Spanish Archives - BookDragon

Booklist Backlist: Tales of Dementia [in Booklist]

02 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Chinese American, European, Fiction, French, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese American, Jewish, Lists, Malaysian American, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Palestinian American, Repost, Spanish, Translation

Gerda Saunders, who wrote Memory’s Last Breath (2017), an exquisitely bittersweet record chronicling her experiences with dementia, is one of my most beloved friends. We have books in common, in that we find great solace and escape in the (well-)written word. Inspired by our last visit...

City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated by Lucia Graves and Carlos Ruiz Zafón [in Booklist]

10 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Repost, Spanish, Translation

*STARRED REVIEW In addition to Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s standalone Marina (2015), Daniel Weyman previously narrated The Labyrinth of the Spirits, considered the finale to the internationally bestselling Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. Weyman – his continuity is especially affecting – returns for Ruiz Zafón’s posthumous collection of...

Among the Hedges by Sara Mesa, translated by Megan McDowell [in Shelf Awareness]

25 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Repost, Spanish, Translation

*STARRED REVIEW Beyond familial bonds, is a relationship between an almost-14-year-old girl and a 54-year-old man possible? Intriguing Spanish writer Sara Mesa – who presented all manner of inappropriate relationships in Four by Four – continues to explore highly charged power dynamics in Among the Hedges, translated by...

Rabbit Island by Elvira Navarro, translated by Christina MacSweeney [in Booklist]

20 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Repost, Short Stories, Spanish, Translation

Spare in pages, Elvira Navarro’s collection of 11 short stories proves dense with disconnection, dysfunction, and dismay as families fray, couples sunder, and animals are brutalized. Set between the seemingly familiar and elusively surreal, Navarro’s tales unsettle readers through oneiric landscapes. In “Rabbit Island,” a non-inventor...

The Winter of the Cartoonist by Paco Roca, translated by Andrea Rosenberg [in Booklist]

09 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Nonfiction, Repost, Spanish, Translation

In a book about rebels, reading against the presented order is highly recommended. Eisner-nominated Paco Roca (The House, 2019) is part of the Spanish graphic novel elite, already awarded virtually all the Spanish honors, and this is the work he’s “always wanted to create”: both...

Four by Four by Sara Mesa, translated by Katie Whittemore [in Booklist]

26 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Repost, Spanish, Translation

Located in “the now defunct city of Vado” is Wybrany College, “which we pronounce güíbrani colich.” Allegedly founded by a Polish businessman in 1943 to educate exiled orphans, Wybrany has since morphed into an elite boarding school mostly for rich and powerful progeny. The “never...

Garden by the Sea by Mercè Rodoreda, translated by Maruxa Relaño [in Booklist]

27 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Spanish, Translation

Set in 1920s Catalonia, the permeability of social classes – upstairs/downstairs style – gets played out in a Spanish seaside villa. The gardener, who has outlasted multiple “masters” over decades, narrates “six summers and one terrible winter” from when Barcelona almost-newlyweds take possession until the...

Five More (Audiobooks) to Go: Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Labyrinth of the Spirits, read by Daniel Weyman [in The Booklist Reader]

13 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, European, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Spanish, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and read by Daniel Weyman Casting a male narrator for a novel featuring a female protagonist might initially seem like a bad idea, but actor Daniel Weyman (who also narrated Zafón's Marina) makes sure Alicia Gris, the...

The Labyrinth of the Spirits [The Cemetery of Forgotten Books finale] by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated by Lucia Graves [in Booklist]

05 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Repost, Spanish, Translation

*STARRED REVIEW Casting a male narrator for a female-protagonist-driven novel might seem initially ill-fitting, but Daniel Weyman, who also narrated Zafón’s Marina (2015), makes sure Alicia Gris gets well heard in the stupendous, well-worth-the-long-wait finale of Zafón’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books tetralogy plus short story. Anglicized by...

Princess Li | La Princesa Li by Luis Amavisca, illustrated by Elena Rendeiro, translated by Robin Sinclair

26 May, by SIBookDragon in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction, Spanish, Translation

Here's a "Once upon a time"-sort of tale most of us old folks didn't grow up with! Brave new world indeed! Meet Princess Li who lives somewhere "far away in the East" in a gorgeous palace with her King-ly father. Being admired for her great beauty...

the extraordinary journey of the fakir who got trapped in an Ikea wardrobe. A novel. by Romain Puértolas, translated by Sam Taylor

15 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Indian, South Asian, Spanish, Translation

An Indian fakir gets in an old red Mercedes cab at Terminal 2 of Charles de Gaulle Airport and utters his first word – in Swedish – to the driver: "Ikea." Have you heard this one before? Well, no, most probably not ...

Marina: A Gothic Tale by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated by Lucia Graves

04 Aug, by SIBookDragon in European, Fiction, Spanish, Translation, Young Adult Readers

If you're looking for a feel-good love story, this won't be it. If three separate tragic romances connected by heart-thumping, horrifying adventures sounds about right, then here it is – supercharged adrenaline rush most definitely guaranteed. First comes young love. While exploring an older section of 1970s Barcelona,...

The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated by Lucia Graves

29 Jul, by SIBookDragon in European, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Spanish, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The offer of a new job in a small resort town on the coast of Normandy allows the recently widowed Simone Sauvelle the chance for her and her two children to escape a poverty-stricken life in Paris. As the assistant to brilliant toymaker Lazarus Jann,...

The Sky of Afghanistan by Ana A. de Eulate, illustrated by Sonja Wimmer, translated by Jon Brokenbrow

27 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Afghan, Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction, Spanish, Translation

"I look at the sky, I close my eyes, / and my imagination begins to soar ...

Anno’s Spain by Mitsumasa Anno [in AsianWeek]

27 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Japanese, Nonfiction, Repost, Spanish

Anno's Spain A superbly detailed, wordless journey through Spain with the blue-capped guide on horseback from the award-winning creator of Anno's Journey and Anno's U.S.A. Review: "New and Notable Books," AsianWeek, February 27, 2004 Readers:...

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