Bruno Blog

Second recommendation of the year: this time, a proper crime novel. I have always confessed that I do not particularly like this genre, but in this case, I must say, I really like the author. To me, Jordi Solé is a consolidated author who has yet to publish a mediocre or bad novel. They are all excellent, and yet perhaps there are readers who still do not know him. For this reason, although LA NOCHE DE DAMBALLAH was published in Catalan by Columna years ago, a publisher like Alrevés, a specialist in genre, did not want to waste the opportunity to publish this novel in Spanish, despite years having passed. It has the quality and the furious pace that keep you turning the pages. This is how its publishers present it to us:

Early morning, Barcelona’s Zona Franca. On Lluís Artigas’ patrol car radio sounds a 10-50: “Someone has been killed”. The victim is a young Nigerian girl brutally murdered following what turns out to be a voodoo ritual. Artigas, a burned-out agent under suspicion of being corrupt, undertakes an unexpected search for those responsible for this crime. His only ally is Mónica Vidal, a journalist who will do anything for a story, and who is also besieged by her own demons.

LA NOCHE DE DAMBALLAH is a masterfully written novel, with a furious pace, the narrative pulse of crime classics, an ironic tone, and a cynical, always incisive voice. Jordi Solé shows us a little-known, greasy side of Barcelona, where often-unnoticed characters roam. The most compelling is the protagonist, Artigas, a policeman called to become a mythical antihero.

All that’s left is for me to add that I hope that this time the novel gets the recognition it deserves, because it really is a good one.

To begin the year by recommending a novel that I loved when I received it, and that we have had to wait a long time for it to come out due to calendar issues, makes me especially excited.
 
Moreover, Francesc Soler is an author who already surprised us with his novel BARCELONA DEMÀ O AQUESTA TARDA, but EL SOMRIURE DELS DOFINS, on which the publishers at Columna have taken a chance, is another genre, very different, and I hope it can reach a large audience, as it deserves. This is a novel of initiation, of discovery of the world and of one’s own identity. The protagonist tells his story of childhood, adolescence, and youth as a sensitive child, condemned to grow up in an oppressive, small-town between the 80s and 90s.  He explains how he was able to overcome the pain and celebrate life thanks to his friendship with two fantastic women, thanks to books, and thanks to his innate resilience.
 
It is a tender story, well-written, and it comes at a time when LGBTIQ+ stories have a new platform in the literary world, because luckily the world is moving forward and the younger generations look at things from another perspective, especially issues such as sexuality. However, this is not a novel only for those who will identify directly with these themes, but rather a brilliant and necessary novel that everyone should read, and that I am sure will enjoy, because anyone can find common ground with the protagonist. As you progress in the reading of it, you progress in so many important things in life, and you cannot remain indifferent to this hard-hitting story that shines with a light of its own.

A new year begins and we all have millions of expectations for what is to come, which is logical. However, I like to look back, see where I come from and thank the past year for all the good things it has given me and even the bad, since many times from what we consider “bad” we can learn something positive. So we say goodbye to 2022, for me a very productive and stable year, to enter 2023, with the desire to live it to the fullest, to continue trying to live in the present, to be happy with what I have, what I do and to be able to give the people around me what they need.
 
I have learned a lot about this by reading our non-fiction authors, who in different subjects have provided me with the necessary tools. The goal is to live life happily and at peace with yourself, to know how to face the obstacles that may come, so that once you think you have reached the top, you can keep climbing, as my friend and author Francesc Miralles has encouraged me to do in his Christmas greeting.
 
So here I leave you with all these titles, each one better than the last, so that 2023 will be an exceptional year for each of you.
 
From Sandra Bruna Literary Agency we wish you all the best and we are looking forward to sharing more books with each of you. Happy New Year and happy reading!

1. La vida empieza cada día by Anne Igartiburu
2. Los doce códigos del amor by Elva Abril
3. La ley del reflejo by Xavier Guix
4. Dinerograma by Nacho Mühlenberg
5. Geniotipo by Tony Estruch
6. Namasté by Francesc Miralles y Héctor García 
7. El hábito hace al monje by Sonia Rico

The month of December is a time for reflection, and the truth is that during 2022 I’ve often stopped to think about everything that transpired between 2020 and 2021. Reality practically stole the spotlight from fiction, and I think we might have too quickly forgotten about all that’s happened.

