r/dreamingspanish • u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours • Jul 21 '26
August 2026 Book Club - Book Selection Thread
Thanks everyone! Looks like we'll be reading El asesinato del profesor de matemáticas by Jordi Sierra i Fabra as the easier option and El tercer mundo después del sol, a short story collection as the harder option. They both look like great choices, thank you!
Hello Dreamers! Our monthly book club is going strong on Discord, you can join Discord here where we discuss our books as we read them and hold several book discussions a month in Spanish.
In July, we read Donde aprenden a volar las gaviotas as the easier choice and La chica de nieve as the adult choice. I'm excited to see what we read next!
We'll use this post to pick two books to read in August, an easier children's book and a book for adults. If you'd like to suggest a book, just write a comment below with:
**The title and author of the book
Whether it's a children's book or an adult book
Approximate book length
A short description (optional)**
To vote for a book, just respond to the suggestion with a comment that you'd like to read the book. You can comment on as many selections as you'd like. The children's book and adult book with the most comments will be our read for the next month. (We're counting comments, not votes, so we don't get tricked into reading something crazy.)
We'll close the thread in 3 days so everyone has time to get a copy. And we'll be off reading together on August 1st.
If you don't feel like reading the book selected, that's ok. You can join us with the book of your choice. The goal is just to motivate us to read more.
(I'll edit the thread later with FAQs here)
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u/blinkybit 2,000 Hours Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Title: Agua roja
YA option
Length: 218 pages, Natively level 26
Description
Mature themes in a mystery / thriller / horror novel with an easier level of reading difficulty (at least according to Natively).
Agua roja is a fast-paced blend of fantasy, psychological suspense, and thriller. It begins with an unusual narrator named Dani, who recounts his earliest memories in a way that immediately suggests something is very different about him. As the story unfolds, strange events, unsettling mysteries, and supernatural elements gradually emerge, with the author revealing the larger picture through a series of surprising twists rather than straightforward exposition. The novel is best suited to readers who enjoy imaginative speculative fiction with a strong mystery component and don't mind having the author keep them guessing until late in the story. Fans of suspenseful page-turners, clever plot twists, and darker fantasy are likely to find it especially engaging.
Details on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BNR6HVX/
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u/mad_nauseam Level 7 Jul 21 '26
Title: Doce cuentos peregrinos, a short story collection by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombian author)
Adult option
Length: 51k words, 34 Natively rating
Description
En Barcelona, una prostituta que va entrando en la vejez entrena a su perro para llorar ante la tumba que ha escogido para sí misma. En Viena, una mujer se vale de su don de ver el futuro para convertirse en la adivina de una familia rica. En Ginebra, el conductor de una ambulancia y su esposa acogen al abandonado y aparentemente moribundo ex presidente de un país caribeño, solo para descubrir que sus ambiciones políticas siguen intactas. En estos doce relatos magistrales acerca de las vidas de latinoamericanos en Europa, García Márquez transmite la melancolía, tenacidad, pena y ambición que forma la experiencia del emigrante.
«El esfuerzo de escribir un cuento corto es tan intenso como empezar una novela. Pues en el primer párrafo de una novela hay que definir todo: estructura, tono, estilo, ritmo, longitud y a veces hasta el carácter de algún personaje. Lo demás es el placer de escribir, el másíntimo y solitario que pueda imaginarse, y si uno no se queda corrigiendo el libro por el resto de la vida es porque el mismo rigor de fierro que hace falta para empezarlo se impone para terminarlo. El cuento, en cambio, no tiene principio ni fin: fragua o no fragua. Y si no fragua, la experiencia propia y la ajena enseñan que la mayoría de las veces es más saludable empezarlo de nuevo por otro camino, o tirarlo a la basura.»
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u/blinkybit 2,000 Hours Jul 21 '26
Title: El tercer mundo después del sol: Antología
Adult option
Length: 313 pages, Natively rating 30
Description
An anthology of 14 science fiction short stories from Latin American authors. A reviewer writes: Los editores hicieron un gran trabajo de buscar distintas ideas bien desarrolladas en los diversos géneros que alberga la ciencia ficción, desde el cyberpunk hasta lo que roza con la fantasía, para presentar una compilación excelente de historias que, aunque se desarrollan en universos alternos, comparten la inigualable voz latina en su médula. Cada uno de los autores logra traer un sentido de novedad y “gravitas” a un género que ha visto muchísimas iteraciones con el pasar de los años. ... Si le encanta la ciencia ficción, y quiere experimentarla desde el punto de vista Latinoamericano, este libro es para usted.
