,
and
5 people voted
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51 |
The Historian
by
3.80 avg rating — 274,311 ratings
score: 441,
and
5 people voted
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52 |
The Enchantress of Florence
by
3.61 avg rating — 19,344 ratings
score: 421,
and
5 people voted
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53 |
The Light in the Ruins
by
Chris Bohjalian (Goodreads Author)
3.68 avg rating — 29,988 ratings
score: 420,
and
5 people voted
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54 |
The Passion of Artemisia
by
3.91 avg rating — 19,846 ratings
score: 408,
and
5 people voted
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55 |
The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall
by
3.87 avg rating — 8,454 ratings
score: 402,
and
5 people voted
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56 |
Under a Sardinian Sky
by
Sara Alexander (Goodreads Author)
3.78 avg rating — 1,066 ratings
score: 400,
and
4 people voted
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57 |
Memoirs of Hadrian
by
4.22 avg rating — 34,761 ratings
score: 395,
and
5 people voted
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58 |
The Four Seasons: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice
by
Laurel Corona (Goodreads Author)
3.83 avg rating — 1,713 ratings
score: 392,
and
4 people voted
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59 |
Juliet
by
Anne Fortier (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 28,315 ratings
score: 391,
and
4 people voted
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60 |
The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, its Regions and their Peoples
by
3.97 avg rating — 2,086 ratings
score: 390,
and
4 people voted
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61 |
Italian Neighbors
by
Tim Parks (Goodreads Author)
3.71 avg rating — 3,133 ratings
score: 389,
and
4 people voted
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62 |
A Season with Verona: Travels Around Italy in Search of Illusion, National Character . . . and Goals!
by
Tim Parks (Goodreads Author)
4.18 avg rating — 2,250 ratings
score: 385,
and
4 people voted
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63 |
Rome
by
3.82 avg rating — 1,567 ratings
score: 378,
and
4 people voted
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64 |
Season of Storms
by
Susanna Kearsley (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 9,094 ratings
score: 375,
and
4 people voted
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65 |
Don't Look Now
by
3.82 avg rating — 9,468 ratings
score: 374,
and
4 people voted
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66 |
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
by
3.85 avg rating — 78,361 ratings
score: 372,
and
4 people voted
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67 |
On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal
by
3.68 avg rating — 520 ratings
score: 370,
and
4 people voted
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68 |
Baudolino
by
3.80 avg rating — 25,031 ratings
score: 363,
and
4 people voted
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69 |
Daisy Miller
by
3.37 avg rating — 37,258 ratings
score: 353,
and
4 people voted
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70 |
The Aspern Papers
by
3.70 avg rating — 6,698 ratings
score: 350,
and
4 people voted
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71 |
A Sicilian Romance
by
3.39 avg rating — 4,629 ratings
score: 339,
and
4 people voted
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72 |
Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence
by
Tim Parks (Goodreads Author)
3.61 avg rating — 1,385 ratings
score: 328,
and
4 people voted
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73 |
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
by
3.84 avg rating — 38,616 ratings
score: 327,
and
4 people voted
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74 |
The Normans in Sicily : The Magnificent Story of 'the Other Norman Conquest'
by
4.33 avg rating — 346 ratings
score: 321,
and
4 people voted
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75 |
Pontifex Maximus: A Short History of the Popes
by
Christopher Lascelles (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 132 ratings
score: 300,
and
3 people voted
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76 |
Dreaming Sophia
by
Melissa Muldoon (Goodreads Author)
4.21 avg rating — 61 ratings
score: 299,
and
3 people voted
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76 |
Glam Italia! How to Travel Italy: Secrets To Glamorous Travel (On A Not So Glamorous Budget)
by
Corinna Cooke (Goodreads Author)
4.47 avg rating — 390 ratings
score: 299,
and
3 people voted
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78 |
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
by
Mark T. Sullivan (Goodreads Author)
4.43 avg rating — 377,668 ratings
score: 297,
and
3 people voted
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79 |
Dressed for Death (Commissario Brunetti, #3)
by
3.95 avg rating — 17,222 ratings
score: 295,
and
3 people voted
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79 |
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
