good 'italy novels' challenge for you

Pompeii by Robert Harris

Eat, Love, Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert

Commissario Brunetti series set in Venice by Donna Leon

Inspector Montalbano series set in Sicily by Andrea Camillieri

Juliet by Anne Fortier. It's a modern Romeo and Julia story set in Siena (that's where the earliest version took place long before Shakespeare wrote his play). Very well written, not a sappy love story at all. Includes a wonderfully written scene about a 14 century Palio. The English version is not puplished yet and will come out in August 2010 but a whole bunch of translations are out already.
http://www.annefortier.com/

I totally recommend the Guido Brunetti series and the Inspector Montalbano books the previous poster listed. I have read and re-read them many times.

Imperium by Robert Harris.

"Agony And The Ecstasy" (Stone)

"Brunelleschi's Dome", by Ross King, is a good light non-fiction read. It is about the building of the roof of the Duomo in Florence. Fascinating tale of intrigue and amazing engineering at a time when they had little in the way of tools. It is a small paperback and very portable. My husband is reading it right now and hates to see it end.

And I second (or third?) the suggestion for the Commissario Brunetti mystery series by Donna Leon. Set in Venice, wit lots of local flavor. I know lots of men who enjoy this series---including my husband. Donna Leon writes very well, an dhas a nice sense of irony in her books.

Donna Leon's mystery novels are mostly set in Venice and are a blast. Also, do check out Michael Dibdin's mystery series with Inspector Aurelio Zen. They're extremely well written with a dark undercurrent. Quite a few are set in Rome, and the others are set throughout Italy.

I know you've already read at least one, but don't rely on Dan Brown for any accurate research. His books are loaded with basic factual inaccuracies.

City of Falling Angels, by John Berendt, a non-fiction book about Venice, its history and culture.

Death in Venice, Thomas Mann

Don't Look Now, a short story by Daphne DuMaurier, made into a movie, set in Venice.

A bit lighter: Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine and Love in Italy, by Michael Tucker (actor, was on L.A. Law).

I, Claudius, and Claudius the God, both by Robert Graves; quite a bit heavier.

Imperium, Robert Harris, about Marcus Cicero.

Pompeii, Robert Harris, about Pompeii, a bit fluffy on the romance side, but with amazing descriptions of the Roman aquaduct system.

I'd forgotten about City of Falling Angels. It's excellent.

Given your demographic and what you said about romances, I would avoid "Eat Love Pray" like the plague. It's the ultimate in so-called "chick lit." :-)

Grace Brophy has written a couple of mysteries that take place in Italy - they are very well done.

Try Eric Newby's "Love and War in the Appenines" and his sequel, 20 years or so later, "A Small Place in Tuscany." Non-fiction with terrific humor, warmth, and insight into current history (WWII) and the culture of the contadini (farmers) in Tuscany. Newby's wife was Italian and her family helped save his life as an escaped POW in WWII. The second book is the story of their holiday home in a remote part of the region. Really gets you in the mood to see this locations and meet the people.

"No more Tuscan Sun" - the author is a tour guide of Tuscany and it is all his observations about tourists coming and going thru the regions. cute and funny.

I agree with the Robert Harris books. From his book Pompeii, we actually found the cistern & followed some of the water pipes around Pompeii.

Avoid Eat, Love, Pray. I may be the only "chick" in the world who did not like this book and that's okay.

Have a Great trip and Congratulations!

I, too, had forgotten about "City of Fallen Angels." It is a nonfiction book about the fire that destroyed La Fenice in Venice.

Donna Leon's books are deservedly popular, but there's another detective series set in Italy that is enjoyable: The Aurelio Zen series by Michael Dibdin, an English author. Each Zen novel is in a different location. I particularly enjoyed Dead Lagoon; very atmospheric, a little grittier than Leon. The Great Italian Novel is "I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)" by Alessandro Manzoni. It's set in 17th century Lombardy and is a terrific novel of faith and love. Can't beat it as a period piece: People in a 17th century setting behaving like people of the 17th century. Ditto what the previous post said about Newby's "Love and War." Not a novel, not a long book either, but boy was it fun.