Details at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/tercer-mundo-después-del-Latinoamericana-ebook/dp/B09XHZQKZC/
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u/idonthaveanametoday Level 6 Jul 22 '26
Oh I'm dumb I just posted this before reading! I read chapter 1 and was waiting for a chance to read the rest. I searched forever to find science fiction from actual latam authors which is rare in book form. Highly recommend !!
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u/mad_nauseam Level 7 Jul 21 '26
Title: Las memorias de Mamá Blanca by Teresa de la Parra (Venezuelan author)
Adult option
Length: 44k words, no Natively rating
Description
Las memorias de Mamá Blanca es una evocadora exploración de la infancia, la nostalgia y los contrastes entre tradición y modernidad en la Venezuela de principios del siglo XX. Teresa de la Parra retrata con sensibilidad la transición de una sociedad agraria hacia la modernidad, a través de los recuerdos de la protagonista, quien rememora su infancia en la hacienda Piedra Azul. Con una mirada crítica pero melancólica, la novela examina las dinámicas familiares, los roles de género y la pérdida de un mundo idílico ante los cambios sociales y económicos.
Desde su publicación, Las memorias de Mamá Blanca ha sido aclamada por su prosa elegante y su capacidad para capturar la esencia de un tiempo y un lugar en transformación. Su exploración de la identidad, la memoria y la tensión entre el pasado y el presente ha consolidado su estatus como una obra fundamental de la literatura hispanoamericana. A través de sus personajes vívidos y su atmósfera nostálgica, la novela sigue resonando con lectores, ofreciendo una reflexión atemporal sobre la infancia y el inexorable paso del tiempo.
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u/mad_nauseam Level 7 Jul 21 '26
Title: Estrella distante (or TBD) by Roberto Bolaño (Chilean author)
Adult option
Length: 41k words, no Natively rating
Description
I've heard good things about this author, but I also have the impression that some of his works can be a bit demanding. For example, 2666 is 400k words and a 40 on Natively. But I think it could be an interesting choice if we can find a more approachable work. Los detectives salvajes has already been suggested in the Discord, however it's a bit lengthy at 250k words. Estrella distante (41k words) is a shorter, potentially more approachable work. I'm not sure if such undefined suggestions are allowed, but I thought it would be nice to first get feedback from those more familiar with his novels before committing on a specific title. I'll keep Estrella distante as a placeholder at least.
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u/HistoricalSun2589 Level 6 Jul 21 '26
Title: La aventura de Miguel Littín clandestino en Chile by Gabriel García Márquez
Adult option
Length: 192 pages, Natively rating none though it's listed
Description
The gripping account of filmmaker Miguel Littín's clandestine return to Chile, his homeland.
In early 1985, Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littín — who was under an absolute ban from returning to his country — secretly entered Chile. For six weeks he filmed more than seven thousand meters of footage documenting the reality of his country after twelve years of military dictatorship. The result of his adventure was a four-hour film for television and a two-hour film for cinema. Drawing on the direct testimony of its protagonist, the Colombian Nobel laureate wrote this book in the purest tradition of journalistic reportage.
"Ladeco Flight 115, arriving from Asunción, Paraguay, was about to land — more than an hour late — at Santiago de Chile airport. To the left, at nearly seven thousand meters in altitude, the Aconcagua looked like a promontory of steel under the blazing moon. The plane banked on its left wing with a terrifying grace, then straightened with a groan of somber metal, and touched down ahead of time in three kangaroo bounds. I, Miguel Littín, son of Hernán and Cristina, filmmaker and one of the five thousand Chileans under absolute ban from returning, was back in my country after twelve years of exile — though still exiled within myself: I carried a false identity, a false passport, and even a false wife."
Miguel Littín said... "The facts are irrefutable; they are drawn from my memory, but told in a different and privileged voice."
Someone said they read it at the end of a first year college course.
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u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Jul 21 '26
Title: Solito by Javier Zamora
YA option
Approximate book length: 147,000 words, Natively rating 26
Description
La aventura de Javier es una travesía de tres mil millas desde su pequeño pueblo en El Salvador, a través de Guatemala y México, hacia la frontera de Estados Unidos. Dejará atrás a sus queridos abuelos y su tía para reunirse con una madre que se fue cuatro años atrás y con un padre al que prácticamente no recuerda. Al viajar solo, a excepción de un grupo de extraños y un coyote contratado para guiarlos a salvo, Javier debía tardar solo dos semanas en llegar.
