We decided to compile a list of 10 novels by modern writers that are pleasant to read while lying on a sun lounger by the warm sea. The selection criteria were as follows: the books should not be too clever, they should not be stupid or poorly written, reading them should help you relax, but at the same time, you should not feel like you wasted your money on buying the book. The books on the list are arranged randomly, and, yes, we all read them during the holidays.
ADRUATI ROY "GOD OF SMALL THINGS"
The debut novel of an Indian writer, written in English language in 1996 and won the Booker Prize the following year. The book takes place in the Indian state of Kerala, and the main characters of the novel are the twins Estha and Rachel, whose mother stained herself with a love affair with a man from the untouchable clan.
The novel is a lace weave both in terms of metaphors and in terms of narrative structure: all the key events of the novel take place in the memories of the matured Rachel, who returned to her father’s house. It is especially interesting to learn about the customs of Kerala, hidden from the eyes of tourists, for example, what myths are encrypted in traditional Indian dances, or that if children are allowed to be present during the evening combing of the hair of the eldest woman in the family and counting her moles, this is a great honor. Andruati Roy writes amazingly poetically, and all the metaphors used in the book are authentic Indian, for example, the author compares small problems and bad thoughts to a mango hair stuck between the teeth.
A leisurely story about how the main character Max initially lost his job and the opportunity to pay off his debts, but then his uncle’s inheritance suddenly fell upon him - an estate in Provence, where wine is cultivated, however, the quality of this wine does not meet the high expectations of customers.
Why " Good year“Is it worth reading on vacation? The fact is that the book is very leisurely, there is no rapid development of characters and sharp plot twists, and the action of the novel flows deliberately slowly, as if in this way the author is trying to hypnotize the reader. This is the main advantage of the book - while reading Peter Mayle's novel, you are overcome by a feeling of serene contemplation, which, for example, arises on quiet summer evenings, when you sit alone on the terrace in a rocking chair and, sipping chilled white wine, admire the red sunset in the distance.
FEDERICO ANDAHAZI "THE FLEMISH SECRET"
The most chaste (as far as this is possible, of course) book by the Argentine writer Federico Andahasi, who became famous after the novel “Anatomist,” which tells the story of a doctor who discovered such an important organ in the female body as the clitoris. In “The Flemish Secret”, in comparison with “The Anatomist”, “The Merciful” and “The City of Heretics”, everything is very innocent, at least until the finale, where, of course, sex, blood and other obligatory attributes of the work of the Argentine provocateur appear, but after like Game of Thrones, what happens in the book is unlikely to confuse you. It is very pleasant to read “The Flemish Secret” while on vacation; the plot centers on the confrontation between artists of the Flemish and Florentine schools of painting, the action takes place during the Renaissance, when both the recipes for making paints and the science of perspective were secrets with seven seals, and artists were ready to go to great lengths anything to find out the secret of their competitors.
The genre of the novel can most easily be described as a historical detective story, but Andahazi did a very serious job to recreate the atmosphere of Renaissance Italy, which he succeeded to the fullest.
The main character of the novel by the Mexican writer is the girl Tita, according to Mexican traditions, as the youngest daughter, she should not marry, but must stay in the family to take care of her elderly mother. Tita’s main occupation is cooking, which is why each chapter of the novel is preceded by a recipe for Mexican cuisine, and it is this dish that will influence further development plot.
In addition to food, the center of the book is a sad love story, and the novel itself can be attributed to such a direction of literature as magical realism, for example, when the main character prepares a birthday cake for the wedding of her beloved with her own sister, tears fall into the dough, and all the guests who try There is a treat at the wedding, they are poisoned, and when Tita decides to make jam from the roses given to her by her lover, the inhabitants of the Mexican village fall into a sexual frenzy. The book will appeal more to girls, especially those who are interested in cooking.
A historical detective story set in a medieval French castle, where a ghost allegedly appears and kills its inhabitants. Main character is a penniless knight who is forced to take on the role of Sherlock Holmes in order to put an end to a series of seemingly senseless deaths.
The publication “Figaro” called Serge Brussolo “the new Stephen King,” which is not entirely true, because there are no horrors in the novel, but the plot of the detective story is truly exciting. There are also many interesting details in the book that describe life in medieval French castle-cities; they are worked out very carefully, as they say, with love and reverent attitude towards the subject. You won't get bored on the beach while reading.
If you liked the film adaptation of the novel “Cloud Atlas,” then you will be completely delighted with the book, but if you didn’t like it, be sure to read the novel, you will be pleasantly surprised. The fact is that Mitchell himself considered his novel unfilmable, because the book tells about different incarnations of the same soul, and David Mitchell calls the structure of his work a mirror - each storyline of the novel is interrupted one step before the climax, then the next storyline begins, and so on the entire first part of the book, the denouement occurs in the second part of the novel, when storylines, starting from the last one, are completed sequentially.
Compared to the film, the book is much deeper, there are no clear accents, and many of the storylines in the film adaptation turned out to be shamefully simplified. Yes, there are many moments in the book that are not usually discussed, for example, it talks about the sad fate of the Australian aborigines, who became Africans in the film. A great holiday read for those who love intellectual bestsellers.
