Flesh - David Szalay

This István, whose life we follow from teenage to his mature fifties, has three words as an answer to everything: "Okay", "Sure" and "Yeah"; with them he manages to make his way in life, aided from time to time by the urges of the flesh. A captivating novel about the human condition.

Antiquities and other stories - Cynthia Ozick

Young at heart she is, truly. She wrote these compelling stories already in her nineties, yet with remarkable mastery. The Jewish perspective and old age itself are two fundamental pillars of this interesting book. 

The Magus - John Fowles

Too long, definitely. This is a psychological thriller in the style of 1960s trends. There are quite a number of pages of very good storytelling and the English language flows brilliantly, but in the end the plot borders on the absurd, I'm afraid. 

Resurrection Walk - Michael Connolly

Mickey Haller —the Lincoln Lawyer— and Harry Bosch: what a powerful team, they know every trick in the book and no murder goes unpunished. This is a courtroom drama full of legal details and unexpected twists. An entertaining read.

The Progress of Love - Alice Munro

I am at a loss for words to describe Munro's work. So I'll just quote Wikipedia: "Her stories explore human complexities in a simple but meticulous prose style". So it is, and the setting is one or another small town in Huron County, Canada. Fortunately, there are more books by Alice Munro that I haven't read yet.

Kafka Was the Rage - Anatole Broyard

Kafka was the rage in Greenwich Village around 1946. Broyard, newly returned from the war, took advantage of the GI Bill and inmersed himself into the effervescent atmosphere of the time. Years later, he wrote this unfinished book about those days, when he lived intoxicated by sex and literature.

The Odyssey - Homer (Samuel Butler's translation)

Published in 1900, this was the first reader-friendly English version of the classic Greek poem. Unfortunately, Butler uses Roman names for people and gods, not Greek ones. The core of the story is the hero's arrival in Ithaca and his revenge against the inconsiderate suitors. Twenty-eight centuries have passed since then.

Ghost Stories - Siri Hustvedt

A memoir of a lifelong relationship, that of the author with her late husband, Paul Auster. Family joys and sorrows, an idyllic marriage and their shared literary life are recounted in engaging and fluid prose. He was a truly good person (and writer), a natural member of the blue team.

There Are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak

A good novel written in English by a Turkish woman writer. Three different threads linked by the Tigris river, cuneiform writing, Gilgamesh and a drop of water. The last one seems dubious to me. It also includes some ancient history, feminism and a prayer for the Yazidis, 

Free - Lea Ypi

The author's childhood and early youth and also, or perhaps even primarily, the final years of Enver Hoxha's Albania and its transition to a European state like any other. The prose has the charmingly innocent flavor of this girl born into a talented family.

A Spy by Nature - Charles Cumming

This novel is about how difficult it is to keep a secret. In truth, it is impossible, at least for Alec Milius. It reads well when it deals with the British secret service, but not so much when it focuses on the comings and goings of the spy in question.

Auntie Mame - Patrick Dennis

It was a bestseller in the 1950s. A pure comedy about an orphan boy and his eccentric aunt, with witty dialogue. Each chapter is a different sketch. The plot becomes predictable and it gradually loses its appeal (if it ever had any).

Dickens and Prince - Nick Hornby

A Particular Kind of Genius (subtitle). Two parallel artist, the writer and the musician, with an incredible creative streak. My problem is that Prince's songs leave me indifferent, although I haven't heard most of them. So, I have enjoyed the literary part of the essay. Dickens, yes indeed.

Augustus - John Edward Williams

A historical novel composed primarely of fictional letters written by people close or associated with Octavius the first Roman emperor. An engaging way to learn about his life and human nature in general.

The Great God Pan - Arthur Machen

"...the ancients knew what lifting the veil means. They called it seeing the god Pan". This is the key line for understanding the story. Ours is not the real world; there is that veil to lift and "see the god Pan". Against all odds, it turns out there is nothing good behind the veil... Although sense is awol, the tale is well told.

The Hare with Amber Eyes - Edmund De Waal

A family chronicle lasting a century and a half, starring the Ephrussi, a Jewish banking family that originated  in Odessa and became really wealthy in Vienne and Paris; and then lost almost everything due to antisemitism. A collection of netsuke (miniature Japanese sculptures) works as the backbone of the story. Nicely written.

A Guest at the Feast - Colm Tóibín

Essays previously published in magazines, especially the London Review of Books. Autobiography, family, religion, literature, the evolution of Irish laws, priests and abuses, the Popes!, a wide range of topics treated with a pleasant, sober, intelligent and ironic style.

Departure(s) - Julian Barnes

Love has been an usual theme in his books and here too there is a love story, a rekindled love, as he puts it. But most of the book deals with memory, old age and his farewell to us, the readers. His final piece of advice: Don't stop looking.

Sempre Susan - Sigrid Nunez

Sempre Susan, with the italics, is the correct form, and it stays that the name alone was enough to refer to her; a strong personality, indeed. Nunez (herself a great writer) was an assistant first and a friend later, and here she tells us all about Susan Sontag as a human being. An enjoyable read.

Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The contemporary lives between Nigeria and the United States of four Black African women (three of them quite wealthy). Family, love, traditions, feminism, motherhood and, in particular, their relationships with men are the main themes of this energetically written novel.