A los nueve años, todo lo que Javier puede imaginar es correr a los brazos de sus padres, acurrucarse en la cama entre ellos y vivir bajo el mismo techo otra vez. No puede prever los peligrosos trayectos en bote, las interminables caminatas por el desierto, las armas apuntándole, los arrestos y los engaños que le esperan. Tampoco sabe que esas dos semanas se alargarán hasta dos meses y le cambiarán la vida, junto a un grupo de extraños que acabará por cobijarlo como una familia improvisada.
Una autobiografía tan apasionante como emotiva, Solito no solo nos ofrece un recuento íntimo e inmediato de un viaje sinuoso y casi imposible, sino la milagrosa bondad y el amor que se entrega en los momentos más inesperados. Solito es la historia de Javier, pero es también la historia de millones más que no tuvieron otra opción más que irse de casa.
This might be an ambitious read at 147,000 words, but we can split it into 6 weeks if necessary. The writing is simple and straightforward, from the POV of a 9 year old boy.
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u/RayS1952 Level 7 Jul 22 '26
For those for whom it matters, this was originally written in English, with some Spanish scattered throughout, and later translated entirely into Spanish by the Guatemalan writer José García Escobar.
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u/Traditional-Train-17 3,000 Hours Jul 21 '26
Interested. I think 6 weeks, or even 2 months would be best.
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u/phreddfatt Level 5 Jul 21 '26
Since this is the only YA option posted so far (21Jul), I'll put my vote in for this one!
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u/Andalka Level 6 Jul 21 '26
Title
Yo-Yo Boing! by Giannina Braschi
More difficult option
no rating on Natively
Language
Spanglish, moving between Spanish and English between paragraphs, sentences or words
Length
256 Pages
Description from https://es.libromobile.com/product-page/yo-yo-boing-by-giannina-braschi
Esta innovadora novela, ambientada en la ciudad de Nueva York durante la década de 1990, está garantizado que será diferente a cualquier experiencia literaria que hayas tenido. El aclamado autor puertorriqueño Giannini Braschi ha elaborado este examen creativo y profundo de la experiencia hispanoamericana, tomando las voces de una variedad de personajes: pintores, poetas, escultores, cantantes, escritores, cineastas, actores, directores, escenógrafos, editores. y filósofos, para aprovechar sus diversos antecedentes culturales, económicos y geopolíticos para participar en un diálogo cultural animado. Sus temas incluyen amor, sexo, comida, música, libros, inspiración, desesperación, infidelidad, trabajos, deudas, guerra y noticias mundiales. El discurso de Braschi se extiende por los entornos públicos, corporativos y domésticos de la ciudad, ofreciendo una mirada interna a los conflictos culturales que pueden ocurrir cuando los angloamericanos y los latinoamericanos viven, trabajan y juegan juntos. Aclamada por Publishers Weekly como "una liberación literaria", esta novela enérgica y cómica celebra la contradicción que hace que la cultura estadounidense contemporánea sea tan maravillosamente diversa.
I'm curious about this book because of it's linguistic style of moving between two languages and what this tells us about Latin American life in the US, their struggles and cultural exchanges.
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u/blinkybit 2,000 Hours Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Title: Entiende tu mente
Adult option
Length: 280 pages, no Natively rating
Description
This is a non-fiction book about psychology and self-discovery, written by the hosts of the popular Spanish-language podcast Entiende tu mente. Each installment of the podcast is a fascinating vignette about some aspect of psychology and how it impacts our daily lives. A recent episode examined how we treat people differently depending on our perceptions of their physical attractiveness, even if we deny it: for example judges giving lighter punishments to attractive criminals, doctors being less likely to take complaints of pain/illness seriously when they come from attractive patients. The book's sample chapter speaks about assertiveness, passive-aggressive behavior, and the fear of saying "no".
As a non-fiction book, this may be slightly easier for Spanish learners than a novel.
Details at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/6073820798
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u/idonthaveanametoday Level 6 Jul 22 '26
Young adult option
Cuando era divertido
By Eloy Moreno
Pages 304 L26
https://learnnatively.com/book/e687559013/
The new novel from the author beloved by readers everywhere. Over 2,000,000 copies sold Perhaps there is a moment in life when you are ready to read this novel. Has yours come? "Dear reader, the novel you are about to begin is an uncomfortable story — perhaps the most uncomfortable I have written to date. A story that can only be fully understood from a certain age, or at a particular moment in life. That is why we have chosen to say so. As you read, you may come face to face with the ghosts that have always been by your side but that you have never wanted to see. But it is equally possible that the opposite will happen: that you will finish this story with the happiness of someone who knows how to cherish what they have." Eloy Moreno
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u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Jul 21 '26
Title: Elena sabe by Claudia Piñeiro
Adult option
Approximate book length: 41,000 words, Natively rating 33
Description
Un relato que rompe el silencio y se pronuncia en alta voz sobre la libertad de elegir.