TIBOR FISCHER “COLLECTIBLE ITEM”
The narration in the book comes from the perspective of an ancient vase, which has “lived” for thousands of years, but now finds itself in the apartment of a 26-year-old antique dealer who is pathologically unlucky in her personal life. The genre of the novel can be described as magical realism, sometimes turning into the category of surrealism, and the book is written so ironically that it is sometimes difficult not to laugh out loud.
And, yes, at the end of the book there is a one hundred percent happy ending, confirming the well-known truth that everything that is done is all for the better. In short, if you once loved reading funny dialogues in bashorg, and generally appreciate clever irony, the book “Collectible Item” may be one of your favorites, but we also recommend reading it to lift your spirits.
« THERAPY" DAVID LONGE
The main character, Lawrence Passmore, a screenwriter working for British television, begins to suffer from pain in his leg of unknown origin. In an attempt to get rid of the pain, Lawrence not only visits doctors and undergoes treatment, but also begins to delve into himself, as a result of which he gets divorced and decides to meet with his first love, who, after the death of her son, went on foot.
Despite the fact that the novel, in general, tells about things more than serious, the book is written with characteristic British humor, and reading about the protagonist’s travels to the Canary Islands and Galicia, lying on seashore, more than nice.
ERIC-EMMANUEL SCHMITT "THE DREAMER OF OOSTENDE"
A very tender short story by a French writer and playwright, telling about the relationship of a crippled woman with the prince of one of the old royal houses of Europe. Despite the fact that at the center of the novella is a love story, the book is not at all sweet, in style it most closely resembles the best creations of Stefan Zweig, and the atmosphere of the small Belgian city of Ostend is recreated here surprisingly accurately.
In the Russian edition, “The Dreamer from Ostend” goes along with short stories Schmitt, all of them are also more than worthy for those who want to indulge in romantic moods on vacation.
BERNARD WERBER “EMPIRE OF ANGELS” AND “WE GODS”
Connoisseurs French They have repeatedly told me that Verber in the original is not at all so good, and the literary merits of his books are the merit of the translator, but since we are reading in Russian, what difference does it really make? All the books in the series about the gods tell about the afterlife adventures of Michel Panson; in the center of the story is Werber’s universe, built on the symbiosis of our ideas about life after death. Verber rethinks the idea of reincarnation: every soul in his universe comes into the world for a reason, but in order to self-realize, the cycle continues until the soul grows to a certain level in order to become an angel and supervise other souls, gradually increasing their level of development. After at least one of the souls cared for by an angel becomes an angel, its mentor moves into the caste of gods, where he must take care of an entire people, whose civilization will either prosper or perish. The young god has competition from others former angels, who also take care of their people.
Werber's books are perfect for reading on vacation, because the plot is strong, and interesting facts regarding personal growth and world history are examined from a very dashing angle, but without excessive intellect. The most successful book in the cycle about the gods is considered to be the first - "Empire of Angels", which tells about how the angel Michelle Panson nurtures the souls of a writer, a young actress and a boy from an orphanage, however, the second book in the series is "We are gods", where the classes of young students who supervise their peoples are taught by Zeus, Cronus, Prometheus and other characters of ancient mythology, is also not bad; on the beach, at least, it goes perfectly.
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Yulia Malkova- Yulia Malkova - founder of the website project. In the past, he was the editor-in-chief of the elle.ru Internet project and the editor-in-chief of the cosmo.ru website. I talk about travel for my own pleasure and the pleasure of my readers. If you are a representative of hotels or a tourism office, but we do not know each other, you can contact me by email: [email protected]
We offer a small selection of different genres, different sizes, interesting books to read on vacation - 15 authors and 100% pleasure.
"Aviator" Evgeniy Vodolazkin
A new and long-awaited book by Evgeny Vodolazkin “Aviator” - a nominee for the “ Big Book 2016".
The hero of the new novel “The Aviator” is a man in a state of tabula rasa: waking up one day in a hospital bed, he realizes that he knows absolutely nothing about himself - not his name, not who he is, not where he is. Hoping to restore the history of his life, he begins to write down the memories that visited him, fragmentary and chaotic: St. Petersburg at the beginning of the twentieth century, dacha childhood in Siverskaya and Alushta, gymnasium and first love, the revolution of 1917, falling in love with aviation, Solovki... But where is he from? accurately remembers details of everyday life, phrases, smells, sounds of that time, if the year on the calendar is 1999?..
“Kaleidoscope” Sergey Kuznetsov
Publishing house "AST"
The new novel by Sergei Kuznetsov, a finalist for the Big Book Prize, has more than a hundred characters and ten settings: Victorian England, Shanghai in the 1930s, Paris in 1968, California in the 1990s, modern Russia... In this kaleidoscope of persons and events, each chapter is only part of the overall pattern, but masterful storytelling connects the fragments of life into one exciting story.
« Zuleikha opens her eyes" Guzel Yakhina
Publishing house "Editing Elena Shubina" (AST)
An original novel about the fate of a woman during periods of dispossession, repression and World War II. The novel begins in the winter of 1930 and ends in 1946. Against a broad historical background, the main character, the dispossessed Tatar woman Zuleikha, lives her formation as a person, learns the feminine essence and the joys of motherhood. Zuleikha will learn to hear her “I” and learn to love. Zuleikha opens her eyes.
