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The Best Novels by Spanish Authors, recommended by Richard Village

If you like your novels long, Spanish literature has some gems to lose yourself in. Richard Village, translator and publisher of Spanish Beauty, recommends five of his favourites, from the chaos of 17th-century Spain to the traumas of the 20th century, and also including a classic detective novel.
New Book Recommendations

THRILLERS
Conclave by Robert Harris
“It’s based on solid research and you’ll find out a lot about the way a new pope is elected…As is almost always the case, the book is better than the movie.”

HISTORICAL FICTION
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman
“Life and Fate…is probably the most important work of fiction about World War II. But, in fact, it is more than just a fiction because it is based on very close reporting from his time with the soldiers”—Antony Beevor, military historian

CLASSIC LITERATURE
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
“Sense and Sensibility…tracks a period of huge precarity and anxiety in Austen’s life. It’s a stunning read. I highly, highly recommend it”—Sophie Gee, professor, Princeton University and host, Secret Life of Books podcast

NONFICTION BOOKS
Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat
“Strongmen is a history of the authoritarian form of rule and how it has evolved over a hundred years”—Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian

FANTASY
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Illustrated Boxset by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Tolkien’s extraordinary achievement was to recover the epic landscapes of Anglo-Saxon myth, bring them back to life, and then to take us through them on foot”—Lev Grossman, critic and novelist

UKRAINE
Voroshilovgrad by Serhiy Zhadan
“He’s a fantastic voice of independent Ukraine. His writing is humorous as well as poetic”—Sasha Dovzhyk, literary scholar

THE BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS
The Djinn’s Apple by Djamila Morani
“This is a fabulous and beautifully written historical novel set in Baghdad’s golden age, during the Abbasid caliphate.”—Tuva Kahrs, children’s editor, Five Books

THRILLERS
The Night of Wenceslas by Lionel Davidson
“For anyone who’s interested in Prague, in being made to laugh, in a really good espionage thriller, who wants to have the atmosphere of one of the most atmospheric cities in the world recreated, you couldn’t do better…Do read it! Everybody should”—Peter Hitchens, journalist

FICTION
The Years by Annie Ernaux
🏆 Winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature
“It’s one of those books that enriches your idea of what literature can do. It’s a really brilliant work. The rhythm of both the ideas in play and the words is incredibly seductive”—Bettany Hughes, historian

ECONOMICS BOOKS
The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heilbroner
“This is a great book. It still has not been equalled. It’s a run through where the classical economists came from, who they were, what they thought and why they thought what they thought”—Brad DeLong, economist, UC Berkeley

TOP ‘ROMANTASY’ BOOKS to get you started
“A word of warning—these books are real page turners and you’ll find yourself reading until the early hours of the morning”—Francesca Martin, journalist

PHILOSOPHY BOOKS
Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein
“He’s somebody who deliberately tries to provoke you to thought, rather than doing the thinking for you. It’s a really interesting, important book in the history of philosophy”—Nigel Warburton, philosophy editor, Five Books

FANTASY BOOKS
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
“The Poppy War is about 19th and 20th century Chinese history, in a fantasy world”—Anna Smith Spark, novelist

AI BOOKS
ChatGPT-4 offers its own opinions on artificial intelligence
“These books offer valuable insights into the development, challenges, and future prospects of AI”—ChatGPT-4, AI chatbot

SCIENCE FICTION
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
“The story is about these people, psychohistorians, who are mathematical social scientists…I was probably 16 when I read it and I thought, ‘I want to be one of those guys!'”—Paul Krugman, economist
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