Recommendations by Barcelona Libraries

Once again this year, Barcelona’s libraries are hosting the Dialogues for Sant Jordi, a chance for authors and readers to come together as a prologue to Sant Jordi’s Day. Conversations with writers from around the world, based on affinities in their latest works.

Enjoy reading recommendations from the protagonists of the Dialogues for Sant Jordi. Because the best stories are being told at Barcelona libraries!

  • Tan bonica i tirana
    Tan bonica i tirana

    Vidal, Blanca Llum

    Winner of the 2024 Carles Riba Prize for Poetry, Tan bonica i tirana contains a wild love, a reflection on invisible illness, a polyamorous tribute to friendship, a history of culture and humans through animals and, finally, desire. 

    Guinardó – Mercè Rodoreda Library

  • El somni de la subversió
    El somni de la subversió

    Altaió, Vicenç

    These are the memories of an entire generation, describing the political transition and cultural and artistic explosion in Barcelona in the 1970s and 1980s.

    Sarrià – J. V. Foix Library

  • El jo que no mor
    El jo que no mor

    Torrent, Ferran

    Set in Valencia in 1966, El jo que no mor is a spy novel in which no one is who they say they are, but where facts and feelings are authentic and genuine. 

    Montbau – Albert Pérez Baró Library

  • En carn i ossos
    En carn i ossos

    Cadenes, Núria

    En carn i ossos is a collection of twelve, chronologically ordered short stories featuring real-life people, set in unique, historical events so incredible they hardly seem true.

    Gabriel García Márquez Library

  • El jardín contra el tiempo
    El jardín contra el tiempo

    Laing, Olivia

    The Garden Against Time is a reflection on the abundant pleasure and possibilities provided by gardens, not as a space in which to hide from the world but as a space for meeting and discovery. 

    Collserola – Josep Miracle Library

  • Mapa de soledades
    Mapa de soledades

    Gómez Bárcena, Juan

    Mapa de soledades is a narrative essay that attempts to understand loneliness in both current society and other eras; a feeling that does not recognise borders, gender or social class.

    Joan Miró Library

  • Maimónides: fe en la razón
    Maimónides: fe en la razón

    Mangel, Alberto

    Maimonides was a scholar of Jewish law, physician and philosopher. This biography studies his universal impact, as a figure admired by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. 

    Esquerra de l’Eixample – Agustí Centelles Library

  • La servitud dels protocols
    La servitud dels protocols

    Guardiola, Ingrid

    Faced with the power of large tech infrastructures, the new narratives in La servitud dels protocols help to raise our political awareness of the power of the machine and its systemic presence in society.

    Les Roquetes – Rafa Juncadella Library

  • Una teoría crítica de la inteligencia artificial
    Una teoría crítica de la inteligencia artificial

    Inneraty, Daniel

    An essay that proposes a new idea regarding the political control of technology, promoting equality and the democratisation of the algorithmic environment, and a new social contract between humans and machines.

    Trinitat Vella – José Barbero Library

  • Bournville: una novela en siete grandes ocasiones
    Bournville: una novela en siete grandes ocasiones

    Coe, Jonathan

    Bournville is a brilliant, moving and funny portrait of contemporary Great Britain told through four generations of a Birmingham family.

    Jaume Fuster Library

  • Això tan tenebrós
    Això tan tenebrós

    García Puig, Mar

    Això tan tenebrós is a plea in favour of monsters, ghosts and the power of their metaphors; a manual for cheating life through literature.

    Francesca Bonnemaison Library

  • Les tenebres del cor
    Les tenebres del cor

    Sánchez Piñol, Albert

    Les tenebres del cor is a Homeric story between science and fantasy literature. The thrilling story of an illusion, as immortal as it is unattainable, which has generated unprecedented feats, countless tears and great joy.

    Montserrat Abelló Library