"The Triumph of Insignificance" Milan Kundera
Publishing house "Azbuka-Atticus"
Milan Kundera is one of the most popular writers of our time. His books literally fascinate the reader with their sophistication of style, skillful plotting, and intense feelings among the characters. Each new work of the writer joins the number of bestsellers of intellectual prose. Kundera is back!
Read the long-awaited novel “The Triumph of Insignificance,” where the author, hiding behind deceptive lightness and a humorous tone, talks about the unbearable absurdity of existence.
"My Strange Thoughts" Orhan Pamuk
Publishing house "Azbuka-Atticus" ("Foreigner")
Orhan Pamuk is a famous Turkish writer, winner of numerous national and international awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature for “searching for the soul of his melancholic city.” New novel Pamuk’s “My Strange Thoughts,” which he has been working on for the past six years, is perhaps the most “Istanbul” of them all. Its action covers more than forty years - from 1969 to 2012. The main character Mevlut works on the streets of Istanbul, watching how the streets are filled with new people, the city gains and loses new and old buildings, poor people come from Anatolia to work. Before his eyes, coups take place, authorities change each other, and Mevlut still wanders the streets, on winter evenings wondering what distinguishes him from other people, why he has strange thoughts about everything in the world and who really is his beloved, whom he has been writing letters for the last three years.
"The Childhood of Jesus" John Maxwell Coetzee
Publishing house "Eksmo"
The most mysterious writer of all Nobel laureates, who was twice awarded the Booker Prize and never showed up for the presentation, who dedicated his Nobel speech to none other than Robinson Crusoe, a man whose very name remained a mystery for a long time.
The Childhood of Jesus is Coetzee's sixteenth novel. Having caused quite a stir even before its release, it seriously puzzled critics all over the world. This is a novel of obsession, every word of which is so ambiguous that the author, in his words, would prefer to publish it “with a blank cover and with a blank title,” so that the title could be discovered only at the end of the book. Full of symbols and encrypted meanings, this allegorical tale about childhood will certainly intrigue readers.
"The Shop of Bad Dreams" Stephen King
Publishing house "AST"
The author of numerous novels, Stephen King has always been considered a brilliant master of short prose, because it was for his short stories that he was awarded the prestigious O. Henry Prize.
King's new collection of short stories, The Shop of Bad Dreams, is a unique book. For the first time, the master introduces each work with a surprisingly frank history of its creation, opening the “door” to his creative workshop. Exciting and frightening, exciting and as if warning, these stories are small masterpieces that only the great Stephen King could write.
"A Year in Provence" Peter Mayle
Publishing house "Azbuka" ("Azbuka-Atticus")
This fascinating, literary-style, delicious book is not read, but “eaten” in a moment. Twelve chapters - 12 months of life in Provence. A light, elegant, ironic narrative, stunning descriptions of French flavor and local gastronomy, unexpected discoveries and adventures will not let the reader get bored.
If you live in a country that does not have the mildest climate, where winter lasts nine months a year and an incomprehensible off-season, then you probably know the longing in your heart for warm, sunny days spent on vacation on the seashore. These feelings are not alien to the writer Peter Mayle. One day he decided to move from gloomy, cloudy London to a village on the Cote d'Azur.
"A Spool of Blue Thread" by Anne Tyler
Publishing house "Phantom Press"
Whitshanks have always surprised us with their cohesion and subtle specialness. It was a family that everyone envied in a good way. But like every family, they also had a secret, hidden reality, which they themselves were not really aware of. Abby, Red and four grown children have in their luggage not only wonderful memories of joy, laughter, and family holidays, but also disappointments, jealousy, and carefully guarded secrets. In the novel by Anne Tyler, one of the best modern writers, the story of three generations of one family unfolds - touching, but not at all sentimental, dramatic, but funny, very deep, but simple. Anne Tyler is sometimes called the northern Fanny Flagg, but her stories are much closer to the stories of A.P. Chekhov - subtle, sad and funny and incredibly deep. She tells them in a quiet, slightly mocking voice, and they resonate in your soul for a long time, you think about them, and your own life appears in a new light - much more filled with meaning. Some books flash with dazzling fireworks, but quickly go out, leaving behind a black sky in which rare but real stars shine - among them the novels of Anne Tyler. Anne Tyler is a Pulitzer Prize winner, and her novel A Spool of Blue Thread was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2015.
