Self-Consciousness: Memoirs - John Updike

A memoir in five installments. Three referring to as many handicaps that in the author's opinion put him on his professional path. These were psoriasis, mild stuttering and asthma. Another essay is dedicated to his ancestors the Updikes, including that branch that were not really his relatives. The last one, written right from the heart, is a kind balance that he does once he reached a certain age. A brilliant and talented writer.

Antes del Paraíso - Pedro Ugarte

Cuentos protagonizados por un Jorge que me parece un lejano álter ego del autor, o más bien un representante de su generación. Bien escritos y algunos con final que busca la sorpresa, y la consigue. Lo que más me ha gustado, sin embargo, son los comentarios que hace de vez en cuando sobre la condición humana. 

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories - Flannery O'Connor

First of two storybooks by this Catholic writer who died young (of lupus). Stories told vividly with southern scenes and protagonists. Mostly poor and quite ignorant people full of prejudices and sometimes a few blacks who merely survive. Cruel endings with some death and destruction, a keen sense of local language dialogue and humorous all the time. I have loved the stories.

Argiantza - Pello Lizarralde

Bere estilo berezian idatzitako eleberri labur samarra. Detailea etengabe lantzen du. Ramon gerenteak, erretiroa hartuta egon behar zuenak, enpresako zinema-aretoak bisitatu behar ditu, eta lan-bidaia bat egiten du, hotelez hotel. Sinesgarritasunaren aldetik, nik uste, egun bateko bidaietan egin ahal izango zitzakeen ikuskapen-lanak, banan banan.

Libro de réquiems - Mauricio Wiesenthal

Desde joven Wiesenthal se dedicó a seguir la pista de músicos y escritores por toda Europa. En qué piso de París vivió Balzac y ese tipo de cosas. En este libro recopila información recogida a lo largo de muchos años. Las vidas de esos grandes (Tolstoi, Casanova, Beethoven etc), los lugares, los amores, contado en un estilo lírico y arrebatado.

Second Place - Rachel Cusk

No doubt the narrator here is in some way the author herself, a woman writer in her fifties and someone who seeks the compañy of artists. The voice she builds is quite brilliant. She confesses later that there's another book with a similar situation that inspired this one: One "Winter in Taos" about D H Lawrence staying somewhere in New Mexico. It is curious the abundance of exclamation marks used to emphasize.

Epizentroa - Nerea Loiola Pikaza

Zazpi ipuinek osatzen dute liburua, lehenengoa luzeena, eta ia eleberri laburra da. Ikuspuntua femeninoa da, noski. Irregularrak iruditu zaizkit, onak gehienak, baina pare bat ez ditut sinesgarritzat jotzen. Batez ere "Exit" izenekoa, baina, jakina, inoiz ez dut horrelako girorik ezagutu.