If the pandemic brought good one thing, it is that many people, forced by confinement, resumed the pleasure of reading books. The data does not lie and, in the last three-four years, readers in Spain have been increasing: 65% say they read in their free time, while 52% say they are regular readers (who reads books at least once a week).
We are sure that, like us, you have a good pile of books to read this summer, all of which you have been putting away throughout the course. Of course, The holidays are the right time to catch up on reading, in any of the genres that interest you: from worthwhile romantic literature to books that can help us improve our mental health.
In this article, we introduce you 10 books that can become your great companions (along with sun protection, water and a hat) on the beach or in the pool. Very entertaining and addictive books for which, we are sorry, you may not be able to bathe as much as you want because they will make you lie down in the hammock.
Among them, romantic novels such as ‘People we meet on vacation’, gothic thrillers like ‘The girl who lives at the end of the road’, books that invite us to a cultural and political reflection like ‘A tent under the sky’ or one of the historical novels most acclaimed Spanish of recent times, ‘Gladiadoras’. Do you know which one to choose?
‘Joy’ (Azahara Alonso)
‘Gozo’
amazon.co.uk siruela
15,15 €
One of the most viral books in recent times on networks is this fantastic and special ‘Gozo’ (Siruela, 15.15 euros), by Azahara Alonso, of which the publisher has already had five editions and was its best-selling book at the 2023 Book Fair. “At what point did my life begin to be accessible only on vacation?” is the phrase with which this essay begins, which encourages us to reflect on all the dilemmas posed by work (or unemployment), time management, the desire to be authentic… Because… is it true that we are what we do? Are you a nurse, a journalist, a shop assistant, rather than a person? And deep down, something very vacational: the personal option of doing nothing (or not doing so much, or not out of necessity). Entertaining, well written and interesting, the book flows in a very special way.
‘People we meet on vacation’ (Emily Henry)
People we meet on vacation (International Planet)
Romantic novel for the summer, yes, but the good one: the latest work by Emily Henry arrives (‘The novel of the summer’), ‘People we meet on vacation’ (Planet), which was the 2021 Goodreads Award for Best Romantic Novel and which has well-defined characters and the sea of u200bu200bentertaining. This is the story of two friends, Poppy and Alex, who used to enjoy traveling together, every year, for a week; until a couple of years ago, when everything changed. They are people with completely different tastes and habits and, furthermore, they live apart for most of the year – she, in New York; him in a small town). But despite how different they are and the time that has passed, they try one last trip together, to fix things and to regain the laughs and spark of when they traveled. What will happen?
‘Sundial’ (Catriona Ward)
‘Sundial’
amazon.co.uk alliance
20,85 €
We radically change the genre and approach a horror thriller that has become a phenomenon in the United States. Is ‘Sundial’ (Alliance, 20.85 euros), Nominated for Best Horror Book at the 2022 Goodreads Awards, written by Catriona Ward. The protagonist is Rob, who all he wanted was a normal life. He almost made it: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs. But Rob fears for his oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. Rob sees a darkness in Callie that reminds him too much of the family she left behind. He decides to take her back to her childhood home, Sundial, deep in the Mojave desert. And there he will have to make a terrible decision.
‘The girl who lives at the end of the road’ (Laird Koenig)
‘The girl who lives at the end of the road’
Problems with amazon.es
21,37 €
Rynn has just turned thirteen and is celebrating alone at home. Nobody knows much about her. It’s just that she makes herself interesting, she doesn’t talk to anyone, she cashes her father’s traveler’s checks and she avoids inopportune visitors. At her house, he does what he smokes cigarettes, indulges in Emily Dickinson’s poetry, and establishes a peculiar friendship with a lame boy who claims to be a magician. It’s been a while since her father has been seen in town, and the neighbors start asking, where is her father? What is hidden in that house that stands at the end of the road? Laird Koening offers us with ‘The girl who lives at the end of the road’ (Impedimenta, with translation by the fantastic Jon Bilbao) a masterpiece of American Gothic literature, which inspired the film starring a young Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen. A twist to the genre of the disturbing.
