Rating: 
Summary: SWEET
Review: I really can't understand why so many reviewers have complained about this sweet little book. Although I'm French, not Italian, I have traveled all over Italy and I found Bella Tuscany to be a sweet and interesting book that provides a few evenings of lighthearted and entertaining reading. In Bella Tuscany, Mayes travels to regions outside Tuscany, such as Sicily and Venice, as well as to the many castle towns, fishing villages and islands. Many reviewers have complained about the chapter on recipes, but I found them quite interesting and delicious! Although I don't think Mayes captures the essence of Tuscany with quite the wit and verve of Peter Mayle, writing about Provence, Bella Tuscany is still a sweet and lighthearted look at one of the world's most beautiful regions.
Rating:
Summary: Get swept away into another life!
Review: While I loved "Under The Tuscan Sun," Mayes' first tribute to Italy, I was enthralled for the first 3/4 of the book with it's complete focus on the farmhouse restoration, but she changed focus so much toward the end (traveling, food, etc.), that I was disappointed (just a little bit....). But, with "Bella Tuscany," Mayes had much more of a consistent weaving in and out: focusing equally on the farmhouse, travels, people, food, and her "other" life in California, that I really got caught up in HER life. I'll admit there were times when I had to put the book down, for sheer envy of her, but I also got to see her life in another sense this time. Like "normal" people, she had her share of losses and tragedies, and those annoying "friends" who suddenly wanted to visit her to have a free place to stay in Tuscany - hilarious! I laughed, cried and vowed to see Italy next year - especially Venice - her description made my mouth water! I found her candor about admitting she had stereotyped Sicily and her willingness to be "Un PC" refreshing. I can't wait for her next set of adventures in Tuscany to be published!
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite!
Review: Mayes is a treat. I loved this book as much as her previous Italy book; can't understand the attacks herein, but it doesn't matter. I love all of the Italian references. The imagery is so powerful that it almost felt as though I were in Italy. It enriched my reading experience by teaching me the finer parts of Mediterranean culture -- and Mayes has done the same in a unique and memorable way. This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone without an ax slung over their shoulder.
Rating:
Summary: Get swept away into another life!
Review: While I loved "Under The Tuscan Sun," Mayes' first tribute to Italy, I was enthralled for the first 3/4 of the book with it's complete focus on the farmhouse restoration, but she changed focus so much toward the end (traveling, food, etc.), that I was disappointed (just a little bit....). But, with "Bella Tuscany," Mayes had much more of a consistent weaving in and out: focusing equally on the farmhouse, travels, people, food, and her "other" life in California, that I really got caught up in HER life. I'll admit there were times when I had to put the book down, for sheer envy of her, but I also got to see her life in another sense this time. Like "normal" people, she had her share of losses and tragedies, and those annoying "friends" who suddenly wanted to visit her to have a free place to stay in Tuscany - hilarious! I laughed, cried and vowed to see Italy next year - especially Venice - her description made my mouth water! I found her candor about admitting she had stereotyped Sicily and her willingness to be "Un PC" refreshing. I can't wait for her next set of adventures in Tuscany to be published!
Rating: 
Summary: A must read if you love Italy
Review: This is a great book! It actually take you to a portal of Italy. Well written of Italian culture, Frances Mayes capture the bella of Italy. I love this book very much, I visited Italy before and I miss it so much. When I read this book, I feel that I am there again. I love the detail of it, I actually love when she talked about food, the market and the italian word with english beside it. I learned from the book.
If you love Italy, this is a must read.
One thing I agree with the other reader that if there's pictures and map included would make this book a plus. I really wants to see the pictures she mentioned and the map for my quick reference. I love the part she talked about mushroom and market with fresh food.
Rating:
Summary: a diamond with some flaws
Review: OK--Many of the customers who wrote previous reviews about Bella Tuscany have some valid complaints. It is several chapters too long and we do get tired of Mayes' whining. We have little pity for her trying to restore two houses at once and we don't need to hear about every meal and shopping excursion. It certainly does not surpass her first effort, "Under the Tuscan Sun." Still, as someone who has never been to Tuscany (or Italy for that matter), many of the descriptions in "Bella Tuscany" are little treasures. Who wouldn't want to live where you can go to one local farm for ricotta, another for pecorino romano and a third for wine? Or where Roman and Etruscan ruins are to be found in so many unsuspecting places? Or where fabulous meals can be made with only the simple ingredients you grow in your garden? Or where every small local church has a major work or art or two? I do have two recommendations that would have made this book more enjoyable; a map of Tuscany and Italy would have been helpful in identifying the many places Mayes visited. Also, I would have enjoyed more photographs other than those on the dust jacket. Maybe the few "teaser" pictures are to whet our appetite for her 3rd book, "In Tuscany." In any case, while this book has some character flaws, I think potential readers need to try to overlook these and to dig deeper for the jewel within.
Rating:
Summary: Bella Tuscany
Review: The Mother of the Tuscany books! The second in her series, about her home in Tuscany, not as good as the first but very good.
Rating:
Summary: BELLA TUSCANY:THE SWEET LIFE IN ITALY
Review: SHE WRITES A GREAT BOOK ABOUT ITALY.
HAVING BEEN THERE I FEEL I AM GOING BACK AGAIN.
GREAT.
Rating:
Summary: a good follow-up book
Review: Just as good as the first book, this time the author focuses more on daily living in Tuscany, rather than the restoration of the house. I love the descriptions of her garden and her fascination with making it a lovely place. If you enjoyed the first book, you'll love this one too.
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh voice is corrupted in Bella Tuscany
Review: The magic of Tuscany fades with this novel, where Mayes looses her objective and foreign voice, and trades it in for a more settled and self-centered opinion. Understanding that it is the journal of the love of a house and a country, i finished the book. Yet, i couldn't help but feel, that this novel was more of a documentary of her lame trials: juggling a great career with finding the "right" home in California, dealing with her personal relationship, and getting tired of friends wanting visit her in Tuscany (who could blame them!). Rather than be the continuing saga of a great house in an amazing region, with some of the strongest cultural roots on the planet, Bella Tuscany folds itself into the day in-day out of a privedge and educated woman. The first novel was fresh and new, maybe because Tuscany wasn't as "discovered" by the time the second one hit the shelves. All in all, I simply feel that Mayes' voice of discovery has abandonded her, with Bella Tuscany.
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