Bruno Blog

I still feel those butterflies fluttering in my stomach every time an author opens. Discovering Laura Mas, one of the latest additions to the agency, has made me feel these emotions again. When she came to the office, I immediately felt that we understood each other perfectly and that there was a certain connection between us. I was unable not to fall in love with the project she presented to me that day. That project was LA MAESTRA DE SÓCRATES (Socrates’ Teacher) and this week it finally arrived in the bookstores. 

Year 440 BC. The politician and orator Pericles asks for the help of priestess Diotima of Mantinea to rid Athens of the plague. During the purification ceremony, a thirty-year-old Socrates is fascinated by the wisdom of this woman. The philosopher soon discovers through his dialogues with Diotima that he knows nothing about love and begins to learn about the mysteries of Eros. LA MAESTRA DE SÓCRATES presents the figure of a brave woman ahead of her time whose ideas are the origin of the concept of Platonic love. In Plato’s Banquet, Socrates reveals to the rest of the guests: “Everything I know about love I learned from her”.

LA MAESTRA DE SÓCRATES is a novel that takes us back to the golden age of Athens, a city that would eventually form the foundations of Western culture. Throughout the pages we will witness several lessons that would end up inspiring the foundations of our philosophy. Laura Mas shows us with this novel the truth behind that famous phrase that says “behind a great man, there is always a woman”. Do you want to know the real story between Diotima and Socrates? Don’t miss this novel about one of the fundamental figures of philosophy.

Next week UNA LUZ DENTRO DE TI (“A Light Inside You”) will be published, a novel by Andrés Martín Asuero that deals with the power of Mindfulness as its central theme. Asuero, a biologist and doctor in psychology, reinvented himself as a Mindfulness instructor. CON RUMBO PROPIO (“In One’s Own Course”) was his first book and it has a total of 25 editions in the market. This title was one of the first to explain the meaning of Mindfulness, a concept that is very present in our vocabulary today. However, it is important to mention that, although nowadays almost everyone knows what Mindfulness is, many still do not consciously apply it.

UNA LUZ DENTRO DE TI raises fundamental questions to transform one’s life and teaches us how to find the answers within, with the help of silence and meditation. Dedicated to caring for others, Olga feels a void in her life and decides to go on a Mindfulness retreat in Silence to find out the reasons for her dissatisfaction. For his part, Manuel receives from his ex-wife for his 50th birthday an inscription for this same experience. Through practice and conversations with his teacher, day by day each one discovers the gifts and obstacles of full attention, which will take their lives to a totally unexpected crossroads.

UNA LUZ DENTRO DE TI is an entertaining and fascinating introduction to the world of Mindfulness through a story that traps the reader from beginning to end. In this title, Andrés presents us with the necessary tools that we will all need to overcome the future emotional and economic crisis that we will experience once this quarantine ends. In short, UNA LUZ DENTRO DE TI is a book that comes at an essential time and opens the doors to Mindfulness for all those who want to enter.

This blog is special for several reasons. The first one is that, despite the pandemic we are living through, bookstores have already opened their doors and publishers are already starting to publish those new books that were stopped because of the virus. One of these new titles that finally reaches the shelves is EL MISTERI D’ARTHUR RIMBAUD (“The Mystery of Arthur Rimbaud”), by Miquel Esteve, the winner of the Mallorca Prize.

The second reason why I am happy to write this blog is to be able to dedicate it to my great friend Miquel Esteve, whom I admire a lot as a writer and as a person. EL MISTERI D’ARTHUR RIMBAUD reaffirms the talent of the author who, with a delicate subject like the forbidden poem by the great poet Rimbaud and his disappearance, manages to get the novel hooked from start to finish. 

It was said that it was an accursed poem, which travelled from France to Reus and from Reus to Móra la Nova, where it remained secretly for many years. However, all the secrets end up being discovered, even the most hidden ones. This is a novel for all audiences that, written in a sublime way, tells us about poetry and the mystery that surrounds the famous poet. Do you want to know what curse the poem hid? What did the French poet predict? Do not miss this work published by Univers, in which Miquel takes a step forward as a writer and brings us closer to the world of poetry in a simple and charming way.

It makes me very happy to think that this may be the last week that I don’t have any new books to recommend on the blog.  The world seems to be slowly and cautiously getting back on track. The small shops are already starting to open their blinds and we are all happy to be able to return to a new normality. However, we must make an effort and face up to the fear of the uncertainty of the future, as only then will the wheel start to turn.

I would be delighted to recommend you to all those books that are finally going to arrive in the bookshops.   Besides, I am sure that in this confinement we have gained readers, since many people have taken advantage of these days to meet again with the pleasure of reading. Our mission is to continue to keep all the readers with the desire to continue cultivating reading, which, without a doubt, is a great companion.

Today I take this opportunity to recover all those books that came out just before the confinement, such as Rabietas, by Miriam Tirado; Set dies de Gràcia, by Carla Gracia; La llibertat interior, by Gaspar Hernàndez; #ConVinoConTodo, by Meritxell Falgueras and La Doctora, by Sílvia Tarragó. You have at your disposal the synopsis of all these news in our website.It is important that you give them the opportunity they deserve and that they are not buried by the new books. These titles were working very well and predicted many sales for a Sant Jordi that finally could not be held and some presentations that could not be organized.  At least, we have been lucky enough that the authors have gone out of their way to help their readers and have been able to keep in touch with all their followers through the social networks. I hope that we can all go out soon and approach our trusted bookstores to acquire these fantastic titles. Remember: books are life. 

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and it’s hard to think that I won’t be able to celebrate it with my mum. My relationship with my mother has always been very special, I have shared everything with her. When I was a child, I saw her as an example to follow: orderly, hard-working and a fighter. I miss the vitality she gave off and those blue eyes that left no one indifferent. This week we would like to recommend UNA MADRE (“A Mother”), a book translated into 12 languages that only an author like Alejandro Palomas could have written.

UNA MADRE tells us the story of Amalia, a woman who tries to bring the whole family together on the last night of the year. It is a dramatic story full of humor that shows us that we only have one mother and that only they know how to take care of us and love us without limits. UNA MADRE is a tribute to all the women who know that being a mother is something inexplicable and for life.