Giveaway : Free Printable July 2023 Calendar

A cutie things to download and print: next month calendar planning

Hello everybody ! :-D

Since graphic design is one of my passions and hobbies ( and I also was a graphic designer and web designer for 10 years ), I thought it would be nice to give you some little gift from time to time.

Here is a free printable July 2023 calendar to help you keep track of the days passing by and your deadlines, appointments, your family and friends birthdays, projects and more!

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
July 2023 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

You see it here in a medium/little size but the original jpg size ( in pixels ) is 1634 x 1264, so you can click on the image to enlarge and then download it.
You can save it on your computer and upload it as you screen desktop or print it and keep it on your work desk or hang it on the wall.

I wish you can enjoy it and if you have some suggestion about size, please tell me.

I'm asking you only a little favore : before downloading it, please leave me a little greeting in the comments, saying your name and which country do you come from :-)
If I see that at least 5 people have downloaded the freebie, I will gladly prepare another one for the month of August and for the next few months.

Thanks for stopping by, wishing you a good day and a Happy July!!!

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Book review : City of Silence by Kim Wright

City of Silence
by Kim Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

NOTE : _ I'm Italian, I hope I managed to explain everything clearly even if not in correct English _

4 stars, it means that I liked it, it caught my attention, but it's not among those I would read again in the future (as often happens with those I adore and I rate 5 stars).

WHAT I LIKED:

1_) I liked that although there were many characters on the line ( not only the detective group but many others ) that develop their own story, it's very easy to get involved in each character's life and events.

Some of those characters are pure invention, some other are real existed characters ( such as Queen Victoria, her granddaughters Ella and Alix, the oldest Tsar's son Nicky ( future Nicholas II ), a young revolutionary that will be known as Lenin ).
All stories and character's thoughts alternate from chapter to chapter, but I repeat:
it's very easy to follow everything, indeed the writing is flowing the events are reported in an orderly manner and with a certain suspense that makes you want to know more.

I also had a lot of fun searching Pinterest for photos of the Romanovs, lots of personal photos of their family, taken by themselves, since they loved photography and had their own cameras.
This took me longer to read the book, but also shows that the subject was captivating.

Queen Victoria with Alix of Hesse, i.e. Alexandra Feodorovna, last Russian Tsarina, when she was a child

Young Alix as a teen-ager

2_) Of course, in addition to the mystery of a double homicide, initially cataloged as a double suicide, plus a third homicide later on, we find ourselves in a novel full of historical notions and it pleased me a lot, while I was reading the novel, to investigate the pages of Wikipedia and between newspaper articles on the true facts told in the book ( and of course discover also what wasn't at all true )

3_) The whole story takes place in St. Petersburg, when the young Alix goes to visit her sister Elizabeth (married to a Russian Grand Duke, the brother of the tzar Alexander III _ true facts) accompanied by her grandmother Queen Victoria (false).
Although there are no striking descriptions of the city in the book, you can breathe the imperial air of those times and the ferment of the revolution that was already peeping out.

Young Alexandra and Nicholas already married

Nowadays Winter Palace reflecting on Neva

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

1_) As I told before some facts are true and some others not. Of course, after all it's a fiction, but I find that the author perhaps exaggerated a little with author's license ( Queen Victoria in Russia ??? It never happened, she disliked them, as it also is said in the book. I just can't even imagine her
at Romanovs court, bowing to the Tsar ).

There are two or three things that in my opinion are too exaggerated inventions, one of which I don't mention because it would be a spoiler, which even remains unexplained at the end, a fact that the true story tells us didn't happen, but which in the book, concerning one of the main characters, it should be clarified and should ended differently, instead it has an epilogue contrary to the true story and that I didn't like.

2_) I liked the whole book except two chapter ( the second one and one towards the end ) in which the group of detectives discuss the old cases and the boss comes up with all his theories about how to investigate ( not THIS CASE, but in general )... HEY ! HOW BORING ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, I can accept a couple of pages about that, but a WHOLE ? ( 2 whole chapters )
If it doesn't concern the case of the book I'm reading: WHO CARES ?! )
Of course all opinions are subjective.
____

To conclude, I can say that I liked it quite enough. I was happy to have read a mystery with a different scenario than the usual, set during a fascinating and also so profoundly unfair and therefore dangerous at the same, time historical time.
I recommend it ( even if from other reviews I saw that people preferred the first and the second one in the series ).

