Recommendations: MAY 2018

MARTA’S RECOMMENDATIONS:

“No culpes al karma de lo que te pasa por gilipollas” by Laura Norton

Abstact:

 If you are reading these lines, you have been struck by the title of my book.

Would you like to tell someone? Would you be able to tell it to yourself? And most importantly: would you like to keep the smile that has remained on your face for a long time? Well this is your novel.

We could tell you more or less funny what the thing is about, so that you could get an idea: if the protagonist, Sara, is very nice, that if she has a very interesting work (it is a plumber, to which you never heard it ?), that if he is a bit obsessive and allergic to shocks ... Of course, life gets complicated and he finds that his flat becomes a kind of cabin for the Marx brothers when in the same week they get to live with her her depressed father, her rebellious sister and her eccentric fiancé and, above all, the boyfriend she has not seen for a long time ... But we better not tell you about it because you will like to read it. The only thing that you need to know is that, from the title, we guarantee you a few hours of discarding fun as you have not enjoyed for a long time.

Opinion:

It is not a recent reading, but, it has been one of the few books with which I have laughed, and I have enjoyed each paragraph, as well as doing it with the film. It's a funny story, full of setbacks and also love. The style of Laura Norton is refreshing, fun and unique, along with her other novel "Gente que viene y bah" both I liked a lot. Recent has released the second part of "No culpes al karma de lo que te pasa por gilipollas" and as soon as I finish reading it I will bring you the review, to see if I like it as much as the first part.

SARAH’S RECOMMENDATIONS:

Clara Zetkin - Fighting fascism: how to struggle and how to win

Abstact:

Clara Zetkin, an organizer of the First International Women’s Day, presented this Report and Resolution on fascism at the June 1923 enlarged plenum of the Communist International’s executive committee. At a time when fascism was a new and little-understood phenomenon, Zetkin’s work proposed a sweeping plan for the unity of all victims of capitalism in an ideological and political campaign against the fascist danger.

Opinion:

I have always wanted to read some writings of Clara because I think it is very important to hear the voices of the women inside some political movements that, as it always happens, they have been silenced by history. This book is made up of two essays of Clara, ‘How to struggle against fascism’ and ‘Resolution on fascism’ along with a great introduction and two appendixes by Mike Taber and John Riddell. In the first essay, Clara shows her great knowledge of this movement and explains its origin, evolution and characteristics. The rise and fall of Mussolini, she ‘foretold’ the fascist movement in Germany (she died in 1933 so she couldn’t know what happened in Spain). Her analysis of fascism, its causes and reasons (demotivated and alienated proletarians) are masterful. In her second essay, she gives a few guidelines about how to fight fascism in a ‘pacifist’ way (not sure if that it’s possible). Besides achieving a place among the people more influential in the communist movement, Clara also achieved a place among the most important women inside the women’s emancipation movement. Thanks to her, every 8th March is held the International Women’s Day.

ROCÍO’S RECOMMENDATIONS:

“The thirteen problems” by Agatha Christie

Abstact

The unifying premise for this short story collection is the Tuesday Club: six people who meet socially one evening at Jane Marple's home and then decide to meet regularly each Tuesday night to solve a mystery which a group member must relate. Unsolved mysteries...

Opinion:

It is an easy book to read because it is composed of thirteen short stories. In them, the members of this club (Miss Marple, her nephew, an artist called, a man of the world, a cleric and a lawyer) in turns, tell a mystery that the police have not been able to resolve and then, they try to give an answer. In this book, the character of Miss Marple is definitely established and her gifts to analyze human behavior, especially in relation to crimes, are appreciated.