Yup, it’s summer. But beware, this year, between the masks, the hydroalcoholic gel and the health pass, you will not have much room in the suitcases. Fortunately, 20 minutes has thought of you and recommends five pocket books. To help us, we asked Louis, bookseller of
The Letter Tree in Paris. He recommends five novels acclaimed by his readers.
At the end of the article, we ask for your reading tips for this summer.
The speech by Fabrice Caro, adapted for the cinema by Laurent Tirard
An irresistible novel, written by a very famous (and very brilliant) comic book author, Fabcaro. The book opens during a family meal. Adrien learns that he will have to make a speech at his sister’s wedding. He is then torn because he has just been left by his companion. We find throughout the novel a light humor (also present in the adaptation to the cinema, currently in theaters). Better than smiles, this book will make you hear real and frank bursts of laughter!
Folio, 210 pages, 7.50 euros.
Where the crayfish sing, by Delia Owens, Prize for the best novel ed Points 2021 (soon in theaters)
Sensitive travel to the United States. This book combines calm and gentleness at the same time through “the hymn to nature” which guides the reader through the pages. Kya, nicknamed “the swamp girl”, abandoned at the age of ten by her parents, is taken under the wing of her friend Tate who guides her in learning to read, write … “A hymn to nature, and a magnificent novel ”, according to our bookseller.
Points, Le Seuil, 460 pages, 8.50 euros
Far, by Alexis Michalik, Readers’ Selection Award 2021
A chaotic, funny and fabulous road movie, from East Germany to the beaches of Turkey. “I think of you, I love you”, a short sentence on the back of a postcard from his father, who died twenty years ago, rather turns Antoine’s life upside down. With just these words, he leaves, accompanied by two friends, in search of his father throughout Europe on a journey full of twists and much longer than expected …
The pocket book, 768 pages, 9.40 euros.
The uprooted, by Catherine Bardon
“Without roots we are only shadows. A romantic romance of the 1930s between Wilhelm, a 25-year-old journalist and Almah, in a world simmering the rise of anti-Semitism. Wishing not to leave Vienna, they had to go into exile in 1939. They will be part of the exiles in the Dominican Republic and will have to show courage, patience and will in order to reinvent a new life in an environment that is the exact opposite of what they knew from their old life.
Pocket, 584 pages, 10.50 euros.
The dresser with colored drawers, by Olivia Ruiz, Readers’ Selection Award 2021
Since his very young childhood this mystery hovered around the chest of drawers, rainbow color, of his abuela which in his words contained his “memory lockers”. When Rita died, her granddaughter inherited this chest of drawers, and it is the course of this hectic night, of discoveries mixed with memories, that we follow page after page, drawer after drawer. A novel both simple and rich, it transports us to another era, to the memories of a family between France and Spain.
The pocket book, 192 pages, 7.40 euros.
What about you? Which books do you recommend? Which ones have you planned to read (or just to pose next to the deckchair to show off)? Between the different confinements, have you read a lot or do you on the contrary have a lot of books to catch up? Tell us all about it.