"Cutting Stone" by Abraham Verghese
Publishing house "Phantom Press"
“Cutting Stone” is a lifelong story of love, betrayal and redemption, human frailty and fortitude, exile and a long return to one’s roots. In the mission hospital of Addis Ababa, under tragic, truly Shakespearean, circumstances, two boys are born, two twins fused at the back of their heads, Marion and Shiva. Born to a beautiful Indian nun from an English surgeon, the boys were orphaned in the first hours of their lives. The art and courage of the doctors who separated them immediately after birth determined their lives and fate. Marion and Shiva will connect their lives with medicine, but each will go their own way. An amazing, tragic and full of incredible events awaits them. An absolutely happy childhood and dramatic youth, the search for oneself and one’s roots, betrayal and a passionate desire to atone for guilt, love that looks like an obsession, and jealousy that eats away the soul. And all this under the shadow of medicine. No matter what happened in the lives of the heroes of this truly great novel, no matter how tormented their fate, the main thing for them always remained surgery - the business for which they came into this world. Abraham Verghese is an outstanding doctor, a luminary in the field of physical therapy, one of the most respected doctors in America. His first novel was a big event; its amazing insight and authenticity, deep knowledge of the profession and excellent literary style allow Verghese's book to be called one of the most significant medical novels of the last century.
"Beloved" Toni Morrison
Publishing house "Eksmo"
Most recently, the novel was republished, for which thanks to the Eksmo publishing house. It was first published in 1987 and a year later was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for fiction. And in 1993 its author became a laureate Nobel Prize in literature as a writer "who, in her dreamy and poetic novels, brought to life an important aspect of American reality." In the history of American literature there are many works devoted to the theme of slavery. “12 Years a Slave” by Solomon Northup and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe are known to many. But “Beloved” is a special book, imbued with magical realism and extreme tragedy.
The black slave Sethe, having escaped from her master's Sweet Home, kills her daughter so that she will never know what slavery is, so that she will not have to go through what her mother went through, so that she will not be raped, assessed and measured like an animal so that she remains free. “To my beloved,” reads the inscription on the tombstone of the murdered woman.
"Shantaram" Gregory David Roberts
Publishing house "Azbuka"
One of the most amazing novels beginning of the XXI century. This confession, refracted in artistic form, of a man who managed to get out of the abyss and survive, rammed all the bestseller lists and earned enthusiastic comparisons with the works of the best writers of modern times, from Melville to Hemingway. Like the author, the hero of this novel hid from the law for many years. Deprived of parental rights after his divorce from his wife, he became addicted to drugs, committed a number of robberies and was sentenced by an Australian court to nineteen years in prison. Having escaped from a maximum security prison for the second year, he reached Bombay, where he was a counterfeiter and smuggler, sold weapons and participated in showdowns of the Indian mafia, and also found his true love, only to lose her again, only to find her again...
And for those who have already read this book, we recommend the continuation of the bestseller - “Shadow of the Mountain”.
"Chineasy" (in 2 books) ShaoLan Xue
For most people, just one glance at Chinese characters causes surprise, a little fear and a logical question: “How can you figure out all these hieroglyphs and not go crazy from cramming and boredom?”
Meanwhile, Chinese is considered the most widespread modern language With total number 1.2 billion speakers. At the same time, it is one of the most complex languages for studying. However, this fact should not scare you if you are lucky enough to learn about the Chineasy method!
The author's Chineasy method will help you quickly gain 400 vocabulary in Chinese words and start using them. The magical power of the method is that by learning one small set of constituent elements, you can create new hieroglyphs and words. And if you learn multiple sets of building blocks, your learning process will be taken to a whole new level.
The main goal of Chineasy is to bridge the distance between cultures, to remove the shroud of mystery from the Chinese language, which serves as a barrier for many people! Let's start learning Chinese right now!
“Blue dot. The Cosmic Future of Humanity" Carl Sagan
Publishing house "Alpina Publisher"
An outstanding popularizer of science, a wonderful storyteller, a passionate promoter of space, and a visionary, Carl Sagan believes that the desire to wander and expand the boundaries of knowledge is inherent in human nature and is connected with our survival as a species. His candid, engrossing book interweaves philosophical reflections with enthusiastic descriptions of triumphant exploration of planets and satellites, both by man and robotic missions to the Moon. By introducing us to our neighbors in space, Sagan not only enlightens and delights the reader, he also helps to understand how to protect the Earth.
Why the book “Blue Dot. The Cosmic Future of Humanity is worth reading:
- The main popular science book of the summer! The book is an event for everyone interested in science and space. A book for everyone who has not forgotten how to dream.
- In Blue Dot, Carl Sagan traces the fascinating history of space exploration and dreams of a future when humans reach beyond solar system and go to distant galaxies. This book is about dreams, science and the future of humanity.
- The book talks about new knowledge, our coordinates, our place in the Universe and why (even if the call long roads has become much quieter in our time) the future of humanity is far beyond the boundaries of the Earth.
- The most famous astronomer in the world, Carl Sagan, participated in the study of the atmosphere of Venus, the moons of Jupiter and Uranus, and the development of space probes and messages to alien intelligence. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, the NASA Medal, and so many awards that even the Memorial Award for Space Exploration is named after Carl Sagan. His new inspiring book about dreams and space is for the first time in Russian.
"On the Limit" and "No Self-Pity" by Erik Larssen
Publishing house "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber"
"On the Limit" is a seven-day personal development intensive from Norway's leading coach and author of the best-selling book "No Self-Pity."
One of the key stages of fighter training special purpose V different countries ah - this is “Hell Week”, “hell week”, “Course of a young fighter”. It can have many names. Erik Larssen, Norway's best business coach, who himself served in the special forces, noticed that most people change dramatically for the better in this week and often remember it with pride for the rest of their lives.
