A Spanish Book Reading Resource

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kanewai
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby kanewai » Mon Nov 25, 2019 7:38 pm

Ser wrote:When I was a teenager, we read various books by Uruguayan author Horacio Quiroga (1878-1937) in Spanish literature class in El Salvador and my classmates loved them. I'm kind of surprised not to see his name there, he's pretty popular. I think his books were the only ones my classmates ever really enjoyed out of the many we were forced to read in Spanish class.

Heck, I think even *I* liked them, even though I generally get reactions such as swollen eyes, dizziness, wheezing and hives when approaching a book of fiction of any kind.
It's always interesting hearing what people read in school in different places. I didn't recognize Quiroga's name, but most of the 'best books' lists I saw came out of Spain or the US.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby NoManches » Thu Dec 05, 2019 12:04 am

http://quelibroleo.hola.com/


I found this website somehow when looking for new books to read in Spanish.I usually look for books on Amazon but the problem is even though my phone and Amazon settings are in Spanish, most of the book recommendations I come across are books originally written in English and translated into Spanish. There is nothing really wrong with this, but I just prefer books originally written in Spanish.


This website tends to give a lot of "originally written in Spanish" recommendations.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby jmar257 » Wed May 20, 2020 8:41 pm

Does anyone here read thrillers/action novels originally written in Spanish? I'm looking for some good recommendations, I've been reading translated stuff for the moment. I also only like almost any type of nonfiction, but especially history, finance, linguistics, business, biographies, and would appreciate and recommendations on those as well.

Books I've read recently:
Contra Todo Enemigo, Tom Clancy/Mark Greaney
El Genio del Idioma, Alex Grijelmo (yes, not a thriller, and originally in Spanish, but interesting nonetheless)
Ventor de Amenaza, Tom Clancy/Mark Greaney

Books I own and will hopefully get to soon:
El Atraco, Daniel Silva
En la mira, Tom Clancy/Mark Greaney
Historia de la lengua española, Rafael Lapesa Melgar
El Camino Dificil, Lee Child
Espia de Dios, Juan Gómez-Jurado
Africanus, el hijo del cónsul, Santiago Posteguillo
Ficciones, by Borges
Don Quijote, Cervantes (but I won't be reading this any time soon, it was $0.50 on Kindle)
Huerfano x, Gregg Hurwitz
probably a few others I can't remember

I've enjoyed the ones I've read, and would like more in that vein if anyone here has read any. Series I've read in English and like (and some I own/have found in translation and will probably buy): The Gray Man by Mark Greaney, Jack Reacher by Lee Child, Mitch Rapp by Vince Flynn. I've not actually read a single Clancy book in English, but have read 4 in Spanish (two, above, by Greaney technically) :lol: . There's plenty books in this genre out there, but a lot are crap, so I'd rather not buy stuff only going off Amazon reviews.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby iguanamon » Wed May 20, 2020 9:40 pm

If you like thrillers, try Arturo Pérez-Reverte. I especially enjoyed his noir series Falcó, and, of course La reina del sur... not to mention his Capitán Alatriste series too.

Blurb- Falcó wrote:«El mundo de Falcó era otro, y allí los bandos estaban perfectamente definidos: de una parte él, y de la otra todos los demás».
La Europa turbulenta de los años treinta y cuarenta del siglo XX es el escenario de las andanzas de Lorenzo Falcó, excontrabandista de armas, espía sin escrúpulos, agente de los servicios de inteligencia. Durante el otoño de 1936, mientras la frontera entre amigos y enemigos se reduce a una línea imprecisa y peligrosa, Falcó recibe el encargo de infiltrarse en una difícil misión que podría cambiar el curso de la historia de España. Un hombre y dos mujeres —los hermanos Montero y Eva Rengel— serán sus compañeros de aventura y tal vez sus víctimas, en un tiempo en el que la vida se escribe a golpe de traiciones y nada es lo que parece.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby jmar257 » Wed May 20, 2020 10:13 pm

iguanamon wrote:If you like thrillers, try Arturo Pérez-Reverte. I especially enjoyed his noir series Falcó, and, of course La reina del sur

Thanks, I've been meaning to watch La reina del sur on Netflix and Falcó definitely sounds interesting. I've not read many espionage thrillers set before the ~1980s, except The Day of the Jackal, which I enjoyed, and I'm currently reading The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, on my roommate's recommendation. Just added Falcó to my Amazon cart, and I suppose I should go sign up for a super challenge...
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby deekin » Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:16 pm

Falcó and La Reina del Sur sound particuarly interesting to me as well - but my guess is a bit (or a lot) beyond my level right now.