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Book review : The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

It is an epistolary novel, set immediately after the end of the war and the protagonist collects a series of testimonies regarding the occupation on Guernsey Island and the life of its inhabitants. All singular characters among which the personality of Elizabeth McKenna emerges in particular.

Elizabeth is not present as a character, but everyone talks about her, her exuberance, her vitality, her courage, her intolerance towards abuses and injustices and everything, beautiful and ugly, that derives from her way of being .

The stories of the inhabitants are very unique and it is pleasant to read them, it seemed to me to have guests for tea and to hear them tell their anecdotes, some funny, some sad ... others that disgusted me a little and I would have sincerely preferred not to have details about it (roasted pig, killed cat, scabies on the head and some other rubbish ... we know that during the war it was like that, but the author could spare those description's details that made me sick ).

The real protagonist of the book is a young author who is contacted by one of the islanders, which leads to a close correspondence between her and all of them.

The novel, as I have already said, was pleasant and I rounded it up to 4 stars because although it is all a pure invention, behind all this there are years of research and true testimonies collected in the archives, so I consider this reading an enrichment.
BUT ... there is a big "but" to me:
__________ something was missing, something that kept me tied to the book.

I read this book to the end only because "I wanted to finish reading, hoping to find something that made it shine", but actually every time I stopped reading because I had other things to do... I was not sorry and every time I had free time to go on reading it, I found myself thinking about what I could choose as my next reading, which was more engaging.
____ THAT SAYS A LOT. THAT IS : NICE BOOK, BUT NOT ADDICTIVE ! ( Not to me anyway )

In the novel, the protagonist, a writer, after having collected many testimonies, does not know how to write a book that has a common thread and her publisher advises her to write it by revolving the story around Elizabeth.

Maybe in reality the author (not the protagonist of the book, but the real author) had the same problem, then she found a good way to report many events, but (in my opinion ) something that keeps one in suspense is missing.

Perhaps she thought she had inserted it with a love story, but actually there is no pathos regarding this nor regarding the fate of the character everyone is talking about.

When I got halfway through the book, I had the thought of abandoning it.
I've read a few reviews: some enthusiastic, some really contemptuous... Here comes my review which is halfway there.
I find the contemptuous reviews of this book really bad and disrespectful, but I don't even feel like including it among the small reading jewels of that period.

( Sorry for any English errors, it's not my mother tongue :-) )




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DISPONIBILE ANCHE IN LINGUA ITALIANA__ RECENSIONHE IN ITALIANO :

Il club del libro e della torta di bucce di patata di Guernsey
di Mary Ann Shaffer

Si tratta di un romanzo epistolare, ambientato subito dopo la fine della guerra e la protagonista raccoglie una serie di testimonianze riguardanti l'occupazione dell'isola di Guernsey e la vita dei suoi abitanti. Sono tutti personaggi molto singolari, tra i quali emerge, in particolare, la personalità di Elizabeth McKenna.

Elisabeth non è presente come personaggio, ma tutti, o quasi, raccontano di lei, della sua esuberanza, della sua vitalità, del suo coraggio, della sua insofferenza verso i soprusi e le ingiustizie e di tutto ciò che, bello e brutto, ne deriva.

Le storie degli abitanti sono molto particolari ed è piacevole leggerle, mi è sembrato di avere ospiti per il tè e di sentirli raccontare i loro aneddoti, alcuni divertenti, altri tristi, altri ancora che mi hanno disgustata e sinceramente avrei preferito non avere dettagli in merito (maialino arrosto, gatto ucciso e scuoiato, scabbia sulla testa e qualche altra schifezza... sappiamo che durante la guerra era così, ma l'autrice poteva risparmiarsi questi dettagli che mi facevano venir da vomitare).

La vera protagonista del libro è una giovane autrice che viene contattata da uno degli isolani, il che porta a una fitta corrispondenza tra lei e tutti loro.

Il romanzo, come ho già detto, è stato piacevole e l'ho arrotondato a 4 stelle perché nonostante sia tutta una pura invenzione, dietro a tutto questo ci sono anni di ricerche e testimonianze vere raccolte negli archivi, quindi considero questa lettura un arricchimento.
MA ... c'è un grande "ma" per me:
__________ mancava qualcosa, qualcosa che mi teneva legata al libro.

