Whether it’s fiction, politics, history, or science, Libri is keeping a keen eye on what’s trending in the world. Based on the well-renowned best sellers lists of The New York Times, each month we are assembling a selection of those books which claim their prominent positions, and which we believe will capture the imagination of Hungarian readers as well as expatriates and travelers staying in the country.
Rupi Kaur: Milk and Honey
Blurring the lines between prose and poetry, the two linguistic realms seep in and out of each other continually in this book, just as milk and honey do when you try and mix them in a glass. At first they seem to refuse to blend, but their flavours eventually give in to their mutual attraction. What remains is a crisp feeling of sweetness that can lift your mood for the rest of the day.
Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind
Undertaking the daunting task of encompassing the entire history of humankind from any perspective should give any author pause, due to the sheer abundance and magnitude of pitfalls and beartraps one could be lured into. Professor Harari not only manages to avoid these, he is also able to draw a logical line from past to future, and give a clear vision of what may soon become of this noble animal, homo sapiens.
John Grisham: The Rooster Bar
Grisham’s gripping legal thrillers, of which he has written several dozen and sold hundreds of millions of copies in the past decades, never cease to amaze. The attorney-turned-author is dishing out fast paced page turners as if he were living at a speed different from the rest of us. Nine of his bestselling novels have been adapted into feature films, and we’d be surprised if the amazingly witty and well-paced story of The Rooster Bar did not turn up on cinema screens very soon.
R. J. Palacio: Wonder
We are living through an epidemic of school bullying, and have been anxious to get our hands on a novel successfully tackling the subject, without oversimplifying it. And now we have got something just like that. The story is kept alive not only by the all too realistic struggle of an unusual teenager against ostracism and cruelty, but the narrative’s willingness to constantly shift its points of view. It does not shy away from exploring what happens in the head of the bullies, and what it reveals therein may turn out to be something that will surprise even the most practiced experts of the topic.
Bill Clinton – James Patterson: The president is missing
What happens if the president of the United States vanishes from the White House, without a trace? Who will have the means and authority to discover the secret that may prove too much to handle? The former president of the United States has paired up with one of the most prolific and successful writers of our age to deliver the political thriller of the decade. With the insight only someone who spent eight years in the oval office can even hope to have, Clinton delivered details to the story that render it immersive beyond imagination. These details, combined with Patterson’s craftsmanship in conducting the rhythms of pace and suspense, make the book truly unique.