Having studied Spanish for just a short time (since April 2020), I've only read one book thus far. It's called "Pulsaciones" (about 200 pages) and is geared towards young teenagers I think. Wasn't really my cup of tea, but it boosted my confidence and showed that some of my work was paying off.

I'm looking for any recommendations of a series of books in Spanish; my hope being that the vocabulary will repeat enough to be self-reinforcing. Is the Harry Potter series a good place to start? It appears that a lot of people start here. I enjoyed the series when it came out years ago and know the story relatively well. As far as English-language writers go, I love Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, PG Wodehouse, the Sherlock Holmes stories, David Sedaris, Hemingway, George Saunders, Michael Chabon, Harlan Ellison, Michael Ondaatje... I also enjoy spy/thriller novels, sci-fi/fantasy, and biographies.

Thank you in advance for your help - this is the furthest I've gotten in studying a language and am not totally sure what I am doing.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby jmar257 » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:08 pm

deekin wrote:I'm looking for any recommendations of a series of books in Spanish; my hope being that the vocabulary will repeat enough to be self-reinforcing. Is the Harry Potter series a good place to start? It appears that a lot of people start here. I enjoyed the series when it came out years ago and know the story relatively well. As far as English-language writers go, I love Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, PG Wodehouse, the Sherlock Holmes stories, David Sedaris, Hemingway, George Saunders, Michael Chabon, Harlan Ellison, Michael Ondaatje... I also enjoy spy/thriller novels, sci-fi/fantasy, and biographies.

If it's interesting to you then it's a good start. Personally, as much as I liked the HP novels as a kid, I have zero interest in rereading them and I'd rather read something a bit above my level that's interesting than something I can easily read but it's work to actually pick up the book. While I don't think I've read many of the authors you've listed, spy/thriller novels are my thing (when it comes to fiction, non-fiction I read almost anything) so I can give some recommendations. Admittedly, they're translations...I'm still trying to find good native series to read. While I've never actually read Tom Clancy in English, I've enjoyed the translations of the Jack Ryan Jr. series, of which I've read En La Mira and Vector de Amenaza in Spanish (these were actually written my Mark Greaney, author of the Gray Man series, which is great but not translated to Spanish), as well as Contra Todo Enemigo. There are Spanish translations of the Jack Reacher series, Orphan X, and Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series, none of which I've checked out in Spanish but I own.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby deekin » Mon Aug 03, 2020 8:43 pm

jmar257 wrote:If it's interesting to you then it's a good start. Personally, as much as I liked the HP novels as a kid, I have zero interest in rereading them and I'd rather read something a bit above my level that's interesting than something I can easily read but it's work to actually pick up the book. While I don't think I've read many of the authors you've listed, spy/thriller novels are my thing (when it comes to fiction, non-fiction I read almost anything) so I can give some recommendations. Admittedly, they're translations...I'm still trying to find good native series to read. While I've never actually read Tom Clancy in English, I've enjoyed the translations of the Jack Ryan Jr. series, of which I've read En La Mira and Vector de Amenaza in Spanish (these were actually written my Mark Greaney, author of the Gray Man series, which is great but not translated to Spanish), as well as Contra Todo Enemigo. There are Spanish translations of the Jack Reacher series, Orphan X, and Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series, none of which I've checked out in Spanish but I own.


Thanks jmar257! I remember reading Clancy's Rainbow 6 probably 15 years ago, but haven't read anything else by him. I was pretty fond of the Jason Bourne series by Robert Ludlum. Not sure if that's available in translation or not, will have to do some digging.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby sanjiu27 » Tue Aug 04, 2020 12:45 am

These are some important Spanish books that I personally enjoy or find interesting:

Literature:
- "Réquiem por un Campesino Español", by Ramón J. Sénder (1901-1982).
- "Señas de identidad" and "Don Julián", by Juan Goytisolo (1931-2017).
- "Central Eléctrica", by Jesús López Pacheco (1930-1997).
- "La Regenta", by Leopoldo Alas 'Clarín' (1852-1901, Realism).
- "Episodios Nacionales", by Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920, Realism).
- "Pepita Jiménez", by Juan Valera (1824-1905, Realism).
- "Cartas Marruecas" and "Noches Lúgubres", by José Caldaso (1788-1789, Enlightment)
- "La Vida del Buscón, Llamado Don Pablos" and "La Alegoría Sueños", by Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645, Baroque).
- "Novelas Ejemplares", "Los trabajos de Persiles y Segismunda" and "El Quijote" by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616, Renaissance)
- "El Lazarillo de Tormes" (1554, Middle Ages).
- "Libro de Buen Amor", Arcipreste de Hita (s. XIV, Middle Ages).