Ho letto questo libro fino alla fine solo perché "volevo finire di leggere, sperando di trovare qualcosa che lo facesse brillare", ma in realtà ogni volta che dovevo interropmpere la lettura, perché avevo altro da fare... NONB MI TROVAVO DISPIACIUTA ( come accade con un libro che adori ) e ogni volta che avevo tempo libero per riprendere il romanzo, mi ritrovavo a pensare a cosa avrei potuto scegliere come lettura successiva, qualcosa che fosse più coinvolgente. QUESTO DICE MOLTO.CIOè : CARINO, MA NON AVVINCENTE.

Nel romanzo, la protagonista, scrittrice, dopo aver raccolto tante testimonianze, non sa come scrivere un libro che abbia un filo conduttore e il suo editore le consiglia di scriverlo facendo ruotare la storia attorno ad Elizabeth.

Forse nella realtà l'autrice ( non la protagonista del libro, ma la vera autrice ) ha avuto lo stesso problema, ha trovato un buon modo per riportare tanti eventi, ma manca quel qualcosa che tiene col fiato sospeso. Forse lei ha pensato di averlo inserito con una storia d'amore, ma in realtà non c'è pathos ne riguardo a questo ne riguardo alla sorte del personaggio di cui tutti parlano.

Quando sono arrivata a metà libro, ho avuto il pensiero di abbandonarlo.
Ho letto qualche recensione : alcune entusiastiche, altre veramente sprezzanti... Ecco ora è arrivata la mia recensione che si trova a metà strada.
Trovo veramente cattive ed irrispettose le recensioni sprezzanti su questo libro, ma non mi sento neppure di inserirlo tra i piccolo gioielli della lettura di quel periodo.

Book review : The Musician's Daughter by Susanne Dunlap | Music, Murder & Mystery

The Musician's Daughter
by Susanne Dunlap

GENRE: #HistoricalMystery
My rating: 3.8 rounded up to ★★★★☆

This review is a bit of a tough one to write!
I gave it a 3.8-star rating, though honestly, it could’ve been 4.5 or even a full 5 stars, if it hadn't been for some reasons that I will explain later.

The plot is solid and really gripping, probably one of the most original stories I’ve come across in years. It hooked me right from the back cover. However, I have to admit I struggled to get into it during the first half, but I'll share why in a moment.

First, here’s a little about the plot:

___THE PLOT__

Late 18th-century imperial Vienna. The story kicks off with a gut punch: fifteen-year-old Theresa Maria wakes up on Christmas Eve to the devastating news that her father, a talented violinist in Prince Nicholas Esterhazy’s court, has been murdered.
The mystery is immediate and gripping: his priceless violin is missing, and the only clue left behind is a strange gold pendant hanging around his neck.
When his body is discovered in a Hungarian gypsy camp and brought home by his fellow orchestra members, his daughter, Theresa, is determined to uncover the truth.

Theresa is taken in by the celebrated composer Franz Joseph Haydn, who serves as both her father’s former mentor and her new benefactor.
Employed as his copyist, she gains unprecedented access to her father's clandestine life. What starts as a quest for justice quickly spirals into a dark trail of secrets, and deep-seated corruption, so the young girl soon finds herself tracking a dangerous trail of blackmail and deceit, while simultaneously discovering her own integrity and a budding new love.

****** MY OPINION ******

THE SETTING - A PLUNGE INTO THE HEART OF IMPERIAL VIENNA

I’ve always had a soft spot for 18th-century Austrian or Prussian settings, but they are notoriously hard to find in English or Italian translations.
It’s even rarer to find a novel written by a non-Austrian author that feels truly authentic, where you can actually feel the atmosphere of the era.

Susanne Dunlap absolutely nails it. You aren't just reading about 18th-century Vienna; you are breathing its air.
You can hear the scratch of violin bows against gut strings, smell the damp, cold cobblestones as Theresa maneuvers through the dark streets, and feel the stifling, powdered-wig formality of the Esterhazy court.
The author brings 18th-century Vienna to life with vivid detail, from court intrigue and professional jealousy among musicians (including the legendary Joseph Haydn, who is Theresa’s godfather) to the complicated racial tensions between the Viennese, the Hungarians, and the Romany people.
It is rare to find a non-Austrian author who captures the friction between the social classes so authentically. She perfectly portrays that strange, high-stakes balance where art is the only thing that keeps the courtly elite and the struggling musicians tethered together.

