The year 2016 says goodbye to us, for better or for worse (it depends a lot on the life experience of each one) and we want to remember with all of you, our readers, what have been the best books of this year. Many of the good ones have been published almost at the last minute (in this month of December) as is the case of the last title of the saga «The shadow of the wind», "The labyrinth of spirits" and others started their year… But here we will review the best ones, what will they be? What have been the best books of 2016 for you?
JK Rowling's "Cursed Legacy"
The new title of the famous writer of juvenile literature J. K. Rowling It went on sale last September but we already knew its official synopsis in 2015 and it was released by the author herself:
Being Harry Potter has never been an easy task, even less since he has become a very busy employee of the Ministry of Magic, a married man and father of three children. And if Harry faces a past that refuses to be left behind, his youngest son, Albus Severus, must fight the weight of a family inheritance he has never wanted to know about. When destiny connects the past with the present, father and son must face a very uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness arises from the least thought of places.
The Spanish edition was taken over Salamandra editions. If you have not read it yet and you are a fan of the Harry Potter saga, this cannot be missing from your shelves. It can be a good title to ask the Three Wise Men, that even if it is a little late, since they are magical, they can do everything? Truth?
"Handbook for cleaning women" by Lucia Berlin
With this "peculiar" title, the book by the newly discovered Lucia Berlin was born. It is Alfaguara who published it in March 2016 and it has been a non-stop selling copies. It is a work translated into 14 different languages and highly praised by literary critics. Its official synopsis is as follows:
With his unrivaled touch of humor and melancholy, Berlin echoes his astonishing and convulsive life to create true literary miracles with everyday episodes. The women in his stories are disoriented, but at the same time they are strong, intelligent and, above all, extraordinarily real. They laugh, they cry, they love, they drink: they survive.
One of the best of this year, without a doubt.
«Homeland» by Fernando Aramburu
With this name so national and that gives so many headaches to our country, it titled Fernando Aramburu to his new book. We do not know if it is the name that has most attracted the attention of readers or Aramburu's literary curriculum, but "Homeland" is undoubtedly one of the best books of 2016.
It is published by Tusquets Editors since September of this year and you can find it in store for an approximate price of 22 euros.
Synopsis: The day ETA announces the abandonment of arms, Bittori goes to the cemetery to tell the tomb of her husband, Txato, killed by the terrorists, that she has decided to return to the house where they lived. Will she be able to live with those who harassed her before and after the attack that disrupted her life and that of her family? Will she be able to know who was the hooded man who killed her husband one rainy day, when he was returning from his transport company? No matter how sneaky, Bittori's presence will alter the false tranquility of the town, especially her neighbor Miren, a once close friend and mother of Joxe Mari, an imprisoned terrorist and suspected of Bittori's worst fears. What happened between those two women? What has poisoned the lives of your children and their close-knit husbands in the past? With their hidden tears and their unwavering convictions, with their wounds and their bravery, the incandescent story of their lives before and after the crater that was the death of Txato, speaks to us of the impossibility of forgetting and of the need for forgiveness in a community broken by political fanaticism.
«All this I will give you» by Dolores Redondo
Awarded with the Planet Award 2016, this work of Dolores Round It is one of the best sellers this year at the publisher. Its synopsis is as follows:
In the majestic setting of the Ribeira Sacra, Álvaro suffers an accident that will end his life. When Manuel, her husband, arrives in Galicia to recognize the body, he discovers that the investigation into the case has been closed too quickly. The rejection of his powerful political family, the Muñiz de Dávila, prompts him to flee but withholds the allegation against impunity that Nogueira, a retired civil guard, wields against Álvaro's family, noblemen rocked in their privileges, and the suspicion of that this is not the first death in his environment that has been masked as accidental. Lucas, a priest friend from Álvaro's childhood, joins Manuel and Nogueira in rebuilding the secret life of whom they thought they knew well. The unexpected friendship of these three men without any apparent affinity helps Manuel navigate between love for who her husband was and the torment of having lived with his back to reality, shielded behind the chimera of his world as a writer. This is how the search for the truth will begin, in a place of strong beliefs and deep-rooted customs where logic never ends up connecting all the dots.
«What a shame» by Paulina Flores
With Pauline Flowers once again we discover the quality of Chilean literature. "What a shame" is a book made up of 9 stories where it provides a stripped-down vision, of overwhelming sincerity, of current life in cities: women who live in residential buildings; men who, by losing their jobs, reveal the fragile foundations that sustain the family; young people who work in libraries or fast food outlets, and who remember the day they perpetrated a petty theft, the reasons that led them to separate or that moment when they definitely lost their innocence.
Do you think these books deserve to be on this list? What are your favorite books published this year?
And if we don't see each other, we hope, since Actualidad Literatura, have a happy 2017, full of good readings... Goodbye 2016!