‘Everyone in my family has killed someone’ (Benjamin Stevenson)
‘Everyone in my family has killed someone’
Planet amazon.es
18,90 €
Here we present an excellent black novel sprinkled with some humor and considered the best work of its kind in 2022 according to ‘The Sunday Times’. Is about ‘Everyone in my family has killed someone’ (Planet), by Australian comedian Benjamin Stevenson, whose attractive and addictive story we will soon see transformed into a series on HBO Max. Ernie Cunningham has never liked family gatherings. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that his family has still not forgiven him for reporting his brother Michael to the police. In all fairness, Ernie saw him commit murder, but it’s clear that the Cunningham family isn’t like the rest. Now they have decided to meet up and spend the weekend in a mountain hotel to celebrate the return of Michael, whom they have not seen for three years. The tranquility will end when a corpse appears near the hotel.
‘Sleeping tongue’ (Franco Félix)
sleeping tongue
SIXTH FLOOR amazon.co.uk
18,90 €
Let’s go with another of our favorite genres, although it is not especially summery (we already warned from the outset that): mourning books. This work is going to break your heart and surely more than one tear will flow from your eyes, but it is so well written and it is so exciting that surely you will not stop recommending it. Because when you talk about death, you’re actually talking about love, and that’s what the Mexican Franco Félix conveys in ‘Sleeping Tongue’ (Sixth Floor). After a domestic accident that at first seemed like nothing, Ana María, the author’s mother, spent years going in and out of a clinic until she died. Her passing revealed an unknown story: she had lived in Mexico City, she had a husband and four children, and she left everything behind. And so, her son starts the path through a mental labyrinth to find solutions.
‘Generations’ (Lucille Clifton)
‘generations’
transit amazon.co.uk
17,10 €
A short and exciting book written in 1976 and now recovered by the publishing house Tránsito, which wants us to know the wonderful way of writing of the poet Lucille Clifton. ‘Generations’ (Transit) It is a work that talks about slavery but also about our ancestors and love for the roots. The book begins after the death of the author’s father, when she begins to investigate letters, conversations, her memories and those of other people… to be more aware of the history of her family, the Sayles, descendants of fierce warrior Amazons, Dahomean women. Some simple and at the same time delicious memories with racism and forced labor as the axis: “His life of hers had been overflowing with days and her days, overflowing with life.” Hopefully everyone like this.
‘Jara Morta’ (Angela Segovia)
‘A Year Dead’
The Broken Nail Amazon.com
14,25 €
If you like poetry, we want to draw your attention to this little book by the Spanish author Ángela Segovia, ‘Jara Morta’ (The broken nail editorial). Selected by ‘Babelia’ as one of the best 70 books of the last Book Fair 2023, a hybrid poetic work in which elements of novels, newspapers, and narratives can also be appreciated. Segovia has also returned to nature to find happiness and creativity, and that is reflected in this book: because the protagonist returns to a forest clearing where, years ago, her grandfather built a cabin. She returns every day and, almost without realizing it, we accompany her in the reconstruction of that lair. On this tour, she invites us not to enter that cabin, but ours. A book as exciting as beautiful.
‘Gladiators’ (Juan Tranche)
‘Gladiadoras’
Planet amazon.es
21,75 €
The author of ‘Spiculus’, Juan Tranche, repeats with the exciting theme of the Roman gladiators and on this occasion sets the scene for his novel ‘Gladiators’ (Planet) in the Rome of the first century of our era. The work has all the ingredients to make it a good example of the genre: intrigue, love, action and good historical documentation. The protagonists are three women: Domitia, Helena and Valeria. Helena, a slave, is forced to become a gladiator when Emperor Hadrian falls in love with Antinous, the young woman’s great love; For her part, Valeria is the daughter of an important lawyer, but she will want to deviate from the will of men by dedicating herself to being a gladiator, a guild where there are few women.
‘A tent under the sky’ (Lyudmila Ulítskaya)
‘A tent under the sky’
automatic amazon.es
30,40 €
‘A tent under the sky’ (Automatic) it is about censorship and also about cultural dissidence, something the author knows very well, who decided to flee Moscow when Putin invaded Ukraine, and settled in Berlin. Lyudmila Ulítskaya always sounds like a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature and this recently published book can be a good way to delve into her subjects, her writing and her fiction. The novel traces the lives of three young people throughout four decades of Soviet history. Ilya, Misha and Sania meet during their first years of school and, from then until well into adulthood, they are united by a common yearning for beauty and truth that often clashes with the constraints of Soviet power and leads them to to explore their own itineraries in the field of literature, photography and music.
2023-07-10 05:47:18
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