My intention is not to unearth the wounds left by the pandemic, but I do think we should remember all that we were unable to do during that strange time, and the loss it provoked— many of us were unable to reunite with our loved ones and hold them close. This will be the first “normal” Christmas, and I am immensely looking forward to them, because we can all be together again (those of us who are luckily still here). It’s a wonderful thing, and something I learnt is that every moment must be lived as a unique one. I also like to remember how reading made 2020 bearable for many, and it was a pleasure discovered during a difficult time that many have kept until now. I hope they continue to cherish it, because in that moment, when the world came to a halt, stories were still there, giving us the air that the virus took away.

For that reason, I’d like to remind you of the best fiction titles of this season so that we can keep breathing that air and giving the gift of those wonderful stories that fill us with life.

1. IN THE LAKE by Maria Barbal
2. THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR NAME by Clara Peñalver
3. THE KEY OF THE STARS by Marta Quintín
4. WAR GODMOTHER by Jose Antonio Lucero
5. OLIMPIA by Laura Mas
6. THEY WILL REMEMBER US by Carla García
7. FRANCESCA DE BARCELONA by Laia Perernau
8. IF I GET LOST by Víctor Amela
9. BLOOD TIES by Ramon Gasch i Teresa Sagrera
10. DEATH CITY by Vanesa M. Migliore

One of the most commonly used words during Christmas holidays is wonder. In particular, children are the ones who experience wonder most fully. It helps that Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men bring many gifts, but now that I have this opportunity to say what I have always felt, I have always loved Christmas for different reasons, because the best gifts are those that come unwrapped.
 
I remember the family meals, all of us together. I can still smell my grandmother’s soup on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I adored the fish, breaded with love, and I admire every family member’s efforts for all of us to happily share: just share a meal, and one another’s company. For me, that was the source of wonder, much more than any present, and I’ve felt that way since I was very little. But I never took for granted the presents that did appear in our home, because that wonder, too, was shared with those who brought them. I’m a Christmas freak: I consume all American Christmassy films, I’d drink hot chocolate every day if I could and I fill the house with lights. It’s always been a joyful time for me.
 
I also prefer giving gifts to receiving them. I’d be an excellent Santa Claus or Wise Woman. And if I could choose, I know my sack of gifts would always be filled with books, because books help us live. For that reason, I want to ask Sant Claus and our Wise Men to remember this precious gift, that of good stories— especially when it comes to the little ones, who will never want to leave that wonderful world once they have entered it. It’s one of the best addictions. Without further ado, here is a list of the books that are still on the market and which I consider ideal as a gift for the smallest members of the household.
 
This year, we have recommended a few illustrated books, such as SOFIA AND THE WILD WORD (SOFÍA Y LA PALABRA SALVAJE) by Puri Hernández, IN YOUR SHOES (EN TUS ZAPATOS) by Meritxell García, THE COUNTRY OF BIRDS WITH NO WINGS (EL PAÍS DELS OCELLS SENSE ALES) by Nadia Ghulam, THE LAND OF CLOUDS (LA TERRA DELS NUVOLS) by María Barbal, or THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BOOKS (EL MARAVILLOSO MUNDO DE LOS LIBROS) by Ana Alcolea. We have also recommended books to read as a family, like STORIES FOR BEING BRAVE (CUENTOS PARA TENER VALOR) by Àlex Rovira and Francesc Miralles or 101 EXCITING STORIES (101 CUENTOS EMOCIONANTES) by Gabriel García de Oro. We also have books for those who already choose their own reading, such as THE MARBLES GANG (LA PANDILLA CANICA) by Sacha Azcona, ASTROLOVE by Esther Sanz, RAQUEL PRIS by Gabriel García del Oro and THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT THE ABOMINABLE BOTTOM-POKER (TOTA LA VERITAT SOBRE L’ABOMINABLE PUNXACULS) by Joan Pau Hernández.
 
I encourage you to visit bookstores these days: they are places full of magic. Remember that a book is one of the best presents one can give, and that they last a lifetime. Who doesn’t remember the stories they were read as a child, that one book we would make our mother or father read night after night? Let’s not lose this habit: in encouraging young ones to read, we’ll find a small hope that the world can be a better place.