best books

Así se pierde la guerra del tiempo

Amal El-Mohtar • 2021

Noches Blancas

Fiodor Mijailovich Dostoevskii • 2013

Rare book

BLACKWATER III. La casa

Michael McDowell • 2024

La casa de los espiritus / The House of the Spirits (Spanish Edition)

Isabel Allende • 2017

La primera novela de Isabel Allende, La casa de los espíritus narra la saga de una poderosa familia de terratenientes latinoamericanos.<br/>El despótico patriarca Esteban Trueba ha construido con mano de hierro un imperio privado que empieza a tambalearse con el paso del tiempo y un entorno social explosivo. Finalmente, la decadencia personal del patriarca arrastrará a los Trueba a una dolorosa desintegración. Atrapados en unas dramáticas relaciones familiares, los personajes de esta poderosa novela encarnan las tensiones sociales y espirituales de una época que abarca gran parte del siglo XX.<br/>Con impecable pulso narrativo y gran lucidez histórica, Isabel Allende ha creado un fresco en el que conviven lo cotidiano con lo maravilloso, el amor con la revolución y los ideales personales con la dura realidad política.<br/><br/>La crítica ha dicho:<br/>«Un logro único, a la vez testimonio personal y posible alegoría del pasado, el presente y el futuro de América Latina.»<br/>The New York Times Book Review<br/>«Una crónica fuerte y absorbente de una familia chilena, con detalles opulentos y con un trasfondo místico... Un refinada combinación de escenarios.»<br/>Kirkus Review<br/>«Hay muy pocos viajes más emocionantes que los realizados en la imaginación de una novelista genial. Esa experiencia está disponible en La Casa de los Espíritus de Isabel Allende...»<br/>Cosmopolitan<br/><br/>ENGLISH DESCRIPTION<br/><br/>“Spectacular...An absorbing and distinguished work...The House of the Spirits with its all-informing, generous, and humane sensibility, is a unique achievement, both personal witness and possible allegory of the past, present, and future of Latin America.” —The New York Times Book Review<br/><br/>The House of the Spirits, the unforgettable first novel that established Isabel Allende as one of the world’s most gifted storytellers, brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter Blanca embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban: his adored granddaughter Alba, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future.<br/>One of the most important novels of the twentieth century, The House of the Spirits is an enthralling epic that spans decades and lives, weaving the personal and the political into a universal story of love, magic, and fate.

Amarilla

Rebecca F. Kuang • 2023

EL LADO OSCURO DEL MUNDILLO LITERARIO. Athena Liu es una escritora famosa y June Hayward es una escritora a la que no conocen ni en su casa. Cuando Athena muere de forma tan inesperada como extraña, June le roba su último manuscrito. Y no solo eso: lo publica como si fuera obra suya. Sin embargo, hay evidencias que amenazan con poner en peligro el éxito que June ha conseguido de manera tan (por decirlo finamente) cuestionable. Y es entonces cuando descubre hasta dónde está dispuesta a llegar para conservar la vida que ella cree que merece. CON ESTA EMOCIONANTE Y AFILADÍSIMA NOVELA, REBECCA F. KUANG, LA AUTORA SUPERVENTAS NÚMERO 1 DEL NEW YORK TIMES, LOGRA QUE , NOS PREGUNTEMOS: ¿Y SI, ANTE EL ÉXITO, TODOS SOMOS BUITRES?

El Misterioso Caso De Styles: El Misterioso Caso De Styles

Christie • 1992

El peligro de estar cuerda (Biblioteca Breve) (Spanish Edition)

Rosa Montero • 2022

<p> <b>Una apasionada defensa del valor de ser diferente.</b> </p> <p>Partiendo de su experiencia personal y de la lectura de numerosos libros de psicología, neurociencia, literatura y memorias de grandes autores de distintas disciplinas creativas, Rosa Montero nos ofrece un estudio apasionante sobre los vínculos entre la creatividad y la inestabilidad mental. Y lo hace compartiendo con el lector numerosas curiosidades asombrosas sobre cómo funciona nuestro cerebro al crear, desmenuzando todos los aspectos que influyen en la creatividad, y montándolos ante los ojos del lector mientras escribe, como un detective dispuesto a resolver las piezas dispersas de una investigación. <br> Ensayo y ficción se dan la mano en esta exploración sobre los vínculos entre la creatividad y la locura, y así el lector asistirá en directo al mismo proceso de la creación, descubrirá la teoría de "la tormenta perfecta", esto es, que en el estallido creativo confluyen una serie de factores irrepetibles, químicos y situacionales, y compartirá la experiencia personal de cómo Rosa Montero vivió en directo, y durante años, muy cerca de la locura. <br> <i> El peligro de estar cuerda</i> habla de que "las hadas" nos dan un don, y nos hacen pagar un precio por él; los normales no pagamos ese duro precio, pero corremos el riesgo de morir de tedio, en lugar de morir de amor. «Como en todo, la clave está en el equilibrio entre el porcentaje de desapego y el de sentimiento, en lograr cierta armonía entre el yo que sufre y el yo que controla», dice la propia autora.</p>

Violeta (Spanish Edition)

