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Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City, Paul Strarthern

4/18/2017

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     Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the
Soul of a Renaissance City, Paul Strarthern
     I read this while in Florence at the end of April. A highlight was visiting the cell in the Convent of San Marco where Savonarola did so much of his writing.
Compassion for the citizens of Florence and all of Renaissance Italy living in those treacherous times. Physical punishment was brutal; shifting political tide shifted quickly and frequently, and often without warning.
    And yet, during this time, Florence was the leading (only) republican for of government in Italy.


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Morning Glory, Sarah Jio

4/1/2017

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Morning Glory, Sarah Jio
      I was delighted to be distracted by a good novel in the midst of reading about Florence during the time of Savonarola. The twists and turns in this story reflect the twist and turns that are part of our personalities and part of life’s happenings—even for Savonarola and Lorenzo de’Medici.
     Compassion for people who go off the society’s path and hold there own on one less traveled.


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    Author

        Compassionate Reading may sound strange, but that’s my purpose in joining the Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge. A book a week seems like a reasonable goal. Maybe I’ll read 52, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll read 32, but probably not 520.
         Number goals appeal to me, especially ones connected with the calendar. As a teacher, I loved the definitive school year. There is nothing like a Monday morning every seven days to give me another jump start. The first of every month I take delight in turning the page of my wall calendar. I like numbers.
         However, this reading goal isn’t about adding books to a list. My goal is understand lives different from mine. Up until now I have read through the lens of my own life, one of ease, privilege, freedom and advantage; they never promised a rose garden, but I was given one. Now I want to wear the lens of the authors and their characters. I want to step into their feelings and experiences without comparing them to mine. I want to observe without judging. I want to appreciate the nuances rather than put everything into categories. I want to I want to read with my heart more than my head.
         My plan is to post how each book opened my heart to compassion.

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