Why more preambles: the list of the smart ones. The one that every author longs to integrate. The one that the entire publishing world is waiting to consult. The only virtue we lack is modesty.
Filled with: Narrative (both novel and story).
Juan:
Summary of the year: Overall, a fairly unremarkable year; neither good nor bad, neither cold nor heat, neither meat nor fish… Even so, there have been some notable readings:
Poetry: Book of wonders by Vicent Andrés Estellés (it is true that I have not read any other, but it is equally worth it).
Disappointment: My wife and I bought a ranch by Matt and Harrison Query. This is the biggest mess, but it has also been a little disappointing What I like the most are monsters – Book Two by Emil Ferris. And my ass is still twisted with Electric shamans at the sun festival by Monica Ojeda…
NO disappointment of the year: A sunny place for gloomy people by Mariana Enriquez.
Surprise (it is understood that it is pleasant) of the year: The secrets of Heap House by Edward Carey,
Bizarre of the year (and for many more, I suspect): Oedipal love against sadomasochistic culture by Oriol Vigil.
Carlos:
Year in Review: This is a new feature introduced by surprise, so it left me a little confused. Even so, I will say that the year has been average, with more disappointments than usual, and an average level in which only a handful of things stand out, some like these:
Novel: in Spanish Strange way of life, by Enrique Vila-Matas; in other languages, The other name (Septology I), de Jon Fosse
short novel: Chilean Nightby Roberto Bolaño, and white nightsby Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Essays and similar:
– Humanities: Men are not islandsde Nuccio Ordine
– Music: Those accidental yearsby Laura Piñero
– Until: The painted echoby Óscar Martínez
History: Eight days of Mayby Volker Ullrich
travel books: Nijar Fields, by Juan Goytisolo
fictionalized biography: Lawrence of Arabia. The sand crownby Jose María Álvarez
Rereading: Artificesby Jorge Luis Borges
Humor: The Bridge of Suicide Dogsby Abel Amuxategi
Classic: The Carlist War by Ramón del Valle-Inclán (review in a few weeks)
Oddities and discoveries: Madame Edwardaby Georges Bataille, not falling apart, by Juan Eduardo Cirlot
Koldo:
Summary of the year: The same as always, but a year older
Marc:
Summary of the year: weak year in readings (in quantity, but also in quality). Few notable books in a year in which it is basically saved by books by already known authors and by the discovery of Fosse’s work.
Purposes for 2025: more poetry and more classics
Francis:
Summary of the year: Even though I was satisfied with having been able to maintain a certain reading pace, I would have been even more so if the year had counted with some eye-opening experience especially in fiction, although perhaps in these strange and turbulent times, trusting that long-term literary careers will occur is a bit naive.
Even so:
Delays of the year: Mary Gaitskill, an author who has interested me with a certain retroactive effect and whom I still find difficult to locate, due to the US publishing industry’s mania for labeling everything.
Essays of the year: I say it in the summary, I would like to get hooked on a fiction author, but the essay (and the short novels, he he) has been a very useful resource to set certain reading guidelines, so I break down two categories:
- Timeless essay: Aldous Huxley and Barbara Cassin (not yet reviewed)
- Rehearsal of the moment: Eva Illouz and Mark Coeckelbergh, more than anything so that they can be read before their premises expire (or explode) and we see them as older than yesterday’s newspaper (what is a newspaper?)
Purposes of the year: pay some minimal attention to new fiction, to see if I discover some notable writer before I die. Read essays without knowing in advance that I agree with their approaches (it would be resolved immediately by reading Jiménez Losantos). Don’t skip past the poetry sections (at least look at the covers, I mean). Read more chronicle. Reread more of everything.
Santi:
Summary of the year: Reviewing my (few) reviews for 2024, I see that the year started well, with a good harvest of books bought/gifted at Christmas, but then came a long reading drought, in which rereadings and classics predominated. Among what I have read most recently, fantasy and horror clearly predominate, and Spanish literature and in Spanish. My list goes:
- Book of the year: Among the recent ones, Visceralby María Fernanda Ampuero, which surprised me a lot; among the least recent, The holy innocents by Delibes, which I can’t believe was not yet published on the blog.
- Best novels: one love by Sara Mesa (with permission from Juan GB) among the recent and Tristana of Galdós among the classics. Special mention for two impressive Latin American novels: You don’t slow down by Jorge Icaza and Balloon Cannon by Rosario Castellanos.
- Best short novels: A minor detail by Adania Shibli and Mireia Purification Mask.
- Best story books: cursed rabbit by Bora Chung and The worst possible scenario by Alejandro Morellón.
- Best essay/autobiography/autofiction/whatever: exhausted mares by Bibiana Collado Cabrera
- Books about parenting (which I haven’t reviewed yet): “thumbs up” for Children’s literature by Alejandro Zambra; “thumbs down” for Irene and the air by Alberto Olmos
- Craziest and most unclassifiable reading of the year: Oedipal love against sadomasonic madness by Oriol Vigil Hervás.
- Disappointments (neither of them being horrible books): I am a fan by Sheena Patel and October by Elisa Victoria.
Purposes of the year: Read more, better, more varied and more recent (although I do this every year and you can see the results…).
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What about you, dear ULAD readers? We look forward to having you share your lists with us in the comments.
Source: https://unlibroaldia.blogspot.com/2024/12/ulad-2024-olvidad-cualquier-otra-lista.html
