Books that I liked
3 minutes readI like to read. A lot! A good book for me is a sight for sore eyes. Over the last months, I have been reading a ton of English literature because I am trying to improve my writing.
My native language is Spanish and we have great authors. If you know enough Spanish to read a book, please give South American authors a chance!.
This is a short list of some books that I liked. I’m planning to build a website with all the books that I read (pst! this is one of my personal projects that I want to finish over the next month or so). In the meantime, I will share this list.
Note: the books are not listed in any particular order
Gog — Giovanni Papini
“There are those who have a desire to love, but do not have the capacity to love.”
A sadic novel, so far one of the best books that I’ve ever read. You can also consider it as a group of short stories connected between them. It describes the tales of a multimillionaire with crazy ideas.
The Aleph — Jorge Luis Borges
“There is nothing very remarkable about being immortal; with the exception of mankind, all creatures are immortal, for they know nothing of death. What is divine, terrible, and incomprehensible is to know oneself immortal.”
You may notice a trend here, but the book contains 17 short stories. It includes philosophy, adventures and a very entertaining read.
The old man and the sea — Ernest Hemingway
“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
A short story of an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles to catch a giant fish. Is a story about perseverance, willpower, human relations and learning to lose.
The Brothers Karamazov — Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”
I try to read books in their native language, but Dostoyevsky is the exception to the rule. It’s one of my favorite authors and this novel is not an exception.
The book uses the story of a father and his two sons as an excuse to explore topics about morality, religion, and existentialism.
The Trial — Franz Kafka
“It would have been so pointless to kill himself that, even if he had wanted to, the pointlessness would have made him unable.”
As with anything that comes from Kafka, the book is full of surrealism. It shows the deep understanding of Kafka on how the human justice works — remember, he was a lawyer.
An interesting thing about this book is that is inconclusive. Kafka died of Tuberculosis at the age of 40 without finishing it. I’d recommend you to get an edition with Kafka’s annotations.
Niebla — Miguel de Unamuno
“We men do nothing but lie and make ourselves important. Speech was invented for the purpose of magnifying all of our sensations and impressions — perhaps so that we could believe in them.”
Niebla is a short novel — or “nivola” as the author likes to call it. I don’t want to ruin you the experience of discovering why he insists in saying that it’s not a traditional novel. It’s a short story! Give it a try!.
Sobre héroes y tumbas — Ernesto Sabato
The book tells the story of a family across three generations using three different characters and making connections between them. It’s an awesome book because it has all the condiments that I like: philosophy, a little of adventure and craziness and surrealism.
And I guess that’s all for now! If you have any suggestions for new books, feel free to reach me at: