Recommendations for summer reading

Sometimes it happens that you have free time and want to read a good book, but you don't know which one. So I have come up with the idea of putting together four books on very different topics, all of them great to read on the beach, in the mountains, or on a hot summer night.

The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury)

Stories of "space travel, martians, and much more." Imaginative, original, different. Astonishing places, characters, and situations.

<<They had on the planet Mars, on the shores of a dry sea, a house of crystal columns, and every morning Mrs. K could be seen as she ate the golden fruit that sprang from the crystal walls, or as she cleaned the house with handfuls of a magnetic powder that collected the dirt and then dispersed in the warm wind. In the afternoon, when the fossil sea lay motionless and warm, and the vines stood stiffly in the courtyards, and in the distant and secluded little martian village no one went out into the street, one could see Mr. K in his room, reading a metal book with hieroglyphs in relief, over which he gently passed his hand as one who plays the harp. And from the book, at the touch of his fingers, came a song, an ancient and soft voice that spoke of the time when the sea bathed the coasts with red vapors and men threw clouds of metallic insects and electric spiders into combat. Mr. K and his wife had been living for twenty years on the shores of the dead sea, in the same house in which their ancestors had lived, and which had been turning and following the course of the sun, like a flower, for ten centuries.

Mr. K and his wife were not old. They had the light complexion, a little brown, of almost all martians; the yellow, slanting eyes, the soft, musical voices. Once they had painted pictures with chemical fire, they had swum in the canals, when the green liquor of the vineyards flowed through them, and they had talked until dawn, under the blue phosphorescent portraits, in the conversation room. Now they were not happy. That morning, Mrs. K, standing between the columns, listened to the boiling of the desert sands, which melted into a yellow wax, and seemed to flow toward the horizon. Something was going to happen. Mrs. K waited. She watched the blue sky of Mars, as if at any moment it might shrink, contract, and throw down on the sand something shimmering and wonderful. Nothing happened. Tired of waiting, she advanced between the wet columns. A gentle rain poured from the fluted capitals, fell softly on her and cooled the scorching air. On these hot days, walking among the columns was like strolling along a stream. Cool trickles of water glistened on the floors of the house. In the distance she heard her husband playing the book, incessantly, his fingers never tiring of the old songs. And she silently wished that he would come back to embrace her and touch her, like a small harp, spending as much time with her as he now devoted to his incredible books. But no. He shook his head and shrugged imperceptibly. Her eyelids closed softly over her yellow eyes. Marriage ages us, makes us routine, she thought. She dropped into a chair, which curved to receive her, and closed her eyes tightly and nervously. And she had the dream. >>

Las ciudades invisibles (Italo Calvino)

Evocative and surprising. Short (sometimes very short) descriptions of cities, so well written! that they make you imagine "impossible things" and take your mind to fascinating places. "Very architectural" :D

A classic.

<<The subtle cities. 3

Whether Armilla is like this because it is incomplete or because it has been demolished, whether there is a spell behind it or just a whim, I don't know. The fact is that it has no walls, no roofs, no pavements: it has nothing that makes it look like a city, except the water pipes, which rise vertically where the houses should be and branch out where the floors should be: a jungle of pipes that end in faucets, showers, siphons, overflows. Against the sky, a sink or a bathtub or some other artifact whitens against the sky, like late fruits that have been left hanging from the branches. It would seem that the plumbers have finished their work and left before the masons arrived; or that their indestructible installations have withstood a catastrophe, earthquake or termite corrosion. Abandoned before or after it was inhabited, Armilla cannot be said to be deserted. At any hour, looking up between the pipes, it is not uncommon to see one or many young, slender women, not very tall, frolicking in the bathtubs, arching under the showers suspended over the void, performing ablutions, drying themselves, perfuming themselves, or combing their long hair in front of the mirror. In the sun shine the threads of water that fan out from the showers, the jets of the faucets, the jets, the splashes, the foam of the sponges. The explanation I have reached is this: nymphs and naiads have become masters of the water courses channeled in the pipes of Armilla. Accustomed to rising up the subterranean veins, it has been easy for them to advance in their new aquatic kingdom, to flow from multiplied fountains, to find new mirrors, new games, new ways of enjoying the water. It may be that their invasion has expelled men, or it may be that Armilla has been built by men as a votive present to ingratiate themselves with the nymphs offended by the manumission of the waters. In any case, now those little women seem happy: in the morning you can hear them singing. >>

Experiences at the border (Paloma Navarrete)

This is an incredibly interesting and amusing book that throws you off balance from the beginning. With her characteristic naturalness and wit, Paloma Navarrete recounts her experiences with "the other side".

I have always been very afraid of "stories of spirits and so on", but this book is about something else: it is an opportunity to open our minds to the possibility that there are other realities that we normally do not perceive.

<<My maternal grandmother lived in my parents' house, she was the matriarch of the family, and as in those years it was still common to visit, at home there was always a constant flow of family members who lived in Madrid and those who came from Galicia. The visits received had to be returned, and grandmother never skipped the protocol.

-Palomita, this afternoon we are going to visit tante Eugenie.