He created a "civilian version" of this week, an intensive program that anyone can do, no matter where they work. It starts at 5 am on Monday and ends on Sunday evening. During this time you will change for the better.
It often seems to us that we could do more, work better, play more sports... But we don’t. Partly because we are afraid of difficulties. This week will show you that you can do much more than you think.
During this week you will eat healthy food. Exercise every day. Rest effectively. Listen to the people around you. Work with maximum concentration. Get up early. Go to bed early. Give up everything unnecessary. Set priorities correctly. You will feel better, accomplish more, be energetic, proactive and positive.
you will become the best version yourself for a week. How long is it or not?
As the experience of the author and his clients shows, you will continue to act in the same spirit throughout your life.
In No Self-Pity, Eric Larssen talks powerfully and emotionally about how to create change, set big goals, think bigger, and push your limits far beyond your comfort zone.
Thanks to this book you will be able to:
Set ambitious goals;
Train your consciousness and willpower;
Ask yourself the right questions and set yourself up for positive results;
Get a very strong charge of motivation.
YOU CAN READ REVIEWS OF SOME BOOKS ON THE SITE
Summer passed as if it had never happened. But if, like Oleg Dahl’s hero in the film of the same name, you have a vacation in September (October, November), the authors of the best telegram channels about books, at the request of Sobaka.Ru, recommended publications with which you can spend a great weekend. And weekdays too, by the way.
Ekaterina Aksenova
On vacation, it’s good to take something that is both fascinating and respectable (so that you can answer the question “what are you reading”) and memorable without hesitation. If the book also provides food for discussion over long, lazy breakfasts, that’s great!
In 2018, excellent candidates for a joint trip to distant countries were:
Andrey Zhuravlev “Creation of the Earth. How living organisms created our world"
This is fresh domestic science-pop that effectively explodes the reader’s consciousness. And if the warm sea and alien sky put you in a philosophical mood, it’s time to read a story stretched over four billion years, in which funny lumps of protoplasm successfully transform a piece of stone into our cozy world. And they create all the major minerals, and raise mountains, and change the climate, and periodically arrange a complete apocalypse. The book is not easy, but when, if not on vacation, should we remember that the brain is not only for budgets and reports?
Amanda Hendricks, Charles Wohlforth "Beyond Earth. Looking for a new home in the solar system"
After reading it, you get the complete feeling that you are ready to build the first space colony on distant Titan. You can see people from another world floating in the orange sky above the icy cliffs. The book successfully combines a fantastic line that describes possible development colonies, information from astronomy and space medicine, and also a story about the structure of the current half-crazy projects for the development of other planets. Bonus: with the knowledge you gain, you can shake the imagination of any child from four to ten years old, because their encyclopedias don’t write anything like that about space.
Valery Shabashov
You need to take a vacation either very interesting books, or those that you haven’t gotten around to and you can’t get away from them on the beach, since there’s no other alternative in your suitcase.
Alexey Ivanov “The Gold of Rebellion”
Take with you “The Gold of Rebellion” by Alexey Ivanov. This book will allow you to move from under the scorching sun into the harsh Ural expanses of a mining civilization that is gone forever. Where the treasury of Emelyan Pugachev and his associates disappeared is known only to the raftsmen - the captains of primitive navigation on the rebellious Chusovaya River. While reading this book, I did not notice how I flew from Heraklion to Moscow.
Donato Carrisi "Lost Girls of Rome"
If you love action-packed detective stories and Italy, pick up Donato Carrisi's novel The Lost Girls of Rome. The Vatican's secret police have been fighting the most insidious criminals from century to century, but the villain who opposes them in the 21st century is not so easy to neutralize. This detective reveals the most sinister secrets of the “eternal city”.
Maria Burova
book reviewer, creator of the “Woman Writes” telegram channel
JK Rowling "Very a good life»
So JK Rowling's modest "The Very Good Life" is perfect in this case. Inside this pocket edition is a beautifully illustrated speech the English writer gave to Harvard students ten years ago. Its main message is the value of imagination and the positive impact of failure on us. For Potter fans, this book will be another valuable copy in the collection, and for everyone else, it will be an opportunity to decide to make changes in their own lives.
Maya Lunde "The Story of Bees"
“The History of Bees” is a completely new and topical book. The author of the novel, Norwegian Maja Lunde, is very concerned about the global and irreversible changes that man makes to the world around him. Its three heroes live in different time, but their fates are somehow connected with bees. In 1852, amateur naturalist William Savage tries to create a new type of hive. Two centuries later, hereditary beekeeper George Savage witnesses a mass exodus of these insects. At the end of the 21st century, the Chinese woman Theo herself is forced to be like a bee, manually pollinating trees every day for the sake of starving humanity. The book is read quickly: unexpected turns, moralizing thoughts and sentimental transitions - everything is distributed evenly.
Olesya Skopinskaya
Gerald Durrell "My Family and Other Animals"
An autobiographical and very witty story by little Jerry Darrell about five years spent with the whole family on the flowering island of Corfu. Fascinated by natural history, he spent days studying the insects and animals lurking in the gardens of their villa. Some even managed to become household members. For example, the turtle Achilles and the dove Quasimodo, who gave everyone a surprise by turning out to be a dove. Such comical situations dilute the heated discussions of family members about the future and raising children. For me, this book is an endless summer with olive groves, myrtle thickets and a childish thirst for discovery.