Plus, there’s plenty of action and drama to keep you hooked. It’s a captivating tale set against a charming backdrop, sprinkled with music and a touch of romance.

THE HISTORICAL TAPESTRY

Beyond the historical backdrop and the brief mentions of real people from the past, the historical research shines through in the gritty details of the time.

Dunlap doesn’t shy away from the darker realities of the 18th century, the brutal justice system, the rampant poverty, and the horrifying reach of those in power. Indeed, the book explores some of the rougher sides of that society, such as crime, prostitution, and the brutal punishments handed out through torture that were so common back then.
Showing us the reality behind the wigs and the powdered faces makes the stakes feel incredibly high for a fifteen-year-old girl.
It’s thought-provoking, dark, and utterly compelling.

Thankfully, the world has evolved since those times, at least in democratic countries, but these topics still provide a lot of interesting perspective for anyone reading it today, no matter their age.

THE CHARACTERS

I liked them all, starting with Theresa, the protagonist, a sensible 15-year-old devoted to her father and mother.
At fifteen, she is at that crucial turning point where childhood innocence is stripped away by tragedy. Her transformation from a sheltered musician’s daughter into a determined, intelligent sleuth is so satisfying to watch.

And then there are the people pulling her in different directions:

• Zoltan, the Hungarian musician, offers such a beautiful, grounded contrast to court life. Their connection is pure, tentative, and utterly charming.


• Mirela, a character who keeps you on your toes. She represents that wild, rebellious, and unpredictable side one would expect from gypsy. Unfortunately, she isn't always reliable friend to Theresa, which is why I occasionally felt a real dislike for her.
  I found myself questioning her motives just as much as our protagonist did, which is exactly why she makes the narrative so compelling.


• There are, of course, many other minor characters, such as the younger brother, the widowed mother, an exceptional gypsy violinist, and the famous composer Haydn.
  Although they aren't explored in deep detail, the author brilliantly captures their essence; each of them plays a vital role in shaping the story Theresa shares with us.

Susanne Dunlap doesn't give us "types", she gives us people, each carrying their own prejudices and their own burdens.

THE MUSIC AS A CHARACTER

The music is the heartbeat of this book. The author doesn’t treat the music as a mere backdrop; she treats it like a living, breathing language.
Whether it’s the formal symphonies in the palace or the raw, untamed melodies of the gypsy camp, the writing makes you hear the story. It adds a layer of emotional resonance that makes the murder mystery feel not just like a crime, but like a desecration of something sacred.

SUITABLE FOR ?

This reading is recommended for 12 years old and up, but I would say it is best suited for readers aged 15 and older. Indeed, the language is clean, but the story tackles heavy themes such as pedophilia, exploitation, and the truly gruesome realities of capital punishment.
Of course, the author treats these subjects with the gravity they deserve, making this a much more "adult" YA novel than you might expect.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER?

Initially, I struggled to get into the story and adapt to the author's narrative style.

Everything is told in the first person by Theresa, which I really like, but her narration, especially in the first part of the book, offers very little dialogue. This prevented me from immediately connecting with her and the other characters.

Reading other reviews, I've noticed that some readers were disappointed with Haydn's character, wishing he had been explored more deeply. Perhaps it would have been interesting to see him more involved in the overall mystery, but I personally didn't mind. I would, however, have preferred the author to delve deeper into Zoltan's character, since he's the one who makes Theresa's heart race throughout the story.

When it comes to the love story, it is certainly not a sweeping, epic romance that fills every page, and I must admit I was a little disappointed by that at first.
Despite being a YA novel, it could have perhaps offered a real kiss and a few more heart-pounding moments.
However, I must warn you that it is instead a portrayal of a first love blossoming amidst chaos.
It is subtle, discreet, and precious, and it feels completely authentic for a fifteen-year-old of that era.

If you approach this book expecting a passionate or sappy romance, you’ll miss the point. But if you are looking for a tender, realistic connection that offers a glimmer of hope in a very dark story, you'll find it incredibly moving.

THE FINAL VERDICT:

If you’re drawn to this era, have the patience to push through a slightly slow start, and love mystery, music, and a brilliantly evoked 18th-century Vienna, give it a go!
If you’re looking for a heavy romance, you might want to look elsewhere!


Thank you all for stopping by and reading my review! 😊

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