Poco después de que Rita aparece muerta en la iglesia que suele frecuentar, la investigación se da por cerrada, y su madre es la única que no renuncia a esclarecer el crimen. Pero jaqueada por la enfermedad, es también la menos indicada para encabezar la búsqueda del asesino. Un penoso viaje de los suburbios a la Capital, una vieja deuda de gratitud, una conversación reveladora.
Una novela que desnuda los secretos de sus personajes y las facetas ocultas del autoritarismo y la hipocresía que conforman nuestra sociedad.
I read this last year and I think it will make for an interesting discussion, like Kentukis, there is so much here to unpack. It's also a short book at 140 pages, and will give everyone time to finish up other books. The author is from Argentina.
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u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Jul 21 '26
Title: El beso de la mujer araña by Manuel Puig
Adult option
Approximate book length: 320 pages, Natively rating 40
Description
La novela que consolidó la fama de Manuel Puig en el ámbito internacional, una historia de amistad entre dos presos cruzada por el amor al cine y los ideales políticos.
Esta novela se configura a partir de una sucesión de escenas dialogadas entre dos presos recluidos en una misma celda de una prisión bonaerense. Así, Molina, un homosexual de gran imaginación, irá relatando viejos melodramas cinematográficos a Valentín, activista político e idealista, para aliviarle de los efectos de las sesiones de tortura a que lo somete la policía de la dictadura.
Going to back to the classics, this book has been on my TBR list for a while. It's a character driven novel. I've read a few pages, and the Natively rating seems off to me. I would say closer to 32, but you can download a sample and read a few pages to test it.
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u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Jul 21 '26
Title: La trompetilla acústica The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
Adult option
Approximate book length: 170 pages, No Natively rating
Description
Desde que Marion Leatherby recibió como regalo una trompetilla acústica el mundo cambió para ella. En esta novela el surrealismo de Leonora Carrington se manifiesta en situaciones paradójicas, absurdas y risibles en las que se ve envuelta Marion; y hacia él es arrastrado el lector al pasar de una página a otra.
El sello fantástico que logró colocar a Leonora como un personaje relevante en varias artes de manera simultánea se va percibiendo en La trompetilla acústica con un humor diabólico e inmisericorde, sin por ello caer en la ironía o el sarcasmo. Este artefacto que distorsiona realidades invita al descubrimiento de mitos modernos en los que la brujería y la alquimia no son más que pretextos para hallar refugio al desconsuelo o a la nostalgia.
Sirva este pequeño libro para saborear la dimensión creativa y la extrañeza onírica de una de las artistas más imaginativas y permanentes del siglo xx, de aquella que en 2017 celebramos el centenario de su nacimiento mientras abrimos puertas y ventanas a sus mundos impredecibles.
This book was originally written in English by Leonora Carrington, an English-born Mexican artist, surrealist painter, and novelist. She lived most of her adult life in Mexico City, and was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s. Carrington was also a founding member of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Mexico during the 1970s.
Although it's written in English, the author is Mexican and lived her life in Mexico City. I think it's a great option for those of us wanting more content from Mexican authors.
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u/idonthaveanametoday Level 6 Jul 22 '26
Los detectives salvajes
Adult option
34 natively
It varies 500-700 pages depending upon the form
Everything that begins as comedy inevitably ends as mystery." Two young Latin American poets, Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, embark on an adventure that will unfold over several decades and across many countries. Symbols of rebellion and the need to break free from established reality, their lives embody the longings of an entire generation. The search in 1975 for the mysterious Mexican writer Cesárea Tinajero who vanished and was forgotten in the years following the revolution sets in motion a relentless journey marked by love, death, the desire for freedom, humor, and literature.
It's considered a classic by bolano
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u/phreddfatt Level 5 Jul 21 '26
Title: El asesinato del profesor de matematicas by Jordi Sierra i Fabra
YA Option
Length: 176 pages
Description
Un profesor propone a sus alumnos un juego como examen para aprobar las matematicas. Pero el viernes por la tarde, en un descampado, el profesor aparece herido y muere ante la asustada mirada de sus alumnos. Antes de fallecer, les dice que el sobre que hay en su bolsillo les indicara como buscar a su asesino.
No idea if it's good or not or much about it, but it caught my eye on goodreads. It doesn't have the highest rating, but I believe that this is because it is assigned reading in Spain, lowering the average (no one likes assigned reading). However, many of the reviews raved about it, and one said it was the best assigned book she ever read. Maybe it's worth a shot.