So amazing to see you read so many books in Spanish!
It’s a goal of mine to read at least one translated book (currently Orgullo & Prejudicio por Austen) and one originally written in Spanish book this year. I have cut down my overall book total goal accordingly to accomplish it.
I would love to read more in Spanish, too! In 2025 I read Como Agua Para Chocolate and loved it - it's only c200 pages so maybe could be a good one for your book originally written in Spanish?
Small Things Like These is such a treasure. I have a group chat with two friends dedicated solely to talking about how perfect that book is. So glad you loved it.
Happy New Year! What a great list! Which book by Samantha Schweblin do you recommend to start with? I also read in Spanish- Ficciones has also been on my TBR. My last year’s Spanish reads were Tiempos Recios by Llosa and La Invención de Morel by Buoy Casares, a close associate of Borges.
happy new year, Vera! i've only read Little Eyes/Kentukis and her most recent short story collection (Good and Evil and Other Stories/El buen mal) so i wouldn't consider myself a Schweblin connoisseur by any means, but between those two i'd probably start with Kentukis! x
haha you're right! i've just read so much of her in english and spanish and i feel like it's time to give her a try in the original portuguese, mas antes vou tentar ler algo de Carla Madeira, obrigada! xx
Happy New Year Clara!!! You remain my favourite writer in on this app. So many amazing titles listed here. Wishing you a creatively fulfilling and book-filled year 💚
I organically found that I had read significantly more translated works this year than ever before, and it made me really want to read more. I read the entire Japanese detective series by Seishi Yokomizo, Abigail by Magda Szabó, and The Colony by Annika Norlin (stunning translation work!!!) and they were all in my top reads of the year.
Currently reading a 80s translation of Anna Karenina and again, just find myself in awe of the translator, Joel Carmichael, for his ability to keep so much of the original beauty and creativity of the text. Fiction translators are my heroes!
Is there a specific book you’d recommend as a gateway into Spanish/Portuguese lit?
you're the second person who i've seen recommending The Colony in the last couple days, i need to add it to my list! for Portuguese-language lit, i really do love Clarice Lispector's novels, although she's definitely a fairly esoteric author and mayyybe not the easiest to get into, as Lelis also notes in the comments (she has a few suggestions that I'll be looking into!); for Spanish-language lit, i think some of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's shorter works (e.g., Cronica de una muerte anunciada/Chronicle of a Death Foretold) would be good, along with Samanta Schweblin's Kentukis/Little Eyes, which feels like a very fresh, modern novel.
Happy New Year Clara! And I have to say any book I’ve read that you’ve recommended has been one I cannot stop thinking about so your book recs are absolute gold. Cheers to you in 2026!
I too was obsessed with On the Calculation of Volume this year!! I asked about the translator team change at a launch event for Volume III in NYC and was told the original translator just retired -- nothing juicy, sadly!
So amazing to see you read so many books in Spanish!
It’s a goal of mine to read at least one translated book (currently Orgullo & Prejudicio por Austen) and one originally written in Spanish book this year. I have cut down my overall book total goal accordingly to accomplish it.
I would love to read more in Spanish, too! In 2025 I read Como Agua Para Chocolate and loved it - it's only c200 pages so maybe could be a good one for your book originally written in Spanish?
That’s a great suggestion - gracias!
Small Things Like These is such a treasure. I have a group chat with two friends dedicated solely to talking about how perfect that book is. So glad you loved it.
ummmmm if you guys are accepting new members of this group chat lmk x
Same minds baby because I also want the tea on the translation team changing for Vol 3... like what happened?! We must know
like i am DESPERATELY seeking this information, Martha!!!
Happy New Year! What a great list! Which book by Samantha Schweblin do you recommend to start with? I also read in Spanish- Ficciones has also been on my TBR. My last year’s Spanish reads were Tiempos Recios by Llosa and La Invención de Morel by Buoy Casares, a close associate of Borges.
happy new year, Vera! i've only read Little Eyes/Kentukis and her most recent short story collection (Good and Evil and Other Stories/El buen mal) so i wouldn't consider myself a Schweblin connoisseur by any means, but between those two i'd probably start with Kentukis! x
Hi, Clara!! Reading from Brazil, and I should say Clarice Lispector, is hard, even for us who speak Portuguese. 😅😅
You should try reading Carla Madeira or even some journalistic books by Caco Barcellos and Drauzio Varella. Love the newsletter <3 <3
haha you're right! i've just read so much of her in english and spanish and i feel like it's time to give her a try in the original portuguese, mas antes vou tentar ler algo de Carla Madeira, obrigada! xx
Happy New Year Clara!!! You remain my favourite writer in on this app. So many amazing titles listed here. Wishing you a creatively fulfilling and book-filled year 💚
happy new year to you too, Mia!! thank you so much for reading, i appreciate you being here xx
I organically found that I had read significantly more translated works this year than ever before, and it made me really want to read more. I read the entire Japanese detective series by Seishi Yokomizo, Abigail by Magda Szabó, and The Colony by Annika Norlin (stunning translation work!!!) and they were all in my top reads of the year.
Currently reading a 80s translation of Anna Karenina and again, just find myself in awe of the translator, Joel Carmichael, for his ability to keep so much of the original beauty and creativity of the text. Fiction translators are my heroes!
Is there a specific book you’d recommend as a gateway into Spanish/Portuguese lit?
you're the second person who i've seen recommending The Colony in the last couple days, i need to add it to my list! for Portuguese-language lit, i really do love Clarice Lispector's novels, although she's definitely a fairly esoteric author and mayyybe not the easiest to get into, as Lelis also notes in the comments (she has a few suggestions that I'll be looking into!); for Spanish-language lit, i think some of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's shorter works (e.g., Cronica de una muerte anunciada/Chronicle of a Death Foretold) would be good, along with Samanta Schweblin's Kentukis/Little Eyes, which feels like a very fresh, modern novel.
Happy New Year Clara! And I have to say any book I’ve read that you’ve recommended has been one I cannot stop thinking about so your book recs are absolute gold. Cheers to you in 2026!
i love to hear this, Lauren!! happy new year to you as well x
I too was obsessed with On the Calculation of Volume this year!! I asked about the translator team change at a launch event for Volume III in NYC and was told the original translator just retired -- nothing juicy, sadly!