Poetry.
- "Antología Poética", by José Agustín Goytisolo (1928-1999).
- "Pido la Paz y la Palabra", by Blas de Otero (1916-1979).
- "Poesías Completas", by Gabriel Celaya (1911-1991).
- "Viento del Pueblo", by Miguel Hernández (1910-1942).
- "Poesías de la Guerra Española", by Pedro Garfias (1901-1967).
- "Poesías Completas", by Federico García Lorca (1898-1936).
- "Poesías Completas", by Antonio Machado (1875-1939).
- "Poesías", by José de Espronceda (1808-1842, Romanticism).
- "Poesía", by Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645, Golden Age).
- "Coplas por la Muerte de su Padre", by Jorge Manrique (1440-1479, Middle Ages).

Theater.
- "La Casa de Bernarda Alba", by Federico García Lorca (1898-1936).
- "Luces de Bohemia", by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán (1866-1936).
- "Don Juan Tenorio", by José Zorrilla (1817-1893, Romanticism).
- "El Delincuente Honrado", by Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744-1811, Enlightment).
- "Fuenteovejuna" and "El Perro del Hortelano", by Lope de Vega (1562-1635, Baroque).
- "Don Gil de las Calzas Verdes" and "El Burlador de Sevilla", by Tirso de Molina (1584-1648, Baroque).
- "El Príncipe Constante" and "La Vida es Sueño", by Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681, Baroque).
- "La Celestina", by Fernando de Rojas (1475-1541, Middle Ages).

Philosophy and politics.
- "Charlas en Prisión", by Marcelino Camacho (1918-2010, republican faction).
- "Escritos Políticos", by Elena Ódena (1930-1985, republican faction).
- "Obras Completas", by Ramiro Ledesma (1905-1936, "Nationalist" faction).
- "La Guerra y el Frente Popular", by José Díaz (1895-1942, republican faction).
- "La Rebelión de las Masas" and "España Invertebrada", by José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955, close to the "Nationalist" faction).
- "Por Tierras de Portugal y España", by Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936, ultraconservatism).

Journalism.
- "Artículos", by Javier Marías (son of Julián Marías, pupil of Ortega y Gasset).
- "Artículos", by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (1837-1871, Romanticism).
- "Fígaro (artículos selectos)", by Mariano José de Larra (1809-1837, Romanticism).
- "Antología Epigramática, by Juan Martínez Villergas (1817-1894)
- "Lamentos Políticos de un Pobrecito Holgazán", by Sebastián Miñano (1779-1845).

History.
- "Por el Bien del Imperio", by Josep Fontana.
- "Historia de España", "La Guerra Civil Española", "Cataluña en la España Moderna" and "Estado y Nación en las Conciencias Españolas", by Pierre Vilar.
- "Historia del Movimiento Obrero Español", by Manuel Tuñón de Lara.
- "Los Conflictos Sociales en el Reino de Castilla en los Siglos XIV y XV", by Julio Valdeón Baruque.
- "La España De Los Siglos XIII al XV", by Francisco J. Fernández Conde.
- "Conflictos y estructuras sociales en la Hispania Antigua", V.V. A.A.
- Anything by Alberto Prieto Arciniega.

Linguistics.
- "El Euskera Arcaico", by Luis Núñez.
- Revista Palaeohispanica: http://ifc.dpz.es/ojs/index.php/palaeohispanica/index.
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Re: A Spanish Book Reading Resource

Postby SCMT » Tue Nov 03, 2020 7:18 pm

If anyone has recommendations of non-fiction books, I'd love to see them.

Specifically, I would like to find works on Mexican and Latin American history, both modern and ancient. There are of course thousands of titles available about everything from the Aztecs to the drug trade, but I have no way of sorting the good from the bad.
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