Bruno Blog

Love stories are always nice. It’s a genre that has always been successful in any format. That is why Laila Karouch’s novel, QUE AL·LÀ EM PERDONI published by Columna Edicions, has one of the paramount factors for success: a great love story between Jordi and Samira. A Muslim girl raised in Catalonia, she has a religious father who is open minded and wanted to distance her from the rigid traditions for women in Morocco. An atheist boy, he falls head over heels for her in their first year of college. These relationships between different cultures seem to be accepted in our society, but what cannot be accepted is his atheism and lack of belief in any god. Samira knows that not even her father, who is far more open-minded than the rest, would approve of it. Likewise, Jordi’s acquaintances fail to understand his love for a girl who, despite being integrated in Catalonia, follows Muslim traditions, and wears a handkerchief. They will both need to face their feelings and make challenging decisions.
 
Bravely, Laila approaches for the first time the love story of a Muslim girl and an Atheist boy. In this 21^st century Romeo and Juliet where Samira and Jordi will have to fight against an overwhelming reality: BELIEFS.

I am especially excited about the book I recommend today, as after the international success of IKIGAI, its authors, Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia have dared to write a book for the teenagers who need answers, the parents who need to know how to provide such answers and for educators or pedagogues who need the tools to guide them. A short book which is clear and beautiful as well as useful. In a context such as the current one, this book makes more sense than ever. The uncertainty of what is to come is the big question every day and, for teenagers, who find it difficult to know what path to follow and what to study, this book is a wonderful guide to discover their aims in life. This is something that many adults do not know yet, it is complex and therefore it is natural to feel stress of anxiety before such matters. Through the trip of the main character, readers will learn to boost their talents and discover their path in life.

I am certain that if I did not have a father like mine, reader and with beliefs that could well be taken form a self-help manual, but which are actual life lessons, I might have been unable to start an agency and start this project. I am sure he would be a reader and recommender of IKIGAI FOR YOUNG READERS to share ideas which seem easy to learn but difficult to apply. I am lucky that he has always helped me and has known how to do so, but for those who do not have that ability, this book is a treasure, a compass for a world that has turned into an uphill battle, even if we are able to reach the top if we really aim for it. The keys can be found in this book of gorgeous edition, published by Destino in Spanish and Fan Books in Catalan. We thank them both for such a lovely and refined edition.

People’s character is one of our trademarks, however, character can be molded or changed. I have changed mine. As a teenager I was quick tempered, as my grandmother used to say, and I would immediately raise my voice, but soon afterwards I would regret it and apologize for my behaviour, but not for my opinion, as I have always been a person who has taken a stand and defended what I thought, even if it differed from other people’s opinions. 
 
However, time has taught me that even if it is good to have convictions, it is important to know how to bite your tongue at certain times. And when I read this thriller, BAJO LA PIEL, by Susana Rodríguez Lezaun, author of the trilogy SIN RETORNO, DEUDAS DEL FRÍO and TE VERÉ ESTA NOCHE which has sold over 30.000 copies, I thought that the main character had that strong and uncompromising personality, which may be considered difficult or mean, which she is, but in the case of Marcela Pieldelobo I would say she is a person with a square clear mind and who doesn’t mind breaking the rules.
 
Marcela Pieldelobo is not easy to deal with. Born in Biescas, a small village in the Aragonese Pyrenees, she has been an inspector for the National Police Force in Pamplona for the past decade. A woman who is excessive in her habits and affections, and in the original tattoo that curls around her body and which hardly anyone knows about. She is convinced that orders are open to interpretation, that there are things that are better kept to oneself and that closed doors can be unlocked if you know how to open them. Even if you don’t have a court order. In the novel, the past, in the form of an abusive father, who reappears after the death of her mother, hammers on her door, but Marcela has more urgent things to get to, such as the case of an abandoned baby in a lonely car park and a wrecked hire car with no trace of the driver, but with bloodstains and wheel marks… When the clues lead to a well-known company owned by one of the most traditional and influential local families, her superiors decide to take her off the case… But Marcela, true to her principles and her instincts, insists on going further, even at the expense, now, of her own life.
 
A fast-paced, exceptional thriller that will not disappoint the fans of the genre but will also appeal to those readers who are appealed by a well-written story with mystery and chilling scenes. Harper Collins continues to support an author who has a growing readership, her works have already been translated into Italian and Portuguese, and she has an option contract for the television rights to a trilogy that after seven years of life has not stopped selling. Are you going to miss it?

In 2020 the world came to a standstill and our lives did too. It has not been easy, but for some people the pandemic created a new break in their busy lives where there was nothing but rushing, meetings and lack of free time. For many, including myself, this forced stop generated a reflection on what we all already know but do not apply, unless we are made to.

Thousands of years ago, human beings were harmoniously connected to the natural cycles of life. This link with the rhythms of nature provided our ancestors with health, energy and emotional well-being. Nowadays, we also live in tune with time, but we have disconnected from its original cadence and we no longer pay attention to our internal clocks, which are responsible for appetite, sleep, energy or fatigue we feel throughout the day, resulting in cardiovascular problems, metabolic diseases such as diabetes or obesity, psychological disorders and, in the most serious cases, a greater incidence of certain types of cancer.

Now, the doctors Eduard and Carla Estivill preset us EL MÉTODO TOKEI, published by Plaza & Janés and Rosa dels Vents. Based on chronobiology, this method is a fully-fledged training to learn to listen to our body and reconnect with its rhythms. Thanks to their simple and practical advice, available to everyone, we will be able to synchronize our Tokei or inner clock to enjoy a life full of optimism and health. Eduard Estivill sold more than three million copies of his DUERMETE NIÑO method all over the world and now he is back with another method where he encourages us to reconnect with ourselves following a clear and natural plan. In a year in which we have realized, more than ever, that health is the most important aspect, this practical and totally accessible book gives us a method to keep us in full shape, and prevent avoidable illnesses, just by listening to the signals of our inner clock. An essential tool for living a longer and better life.

The famous saying: “things were better in the good old days” sounded like something only older people would say, but I must admit that I agree with it. As you get older, you understand it and have no choice but to take it in. However, I would like to be optimistic and think that we still have many positive experiences ahead, even when time leaves its mark, and memories, many memories, gather in that little box called heart. As time goes by, I feel the box shrinks due to the accumulation.

Besides, with age, no one sugar coats the reality and you realize the absences, the silences, the people who remain and those who are gone. Without meaning to, my mind takes me to that past where everything seemed perfect.

Just as happens to the characters of the novel EL BALL DELS ESTUDIANTS, by Anna Crusafont published by Univers, where after years without seeing each other, four friends meet again to celebrate the anniversary of the ball they used to attend together every year. None of them is what she used to be, they have grown, they have lived, and life has led each of them on their own path, although perhaps not the one they wanted or dreamed of. A novel about friendship and becoming aware that life sets the soundtrack of our days.

Anna Crusafont, who has been translated into three languages with her first novel Isola Bella, now returns with a new genre story, with an excellent style, but for all audiences, and with a topic that will make all nostalgic people fall in love, which in the end, involves the majority of us, because we all have a little box of memories, and one way or another we fill it with the moments that we do not want to forget, and which remain engraved in our minds forever.