Ad alta voce

One of my favorite Italian programs is Ad Alta Voce, a radio program on Rai Radio 3 in which you can listen to some of great works of literature read aloud. Recently, I found a recording of Leonardo Sciascia's Il giorno della civetta, and I was able to listen to the book and read it while it was being read to me. Listening while reading is a great way to hone your listening skills while at the same time enjoying some of the many jewels of Italian literature.

There are dozens of others titles, too, and you can listen to them directly from the web page for Ad Alta Voce (this link has the complete listing) or via Rai.tv (I find that Rai.tv works best in IE, but that's just my own opinion/experience). If reading and listening to Italian literature is daunting, there are several titles that are translated from English into Italian that might help to provide some context to what you are reading. It shouldn't be too difficult to decipher which of the titles are English ones.

Below is a partial list of some Italian classics that are my favorites -- I find listening with the book makes for a better experience. I've linked the titles of the books to the Internet Bookshop Italia:

Metello
Il deserto della Libia
Il cavaliere inesistente
Senilità
Le sorelle Materassi
L'isola di Arturo
La luna e i falò
Una storia semplice
Il giorno della civetta
Diceria dell'untore
Il giornalino di Giamburrasca
Amore e ginnastica
Il barone rampante
Il giardino dei Finzi Contini
Il mare non bagna Napoli