Ted Chiang "The Story of Your Life"
Ted Chiang's collection is one of the most awarded in the history of science fiction. Each of the stories contains a sharp social subtext that is relevant for our time, be it a rethinking of the myth of the Tower of Babel or the purpose of the golem. Chan's science shows a truly obstinate character, destroying people's illusions about its role in the future of progress.
Chan did not hide the fact that he was inspired by the works of Sartre, his fine-tuning in the perception of the world. Therefore, it raises questions from the desire to see meaning in everything to the victory over discrimination based on appearance. Chan does not hesitate to exaggerate reality, wanting to reach a generation. Maybe it's worth listening?
Evgenia Lisitsyna
Collection “What happiness!”
But if we average and simplify, then on vacation with a pure heart, every second person can take, for example, the recent collection of stories “What Happiness!” from the “Editorial team of Elena Shubina”. Stories are generally a good choice for holidays. If the resort wind blows the contents of the previous text out of your head, then you can always take on a new one without a doubt. And if you don’t like one view of happiness, then the other will certainly hook you.
Finist - Clear Falcon. Andrey Rubanov
Either a dark fairy tale or an upbeat Slavic fantasy just won a National Best Seller Award, and that means something. Rubanov writes oral experience - the storytellers, of whom there are three, pass on their incredible stories from mouth to mouth, because of this the text turns out juicy, lively, and conversational. The plot is unusual: three Ivans, a buffoon, a blacksmith and a robber, meet on their way the green-eyed girl Marya, who has lost her head because of an unknown non-human named Finist - the Clear Falcon. The three Ivans, each in their own way, help her find her beloved, although they themselves fall in love with Marya so much that even grass won’t grow.
Conversations about happiness. Arkady Panz
Are you thinking about happiness and the meaning of life? A kind, sincere and informative book by Arkady Pantz will definitely hit a nerve with a couple interesting ideas. Psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst Arkady Panz shares his experience, observations, thoughts and feelings that he has accumulated over thirty-five years professional activity. especially suitable for those who are currently looking for themselves, trying to understand what exactly HIS happiness lies in.
Food block. Aleksey Ivanov
Alexey Ivanov ( , ) is a multifaceted person. Whatever he writes about, it always turns out incredibly exciting. His novel is about... vampires in a pioneer camp. And also about the conflict between dry pioneer ideology and sunny, joyful childhood.
Like everything that comes from Ivanov’s pen, this story is outwardly simple, driving and even funny. But the deep questions that the author raises require the reader to think seriously.
Killing the commander. Haruki Murakami
Sometimes on vacation you feel drawn to long meditative discussions, and then you can pick up Murakami with his paradoxical, not quite Eastern and definitely not Western prose. A new book about an artist who decides to retire to a quiet Japanese province and listen to himself. Everything would have been peaceful and calm if not for the painting “The Murder of the Commander” found in the attic, if not for the ringing of a Buddhist bell at night, if not for the strange crypt that emerged from under a stone mound in the middle of the thickets, if not for a meeting with the esthete Mensiki, who for fabulous money asked to paint a portrait - first of himself, and then, perhaps, of his daughter, if not for his attempts to understand himself.
Knife. Jo Nesbø
If you like detective stories, you are probably already familiar with Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole series. As if especially for the holiday season, the Scandinavian released his twelfth book about the detective. A dynamic and sinister noir this time about what demons are hidden in the depths of the detective’s own self.
A brutal murder has been committed in Oslo. In this case, Harry Hole plays an unusual role - he heads not the investigation, but the list of suspects. Hole is confident that he is innocent. Or... almost sure.
Threshold. Sergei Lukyanenko
A hot new product from - a book - written in the genre of space opera. There are new galactic civilizations in it, spaceships, universal threat, rich plot, humor and well-written characters. Lukyanenko has again created an entire Universe, and “Threshold” becomes an exciting and detailed Intro to the new world in which the heroes of his subsequent stories will exist. A must read for all fans of quality science fiction!
Stranger. Stephen King
– a new product from , which is in Once again confirms: The King of Terrors does not age. Take it with you on vacation if you want to completely disconnect from everyday problems and immerse yourself in a very dynamic, chilling read.
King, as always, skillfully juggles genres: horror, thriller, detective - it’s all in one. The body of a boy is found in a park in the small town of Flint City. All the evidence and witness statements point to the youth baseball coach, English teacher, husband and father of two daughters. Is he really capable of this?
The silent patient. Alex Michaelides
The life of Alicia Berenson, a famous artist, seems ideal. She married a fashion photographer and lives in a luxurious home in one of the most attractive and... expensive areas London. One late evening, when her husband Gabriel returns home from another shoot, Alicia shoots him five times in the face. And since then he hasn't said a word. The criminal psychotherapist assigned to Alicia understands that not everything in this case is smooth and obvious. He has to talk to his silent patient, but will he regret it?..
