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by Amy Schakel If you’ve read Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits you probably remember the opening line, “Barrabas came to us by sea…” It is a line that immediately ensnares and excites the mystery of what is to follow through the book. It follow the lives of three generations of the Trueba family and … Continue reading Found in Translation: The House of Spirits
by Uriel Perez César Aira is something of a literary workhorse – since 1993, the Argentine novelist has been publishing at least two of his trademark novelettes a year and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon (the man’s published three this year alone!). His pace is unrivaled, and to draw a familiar comparison … Continue reading Found in Translation: Dinner by César Aira
SARA Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo Stay With Me is the heartbreaking debut novel by Nigerian author, Ayobami Adebayo. Stay With Me tells the story of married couple Yejide and Akin who both take drastic measures to have a child. A bite-sized novel that packs a punch, I have a feeling Stay With Me will … Continue reading What We’re Reading This Week
by Gregory Day and Eugenia Vela There is this story that is wild unto itself and forgotten by time. It is a story of strong wills and neglect. This story spans from the empirical ego of the Nazi Party in Germany to the socialist struggles in 1960s Bolivia. Leni Riefenstahl’s illustrious documentaries, Che Guevara’s Nancahuazu … Continue reading Bookseller Review: Affections
by Consuelo Hacker The best way for me to describe Sing, Unburied, Sing is to say that it is full of a devastating hunger. The characters struggle with physical hunger, but also hunger for a connection with each other. The main action takes places only over a couple days, and yet Ward captures the full … Continue reading Top Shelf: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
by Molly Moore In the three novellas of The Diving Pool, a word pops up with frequency -- ‘sour.’ Sour feelings in guts, sour smells from breast milk, sour words from lonesome landlords. Ogawa is preoccupied by the rot that occurs from the neglected. Uneaten food and waterstained wood rots with time and … Continue reading Found in Translation: The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa
Intro by Jason Mohsin Hamad's Exit West came out in March 2017. Since then, it has had a significant impact on the world of fiction. Here at BookPeople, booksellers were so excited about the book that there was a lot of dodging and weaving for the few available advanced reader's copies and a spirited contest … Continue reading Exit West: A Personal Narrative
We here at BookPeople continue to be so inspired by Mohsin Hamid's Exit West. Here's what a few of our booksellers are saying about this mash up of science fiction, immigration drama, and of course, a love story: Gregory: "one of the defining works of the 21st Century. Hamid's work proves building walls won't prevent … Continue reading Exit West and Caritas of Austin
An Introduction to BookPeople’s Lit in Translation Coterie by Gregory Day There is a phrase that has been jammed in my mind this summer: “Translations are sacred.” For a few years now, I’ve been almost solely reading fiction in translation. These works have brought the world to me (well, as much as they can), helped … Continue reading Found in Translation
Each month I'll be investigating events around town that might pique the interest of the book nerds, the literature obsessed, and those who enjoy stimulating entertainment and/or socializing. Not surprisingly, Austin has a number of things going on every month the Book People community would enjoy. The Dionysium Summer Show: Habit Alamo Drafthouse Village Wednesday, August 2nd … Continue reading Austin Events for the Literati – August
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