Your Next October Read

I love the smell of new books (is that weird) but there's honestly nothing better than curling up with an amazing page-turner on a chilly night. For those of us addicted to our phones - it's also a great way to give yourself a digital detox. I reached out to Diana C. of @bookoffee (a true bibliophile in every way) to give us her top 3 reads for the month. Here's what she recommended:

What to read when it’s cold and you need:

….an inspiring love story:

Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

The books starts off with Matt, a bored with life photographer at National Geographic. He feels uninspired and hates people at work. Which immediately makes him relatable to almost all readers 😊. Then one day he sees someone he recognizes on the train platform in Manhattan. Grace, his ex-girlfriend he never got over. Everything they lived together comes rushing back and you get to read their love story from both Grace and Matt’s POV in both present and past. .

The blurb on the back of the book is the ad Matt posts on Craigslist’s Missed Connections sections and how he and Grace meet again.

For beautiful writing and believing in love again pick this one up.

….a good cry:

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Lou and Will have nothing in common. And yet they find themselves together in a challenging relationship. Lou is Will’s caretaker and Will is so angry with the state in which a motorcycle accident left him in that in the beginning you think they will never be able to have a proper conversation. But when they do it’s beautiful. This is definitely an inspiring book and a story that begs the question what do you do when the one thing that makes your loved one happy makes you incredibly sad?

…to feel empowered:

The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundarasen

This book tells the story of Mehrunnisa, also known as Nur Jahan, the most controversial queen of India. Her determination and brilliance will make you fall in love with her, as much, if not more than Prince Salim. Despite all the hardships, Nur Jahan manages to prevail and outsmart enemies in a way that will inspire you to be stronger in real life. For history, love, and power plays read this amazing story about one of the first women in the world to have her image printed on coins.

Before you read any of these, open any of these links to make the experience extra special: experience 1, experience 2, or both at the same if you are a badass. Then make a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy reading the right way.

Let us know what you end up reading or any great books you read recently by leaving us a comment 📖.

Saddest Story

I've read the book by Kazuo Ishiguro (which brought me to tears which each page read) but I have yet to see the film. Friends who read and seen Never Let Me Go say the love story is emphasized more in the film  while their horrible fate and life is emphasized in the book. 

I have to see it myself, but I'm afraid. 

I'm afraid of the sadness.

MAIL TIME!!

Decided to read in Spanish again. My first book should be a classic, which is why I went with:

“Cien años de soledad” by Gabriel García Márquez

Of course, the book is in Spanish, this is just an English version in case you guys wanted to read with me.

Here's the summary (of course taken from bn.com):

Cien años de soledad es una obra maestra del escritor colombiano Gabriel García Márquez, quien obtuvo el Premio Nobel de Literatura en 1982. El libro sigue la historia de seis generaciones de la familia Buendía y cien años de vida en el ficticio pueblo de Macondo, mariposas relatando sus pesares, problemas, desventuras y esperanzas, en su esfuerzo por vivir en tan emblemático pueblo. La historia tiene un final místico e inesperado, que cierra todos los cabos que el autor va dejando abierto durante el relato.

(in English)

The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the Buendía family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.

Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility -- the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth -- these universal themes dominate the novel. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel García Márquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master.

Alternately reverential and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude weaves the political, personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling. Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an accounting of the history of the human race.

"...las estirpes condenadas a cien años de soledad no tenían una segunda oportunidad sobre la tierra" — Gabriel García Márquez