by
3.78 avg rating — 14,601 ratings
score: 295,
and
3 people voted
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81 |
The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found
by
4.10 avg rating — 5,196 ratings
score: 294,
and
3 people voted
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82 |
A Question of Belief (Commissario Brunetti, #19)
by
3.94 avg rating — 8,359 ratings
score: 292,
and
3 people voted
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83 |
My Brilliant Friend (My Brilliant Friend, #1)
by
4.05 avg rating — 446,285 ratings
score: 291,
and
3 people voted
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84 |
The Way Back to Florence
by
Glenn Haybittle (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 402 ratings
score: 289,
and
3 people voted
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85 |
Ratking (Aurelio Zen, #1)
by
3.74 avg rating — 5,127 ratings
score: 288,
and
4 people voted
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86 |
The Serpent and the Pearl (The Borgias, #1)
by
Kate Quinn (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 5,691 ratings
score: 287,
and
3 people voted
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87 |
The Worth of Women: Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men
by
4.02 avg rating — 189 ratings
score: 284,
and
3 people voted
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88 |
Princes of the Renaissance
by
4.25 avg rating — 12 ratings
score: 283,
and
3 people voted
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89 |
Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year
by
4.12 avg rating — 10,002 ratings
score: 281,
and
3 people voted
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90 |
Vita Nuova
by
3.88 avg rating — 8,476 ratings
score: 280,
and
3 people voted
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90 |
My Brilliant Friend (Neapolitan Novels, #1)
by
4.05 avg rating — 446,285 ratings
score: 280,
and
3 people voted
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92 |
A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure
by
3.85 avg rating — 7,273 ratings
score: 276,
and
3 people voted
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93 |
The Man in the Picture
by
3.64 avg rating — 6,091 ratings
score: 273,
and
3 people voted
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94 |
The Villa Of Mysteries (Nic Costa, #2)
by
David Hewson (Goodreads Author)
3.63 avg rating — 1,488 ratings
score: 272,
and
3 people voted
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95 |
Roman Blood (Roma Sub Rosa, #1)
by
3.95 avg rating — 9,304 ratings
score: 267,
and
3 people voted
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96 |
Suffer the Little Children (Commissario Brunetti, #16)
by
3.84 avg rating — 8,382 ratings
score: 266,
and
3 people voted
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97 |
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I
by
4.17 avg rating — 3,420 ratings
score: 259,
and
3 people voted
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98 |
Shadows in Bronze (Marcus Didius Falco, #2)
by
4.03 avg rating — 6,536 ratings
score: 258,
and
3 people voted
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99 |
The King's Gambit (SPQR, #1)
by
3.80 avg rating — 3,107 ratings
score: 257,
and
3 people voted
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100 |
The Charterhouse of Parma
by
3.79 avg rating — 19,648 ratings
score: 256,
and
3 people voted
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Genevieve
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Comments Showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new)
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message 1:
by
Marco
(new)
Feb 08, 2024 02:51AM

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When I started the list, it was simply books that I was reading with Italy as the primary location...but I didn't realize I had made it a public list, and it's grown tentacles in all directions as other people have added things. I'm not even sure what order the titles appear in now, because when I look at it the first title is a book I've never read! Anyway, the list reflects an American origin, by a person who didn't read Italian well enough to get through novels, so that's why it looks like it does.

When I started the list, it was simply books that I was reading with Italy as the primary location...but I did..."
Thanks for your explanation. I actually thought this list had been created by someone at GoodReads and not by users.
These days I'm preparing a list of Italian books for a friend from Australia, who doesn't speak Italian. I discovered that it is quite hard to do it because incredibly few books get translated. I only know Europe, where basically everything gets translated into Italian, French, German etc. and I was quite surprised - especially because the English-speaking market is huge, so there would probably be a place for more translated books.
Anyway, the jist of what I wanted to say is that in the end you (or the other people who contributed) cannot be blamed for not putting many Italian books in the list, simply because there are very few available to an English-speaking person!

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