Barcelona Libraries recommend
As a prelude to Sant Jordi's Day, the Barcelona Libraries present the Sant Jordi Dialogues, a meeting space for authors and readers and three days of conversations between writers from all over the world based on affinities in their latest works.
This year also marks the centenary of Josep Vallverdú, the great classic of Catalan literature for children and young adults.
Enjoy reading recommendations from the protagonists of the Sant Jordi Dialogues and Josep Vallverdú. Because the best stories are being told at the Barcelona Libraries!
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Vidas provisionales
Gabriela Adameșteanu
A story about a sentimental education in communist Romania; an example of how politics affected people's relationships and everyday life.
Library: Poblenou - Manuel Arranz
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Lo demás es aire
Juan Gómez Bárcena
The author narrates the history of his town —a small village in Cantabria— over the course of the last few centuries, starting with a family that buys a house as a second home.
Library: Fort Pienc
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Materials de construcció
Eider Rodríguez
An autobiographical novel, the main theme of which is the father's alcoholism, a circumstance that had a profoundly negative effect on family life and, in particular, on the author's relationship with her father.
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Vengo de ese miedo
Miguel Ángel Oeste
The narrator wants to write about his family, but omits the testimony of his father—a figure for whom the narrator feels disgust but who ends up being the protagonist of the story.
Library: Vilapicina i la Torre Llobeta
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Quasi un miracle: tots els contes
Antònia Vicens
A collection of all the author's stories, which deal with different subjects, some of them difficult, such as ageing, deception, sadness, impossible love, etc., and others with a more optimistic air, such as the joy of life and friendship.
Library: Francesca Bonnemaison
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Encarnacions
Biel Mesquida
A total of 100 stories which, with detail and passion, reflect the possible ways of living —from a cultural and sociological point of view— in present-day Mallorca. .
Library: Camp de l’Arpa - Caterina Albert
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I si una nació desfilant per una catifa vermella
Juana Dolores
In this artistic project, which includes poetic texts, photography and music, the author positions the Catalan nation as protagonist, embodied in a lady who laments and exposes traitors, allies and metaphorical companions.
Library: Guinardó - Mercè Rodoreda
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La familia
Sara Mesa
La familia is a critical snapshot not only of a working-class family and the personalities of its members, but also of its complexity, fragilities, contradictions, silences and set traditions.
Library: Jaume Fuster
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La mestra i la bèstia
Imma Monsó
A young teacher goes to work in a rural school in the Ribagorçà Pyrenees. Little by little, she will learn about life and coexistence in a rural environment, discovering the scars that history has left on its inhabitants.
Library: Clarà
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Cap altre amic que les muntanyes: escrit des de la presó de Manus
Behrouz Boochani
Based on the author's personal experience of illegal detention in an immigration detention centre in 2013, he exposes the violence and injustices committed in our name under the pretext of the law.
Library: Trinitat Vella - José Barbero
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Un món comú
Marina Garcés
The author examines her philosophical thinking by asking herself, “How can we learn to say ‘we’ when faced with the collective identity that defines and limits its meaning?”
Library: Les Corts - Miquel Llongueras
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El vuitè nan
Josep Vallverdú
What if the story of Snow White was told differently to how it has always been? In the enchanted forest where the dwarves live, a baby appears whom they care for as if it were one of their own... until it grows a little too big!
Library: Xavier Benguerel