Sex is always a good idea! Even if we are talking about a book of the same name. In this popular science guide, Daria Varlamova and Elena Foer will tell you a lot of new things about various aspects of human sexuality, from the neurochemistry of libido and the phenomenon of wandering erogenous zones to why middle-aged housewives willingly watch gay porn.
I would like to write, they say, with interesting facts from “Sex” you can surprise your pretty neighbor on the sunbed, but in fact the book is really useful and important, because it’s never too late to understand your own sexuality.
- Jane Austen's novels are the perfect beach read: behind the decency and decency, real passions simmer in these books about love. And the most important thing for us is that there is always a wedding in the end.
- Mar Levy “Between Heaven and Earth” is pure female emotions: love, tears - and thoughts about what is important. One late evening, a beautiful unknown girl appears in the apartment of a lonely architect...
- Margaret Mitchell "Gone with the Wind" Young Scarlett does not yet know that a civil war will soon begin and life will change.
- Bill Bryson " Short story almost everything in the world." A brilliant popular science book: you will learn almost everything important about the world.
- Jonathan Tropper "Move on with your life." A real hymn to the male midlife crisis (as, indeed, the other five books by this author). What happens when a man searches for himself, breaks everything and rebuilds it, makes terrible mistakes, but does not lose his sense of humor? Oddly enough, in the end everything works out just fine.
- Dina Rubina "Russian Canary". A family saga in three volumes: a story of several generations and different worlds, the heroes either separate or meet, connected by the past.
- Pelham Grenville Woodhouse "Jeeves and Wooster". An exemplary butler, a charming slacker, endless prim aunties - in general, the best example of English humor. Who do you like more - Jeeves or Bertie?
- “Planet Water” by Boris Akunin is a new, albeit retrospective, story of the heroic handsome Fandorin. However, any book from this series can be re-read again and again - despite the fact that Erast is inevitably getting older.
- Gregory David Roberts "Shantaram". On the one hand, a classic adventure novel - chases, fights, mafia and smugglers. On the other hand, this is an unexpectedly deep philosophical book in which the author seeks answers to the main questions of existence.
- Donna Tartt "The Goldfinch" It’s not for nothing that the American writer’s third novel became a bestseller. He makes you cry and laugh, be indignant and sincerely sympathize with all the characters.
Booker Prize: smart book
If you think a Booke Prize-winning book isn't the best holiday read, The Luminaries author Eleanor Catton will convince you. The events of the book take place in New Zealand at the height of the gold rush. 12 people (among them a priest, a pharmacist, a local newspaper publisher, two Chinese and a Maori native) meet in a run-down hotel to discuss the mysterious incidents in which each of them has become involved. From the first pages you will be enveloped in an atmosphere of mysteries, omissions and almost mystical coincidences. By the middle it will seem that it is completely impossible to understand this tangle of intricacies. And only in the last chapters such a clear and understandable chain of events will suddenly line up that you will feel ashamed of your own short-sightedness. An important point: the book is large and sincere. If you are going to take it on vacation, buy the electronic version.
Women's novels: This is love!
Psychologists say that by reading about other people's experiences, we become more acutely aware of our own happiness. This is probably why the lists of favorite women's books are always headed by novels about love. Pay attention to two new items this summer. “Sad Jam” by Elena Werner is a bright and emotional story about twin sisters. One of them has a whole life ahead of them, and the second dies at 29 years old. The ability not to lose faith in the best, the ability to love, forgive and admit one’s mistakes are eternal topics that the author managed to look at from an unexpected angle.
Another book that should not be missed for those who love emotional prose is “Supporting Heroine” by Anna Berseneva. The artist Maya is 42 years old, she is used to going with the flow and is not able to take fate into her own hands, because she is not one of those women whom fate has given strong character. Is it worth fighting for love and a place in the sun? Or will the sun itself appear from behind the clouds at the right moment? These are all questions that each of us has faced.
Books for children
For children: summer reading
It turns out that in the summer you can read with your children not only about fabulous adventures, but also learn new amazing facts. The books “Sophie in the World of Trees” and “Sophie in the World of Flowers”, Stefan Casta, Boo Mosberg (Albus Corvus Publishing House), are dedicated to all children who are sure that buns grow on trees, and to all parents who cannot distinguish an elm from an ash . What are the names of the plants of the middle zone, what insects live on them and why they chose each other, says an ant named Sophie, the heroine of the books by Stefan Casta and Boo Mosberg. A A new book writer and artist Zina Surova’s “Summer in the Village” (publishing house “Mann, Ivanov and Ferber”) describes the events of village life from the perspective of an 11-year-old boy. Here you will find not only funny stories about children, village life and nature, but also many games and creative ones for the summer leisure of children and parents.
The main thing is not to think that it is enough to give your child this book and withdraw from yourself: study and implement these ideas all together!
Natalya Kochetkova,
presenter of the Knizhkin Dom and Pochitayka programs on Children's Radio
SILKE LAMBEC "MR. ROSE"
"CompassGuide"
Mister Poppy could be Carlson's uncle and Mary Poppins' cousin. This kind wizard with impeccable manners appears where a child is sad and turns his life into a fairy tale.
