|
|
Spiralcat Books We have years of experience in bookshops both in the UK and Europe and here we started this page to provide a list of very good books. America the Beautiful
The first book sold through this site and I am very proud of that because it is one of my favourite books of all time. When I first got a job in a bookstore back in the year 2000 it was my first staff pick. We were a newly opened bookstore in a small town and our most popular section was true crime. America the Beautiful didn’t sell well at first and was identified a couple of months later by the sales computer as a lost cause for return to the publisher. I saved it and hid it away every time there was a round of books collected for return and eventually sales picked up to an extent that the sales computer was happy with. It’s a book people connect with and worth fighting for.
This book is so great not just because it gives a real glimpse into a very interesting life, (the names of the characters have been changed but it seems very autobiographical to me) but because the details are so real and compelling. In one memorable scene the main character is described having sex even though she needs to go to the toilet and is not really enjoying it. A scene from a real and imperfect but still very enjoyable life. The book describes a person with the open sensibility of a hippy interacting with the modern day world. A person whose life is comfortable but not secure and who is still young and discovering things.
A Hero’s Walk
A total tragedy but really it’s a book that goes to lengths to tell you the point of view of each character. Heartbreaking and beautiful, it’s not a typical India book, it could be set anywhere. It has complicated issues and interesting characters. You see the view of both the kid and the father, you can slip in and be the characters.
The End of the Pier
Martha Grimes A crime novel but the crime is not the central thing. A horrific crime but really the book is lovingly written about Maude. It is more about feelings, how she works in this diner. Don’t read it because it’s a crime novel but because the character is just interesting. On Beauty
Zadie Smith
Deals with race in the UK and the USA in modern contexts and in a modern way. The two families are pillars of their respective communities. One young black man in the story, who comes from an upper middle class background, worries ironically about not being “black enough”. Maurice
E. M. Forster Forster talks about a time when people are trapped, as they still are in Britain, like the main character. He goes on a journey of self discovery, finds it hard to deal with but he’s still honest with himself. In the end he does his own thing. He gets together with the Scudder character and at one point when staying with a typical British family with kids, asks why it is so important to have children. The question doesn’t sound selfish but rightful as he asks it. A very modern book written by a fantastic author. Full of metaphors but not like picture pefect poetry. It helped me to realize that love is individual. The Colour Purple
Is really positive even though everyone is in bad situations. People are strong and interesting. The women are talked about from a woman’s point of view. The compassion of women, the attraction of women. It’s not cheesy. The film wasn’t either but they were not as brave as the book is.
Blaßblaue Frauenschrift
Werfel
A very special book, but unfortunately only available in German. Talks about the way Vienna was, is and always will be. A very negative picture. Werfel allows the reader to crawl into the head of the characters. In an argument for example the character says “I’ll never forgive myself” and the narrator says that while he was talking he had already forgiven himself. He examines the inner head of the person in a profound but simple way built from tiny details. You get to know the main character very well. The book is from his view with the narrators comments about him in a kind of bizarre but simple and at the same time complex situation that reflects the times in a profound way.
The character assumes and you assume with him that he has a son even though there is no mention of one. The narrator is like the director of the book.
Norwegian Wood
Murakami
Fabulous.
You constantly have the urge to go to a Japanese restaurant because the characters spend so much time having great meals. Also has a disturbing edge as often with Murakami.
Trading Up
Candace Bushnell
This is not a romance novel. Candace Bushnell is far too much of a modern philosopher for that. It deals with crises and challenges that modern women deal with. Poetic and blunt at the same time. You eat the book up, take it everywhere with you, you just want to know, know.
It includes small town and big city American life with strange pictures that linger in your head.
|
|
|