She was the widow of one of his brothers and the one I liked the most. Tante Eugenie was a very beautiful frenchwoman and, despite her years, she still was. To keep me from getting bored, and now I think it was also to keep me from overhearing her gossip, she let me enter her boudoir, as she called her dressing room, and play with her blushes and other beauty gadgets. She even let me try on her hats. The room smelled of face powder and french perfume. There were cabinets with large mirrors and a collection of perfectly organized hatboxes that delighted me.

The adventure began with the choice of a hat, upon which everything else depended. It could be a hat for going shopping or for having tea with a friend, or for a marvelous party. The show was about to begin. The next step was applying blush, painting my lips with a pink ointment that smelled like flowers, and finally, covering myself in a cloud of face powder with a downy puff that was a marvel. Once the stage was set, all I had to do was close my eyes, and the transformation would take place: there was tante Eugenie with that same hat on, dressed in a morning suit, she would stroll down a street. She went shopping, entered a beautiful store that was unlike those in Madrid, perhaps it was Paris. She spoke french with a well-dressed and well-groomed shop assistant. When I grew tired of shopping, I would put on another hat, and the scene would change. Tante Eugenie was in a tea room with a friend, seated at a table filled with small plates of pastries and sweets. They talked and laughed together. Tante Eugenie was prettier than her friend and wore a nicer dress. If I put on a sophisticated feathered headdress, she would be dressed in evening attire, heading to the theater or a party. She stood in front of an illuminated building, surrounded by elegantly dressed people making their way to the entrance. By her side was a man with a large mustache, wearing a cape instead of a coat. The images were crystal clear, and I could see details like a brooch on the lapel of a jacket, the intricate lace pattern, and the colors of their dresses. That's how I spent the afternoon. The hat served as the thread connecting my visions.

When the visit was over, my grandmother would wipe my face with her handkerchief, apologize for the mess I had caused, and then the goodbyes would begin. That was when I would take the opportunity to ask:

-Tante Eugenie, Do you still have that beautiful brooch shaped like a lizard that you used to wear with a green dress?

-But, ma petite, You don't know about that brooch, I lost it many years ago. Where have you seen it?

-And the man who went with you to the theater, why was he wearing a cape?

-The gentleman was your uncle Perico, my husband -she answered, very surprised-. He had a beautiful spanish cape and he loved to wear it. But how do you know if you've never met him?

-I don't know, well, I imagined it.

Grandmother intervened immediately.

-Don't pay attention to this girl, Eugenie, she has a wild imagination, she's *Antoñita la Fantástica. Come on, let's go -she said to me- it's already very late.

And we were leaving, but I knew that I had not invented anything, that what I had seen was as real as life itself. >>

*Antoñita la Fantástica (Antoñita the Fantastic) is a children's character created by the spanish writer Borita Casas.

The element (Ken Robinson)

It is one of those books that conveys the feeling that one can do whatever they set their mind to. And even more so: that they should do it. It tells stories of "ordinary" people who dared to pursue their passions.

<<This book contains a wide sample of stories that tell the creative trajectories of very different people. Many of them were interviewed especially for it.

These people explain how they recognized their unique talents and how well they make a living by pursuing their passions. What is surprising is that often their paths are not linear. They are filled with unexpected events, twists, and surprises. Often, the people I interviewed for this book mentioned that our conversations brought forth ideas and experiences they had never discussed with anyone in this way before. The moment of recognition. The evolution of their talents. The encouragement or obstacles from family, friends and teachers. What kept them moving forward and facing difficulties.

However, their stories are not fairy tales. All of these individuals have had a complicated and challenging life. Their personal journeys have not been easy or straightforward, they have experienced failures and celebrated successes. None of them have a "perfect" life. But they all regularly experience moments that seem perfect. Often, their stories are fascinating.

But this book isn't really about them. It's about you.

My goal in writing it is to provide a broad perspective on human ability and creativity, and the benefits of properly connecting with our individual talents and inclinations.

This book deals with topics that have fundamental importance in our lives and in the lives of our children, our students and the people we work with. I use the term "Element" for the place where the things we like to do and the things we are particularly good at converge. I believe it is imperative that each of us find our own Element, not only because we will feel more fulfilled, but because as the world evolves, the future of our communities and institutions will depend on it.

The world has never changed as fast as it is now. Our greatest hope for the future is to develop a new paradigm of capability to reach a new dimension of human existence. We need to spread a new appreciation of the importance of nurturing talent and understand that talent expresses itself differently in each individual. We need to create frameworks - in schools, in workplaces and in public institutions - in which each person is inspired to grow creatively. We need to ensure that all people have the opportunity to do what it takes to discover the Element for themselves and in their own way.

This book is a tribute to the impressive variety of human abilities and passions and to our extraordinary potential for growth and development. It also seeks to analyze the conditions under which human abilities flourish or fade. It is about how we can engage deeply with the present and the only possible way to prepare for a completely unknown future.

To get the best out of ourselves and, each of us, each other, we urgently need to embrace a richer conception of human capacities. We need to embrace the Element. >>

Here you can see the interview that Eduard Punset made to Ken Robinson in the program Redes nº89: The Secrets of Creativity. Very interesting!