Read Around Europe Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Europe.
Best books from Europe (2678)
2021.
Spain2022.
Death in Spring : A Novel by Mercè Rodoreda EN
Description:
Merce Rodoreda depicts the story of the bizarre and destructive customs of a nameless town-burying the dead in trees after filling their mouths with cement to prevent their soul from escaping, or sending a man to swim in the river that courses underneath the town to discover if they will be washed away by a flood-through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old boy who must come to terms with the rhyme and reason of this ritual violence, and with his wild, child-like, and teenaged stepmother, who becomes his playmate.
2023.
Maana En La Batalla Piensa En Mi by Franco Javier Marias ES
Description:
Víctor Francés, un escritor frustrado que presta su pluma a otros, es invitado a cenar a casa de Marta Téllez, una hermosa mujer casada a la que apenas conoce y cuyo marido está de viaje en Londres. La noche promete pero, antes de poder consumar el adulterio, Marta comienza a sentirse mal y muere. Víctor huye entonces de esa casa ajena, dejando a un niño de dos años durmiendo em una de las habitaciones y una mujer muerta. En un Madrid invernal y nocturno, el narrador se convertirá desde ese momento en una sombra que se finge quien no es, que disimula sus intenciones, que no quiere ni busca nad... continue
2024.
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón EN
Description:
From the author of the international phenomenon "The Shadow of the Wind" comes "The Angel's Game" comes a new page-turner about the perilous nature of obsession, in literature and in love. Through a dizzingly constructed labyrinth of secrets, the magic of books, passion, and friendship blend into a masterful story.
2025.
An Apartment on Uranus : Chronicles of the Crossing by Paul B. Preciado EN
Description:
A “dissident of the gender-sex binary system” reflects on gender transitioning and political and cultural transitions in technoscientific capitalism. Uranus, the frozen giant, is the coldest planet in the solar system as well as a deity in Greek mythology. It is also the inspiration for uranism, a concept coined by the writer Karl Heinrich Ulrich in 1864 to define the “third sex” and the rights of those who “love differently.” Following Ulrich, Paul B. Preciado dreams of an apartment on Uranus where he might live beyond existing power, gender and racial strictures invented by modernity. “My tr... continue
2026.
Gypsy Ballads by Federico García Lorca EN
Description:
Federico Garcia Lorca wrote the Gypsy Ballads between 1924 and 1927. When the book was published it caused a sensation in the literary world. Drawing on the traditional Spanish ballad form, Lorca described his Romancero Gitano as 'the poem of Andalucia...A book that hardly expresses visible Andalusia at all, but where hidden Andalucia trembles'. Seeking to relate the nature of his proud and troubled region of Spain, he drew on a traditional gypsy form; yet the homely, unpretentious style of these poems barely disguises the undercurrents of conflicted identity never far from Lorca's work. This ... continue
2027.
The Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz EN
Description:
"You’ll want to race through The Silence of the White City, but it’s best to slow down and savor the full effect of the volatile, intoxicating universe Sáenz has created. This is the first novel of the White City trilogy to be translated into English—the second can’t come fast enough." —AirMail HOW DO YOU STOP A KILLER WHO'S ALWAYS TWO STEPS AHEAD? A madman is holding Vitoria hostage, killing its citizens in brutal ways and staging the bodies. The city's only hope is a brilliant detective struggling to battle his own demons. Inspector Unai López de Ayala, known as "Kraken," is charged with inv... continue
2028.
Lazarillo de Tormes by Anónimo ES
Description:
La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades (más conocida como El Lazarillo de Tormes) es la primera novela picaresca de la literatura española y una de las más populares de su historia. El Lazarillo de Tormes, publicada en 1554, es un esbozo irónico y despiadado de la sociedad del momento, de la que se muestran sus vicios y actitudes hipócritas, sobre todo las de los clérigos y religiosos. Hay diferentes hipótesis sobre su autoría. Dado el contenido y la tesis de la obra, probablemente el autor fue simpatizante de las ideas erasmistas. La novela estuvo prohibida hasta 1537... continue
2029.
Speak : A Short History of Languages by Tore Janson EN
SwedenDescription:
How does a language come into being, and when does it disappear? What actually happened to Latin? When was English created? Will all people on Earth speak English or Chinese in 200 years from now? These are a few of the questions discussed in A Short History of Languages. It is about how historical conditions shape languages and how languages influence the course of history. The book starts with a discussion of the period of gatherers and hunters, when there was a huge number of languges.It moves on to Greek and Latin, to French and Italian, and naturally includes a full discussion of English.... continue
2030.
The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson EN
Description:
Jonas Jonasson's picaresque tale of how one person's actions can have far-reaching--even global--consequences, written with the same light-hearted satirical voice as his bestselling debut novel, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. On June 14th, 2007, the King and Prime Minister of Sweden went missing from a gala banquet at the Royal Castle. Later it was said that both had fallen ill: the truth is different. The real story starts much earlier, in 1961, with the birth of Nombeko Mayeki in a shack in Soweto. Nombeko was fated to grow up fast and die early in her pover... continue