LAURA INGLES WILDER "LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS"
"Pink Giraffe"
The theme of nature and subsistence farming is continued by the book by the daughter of American settlers. The most interesting pages of the story are descriptions of household chores: hunting, picking mushrooms and berries, preparing vegetables for the winter.
KATE DICAMILO "FLORA AND ODYSSEY"
A miracle turns an ordinary squirrel into a superhero named Odysseus. However, the main thing in this story is not magical abilities, but the ability of loved ones to find a common language.
ROALD DAHL "PIGGIES"
"Scooter"
This storyteller was distinguished by his ability to tell the unpleasant truth - if a person is stupid, greedy and clueless, Dahl wrote about it that way. The heroes of his story, Mr. and Mrs. Pig, are just like that - smelly, disgusting and ugly. And they will not go unpunished!
For inspiration
Tatiana Lazareva,
TV and radio presenter
I don’t like reading just for the sake of reading; even on vacation, my brain needs to work. This year I was preparing to read “Total Dictation”, the text for it was written by the writer Evgeny Vodolazkin, and I decided to get to know the author better. First there was the famous “Lavr”, then - “Soloviev and Larionov”. These are amazing books. Vodolazkin chooses his words in such a way that it is impossible to tear yourself away. Alexander Chudakov’s novel “A Darkness Falls on the Old Steps” made the same strong impression on me. A subtle, philological approach to the text, the amazing Russian language - you just bathe in it. You should not only know such books yourself, but also be sure to read at least parts of them to your children. The third book I’m reading right now is “Atlas Shrugged” by the American writer Ayn Rand. One of her ideas is that it’s not always what the majority wants, right, you don’t always need to follow what seems obvious to the majority. This question is in the air today, and the book is a good reason to think about it.
For inspiration
Learning to dream
Barbara Sher's new book is a continuation of the bestseller “It's Not Harmful to Dream” (Mann, Ivanov and Ferber Publishing House). We have already seen that the ability to dream (and the absence of fear to do so) makes our lives much more fulfilling. It's time to take the next step - to understand what we really want and how to achieve it. And for this you will have to work hard: learn to be aware of your desires, calm down the inner critic, cope with a negative attitude, stop waiting for luck to knock on your door and start taking action. Yes, perhaps the road to your goal will be quite winding, but the strategies, tips and exercises proposed by the author (and, most importantly, personally tested by her) will certainly help you not only go after your dream, but also find it. “You can do anything if you just know what you want,” says Barbara Sher. “And this will happen soon.”
Simply ideal!
Many of us are familiar with the “excellent student syndrome”: who in childhood was not told something like: “If you’re going to do it, do it well”? American psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo begins the book “Better than Perfection. How to curb perfectionism" (Mann, Ivanov and Fehrer publishing house) with the admission that she was a perfectionist most of her life and what exactly she lost due to the pursuit of perfection. But you can get to know your perfectionism better and understand which of its traits will be useful to you. The author offers readers the most valuable thing - his experience, and at the same time seven working strategies that allow you to get rid of the irrepressible desire to live “at an A plus.” Why is this necessary? And then, so that instead of stress, insomnia, anxiety and fear, happiness, health, calmness and confidence appear in your life. Not a bad deal, right?
Bestsellers
Bestseller: Best Story
“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Dorr is a book about the most important things. About love and fear, about cruelty and kindness, about the countless facets of the human heart. Reality and mysticism are intertwined here so masterfully that you will not always be able to distinguish one from the other. Sweet, touching, unforgettable stories are strung on top of each other like precious pearls. Get ready to laugh, cry, empathize and then fanatically advise all your friends and acquaintances. "Hot Season" by Penelope Lively is another book that is surprising in its strength and sincerity of storytelling. A deceptively simple story that begins with an English idyll, develops into drama, and ends completely unexpectedly. Suffering, passion, jealousy, inexorable and demanding maternal love - all these are emotions that accompany us through life, testing the strength of fragile family happiness every day.
For parents
How to hear
Doctor of Philosophy Oscar Breniffier is sure that you need to talk to children - and not just like that, but as with adults, even if children's questions sometimes baffle you. His new book, “Making Our Children Happy: Talking to Children about Life and Freedom” (Clever publishing house), is published in the “Philosophical Dialogues” series. “Think! - the author calls. — In dialogue, it is important to understand each other, to understand what is happening in the child’s soul. And then even silence can tell you something.”
How to cope
This new book from the “World Parents” series (Sinbad Publishing House) is intended especially for mothers of boys. Its author, Hannah Evans, is a sailor's wife and mother of three sons. She knows exactly how to survive in this world full of men, and, most importantly, how to channel the violent energy of boys into peaceful channels. Hannah not only reveals the secrets of “boyhood,” shares recipes—educational and culinary—and supports other mothers, but does it with a sense of humor and great optimism.
How to communicate
The book by psychologist and writer Olga Makhovskaya with the long title “American children play with pleasure, French children play according to the rules, and Russian children play until they win” (Eksmo Publishing House) is essentially an encyclopedia of modern pedagogy. The author analyzes the experience of parents from different countries and invites parents to abandon schemes and dogmas, and look at the child’s personality first and foremost - and encourage the development of his strengths.