Isabel Allende • 2022

<p> <b>La épica y emocionante historia de una mujer cuya vida abarca los momentos históricos más relevantes del siglo XX.</b> </p> <p> <p> <b>Desde 1920 -con la llamada «gripe española»- hasta la pandemia de 2020, la vida de Violeta será mucho más que la historia de un siglo.</b> </p> <p>Violeta viene al mundo un tormentoso día de 1920, siendo la primera niña de una familia de cinco bulliciosos hermanos. Desde el principio su vida estará marcada por acontecimientos extraordinarios, pues todavía se sienten las ondas expansivas de la Gran Guerra cuando la gripe española llega a las orillas de su país sudamericano natal, casi en el momento exacto de su nacimiento.</p> <p>Gracias a la clarividencia del padre, la familia saldrá indemne de esta crisis para darse de bruces con una nueva, cuando la Gran Depresión altera la elegante vida urbana que Violeta ha conocido hasta ahora. Su familia lo perderá todo y se verá obligada a retirarse a una región salvaje y remota del país. Allí Violeta alcanzará la mayoría de edad y tendrá su primer pretendiente...</p> <p>En una carta dirigida a una persona a la que ama por encima de todas las demás, Violeta rememora devastadores desengaños amorosos y romances apasionados, momentos de pobreza y también de prosperidad, pérdidas terribles e inmensas alegrías. Moldearán su vida algunos de los grandes sucesos de la historia: la lucha por los derechos de la mujer, el auge y caída de tiranos y, en última instancia, no una, sino dos pandemias.</p> <p> <b>Vista con los ojos de una mujer poseedora de una pasión, una determinación y un sentido del humor inolvidables que la sostienen a lo largo de una vida turbulenta, Isabel Allende nos regala, una vez más, una historia épica furiosamente inspiradora y profundamente emotiva.</b> </p>

Largo pétalo de mar / A Long Petal of the Sea (Spanish Edition)

Isabel Allende • 2020

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter: A Cosmere Novel (Secret Projects)

Brandon Sanderson • 2023

Call Me by Your Name: A Novel

André Aciman • 2017

<p><b>Now a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, and Written by Three-Time OscarTM Nominee James Ivory<br><br>The Basis of the Oscar-Winning Best Adapted Screenplay</b><b><br><br>A <i>New York Times</i> Bestseller<br>A <i>USA Today</i> Bestseller <br>A <i>Los Angeles Times</i> Bestseller<br>A <i>Vulture</i> Book Club Pick </b><br><br><b>An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time<br><br></b>Andre Aciman's <i>Call Me by Your Name</i> is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.<br><br>Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Ficition<br><br>A <i>New York Times</i> Notable Book of the Year • A <i>Publishers Weekly </i>and <i>The Washington Post </i>Best Book of the Year • A <i>New York </i>Magazine "Future Canon" Selection • A <i>Chicago Tribune</i> and <i>Seattle Times</i> (Michael Upchurch's) Favorite Favorite Book of the Year</p>

The Burning God (The Poppy War Book 3)

R. F. Kuang • 2020

The exciting end to The Poppy War trilogy, R. F. Kuang’s acclaimed, award-winning epic fantasy that combines the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating, enthralling effect. After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead.  Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.  Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?

The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, 2)

R. F Kuang • 2019

Rin’s story continues in this acclaimed sequel to The Poppy War—an epic fantasy combining the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters.<br/><br/>The war is over.<br/>The war has just begun.<br/>Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars. Though the third battle has just ended, shaman and warrior Rin cannot forget the atrocity she committed to save her people. Now she is on the run from her guilt, the opium addiction that holds her like a vice, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix—the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with her fearsome power.<br/>Though she does not want to live, she refuses to die until she avenges the traitorous Empress who betrayed Rin’s homeland to its enemies. Her only hope is to join forces with the powerful Dragon Warlord, who plots to conquer Nikan, unseat the Empress, and create a new republic.<br/>But neither the Empress nor the Dragon Warlord are what they seem. The more Rin witnesses, the more she fears her love for Nikan will force her to use the Phoenix’s deadly power once more.<br/>Because there is nothing Rin won’t sacrifice to save her country . . . and exact her vengeance.

The Poppy War: A Novel (The Poppy War, 1)

R. F Kuang • 2019

<p>“I have no doubt this will end up being the best fantasy debut of the year [...] I have absolutely no doubt that [Kuang’s] name will be up there with the likes of Robin Hobb and N.K. Jemisin.” -- Booknest</p><p>A Library Journal, Paste Magazine, Vulture, BookBub, and ENTROPY Best Books of 2018 pick!</p><p>Washington Post "5 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel of 2018" pick!</p><p>A Bustle "30 Best Fiction Books of 2018" pick!</p><p>A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.</p><p>When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.</p><p>But surprises aren’t always good.</p><p>Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.</p><p>For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .</p><p>Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.</p>

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

R. F. Kuang • 2022

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Poppy War   “Absolutely phenomenal. One of the most brilliant, razor-sharp books I've had the pleasure of reading that isn't just an alternative fantastical history, but an interrogative one; one that grabs colonial history and the Industrial Revolution, turns it over, and shakes it out.” -- Shannon Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide… Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?