Literature teachers from the Tec offer options to enjoy reading during your vacations
Let literature accompany you this summer! Tec literature professors share with you a list of 10 recommended books to read.
Ileana Reyes, as well as novelists María de Alva and Carlos Calles, offer you this top reading list, along with some advice if you are looking for motivation to read.
Several of these recommendations will also be part of online Reading Clubs, which will be conducted by Tec teachers.
Learn about the 10 recommended books for reading in 2024:
1. Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun: an emotional journey about a sense of belonging
2. Villa Triste: a novel of hidden stories
3. Until August: García Márquez’s posthumous work
4. Fieras familiares (Family Beasts): experiences that teach respect for the life around us
5. Kitchen: a refuge in the kitchen
6. Joyland: youthful idealism with a touch of mystery
7. The Undying: a testimony of persistence in life
8. Strange Weather in Tokyo: a novel about appreciating solitude
9. The Reader: a work about love, horror, and pity
10. Los niños de paja (Straw Children): for horror lovers
Also, follow these tips from literature specialists to further enjoy and develop the habit of reading.
Book recommendations for this vacation season
1. Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun: an emotional journey about a sense of belonging
This book, recommended by Professor de Alva, is by Ecuadorian author Mónica Ojeda, who is considered one of the 25 best young storytellers in Spanish, according to Granta magazine.
The work tells the story of two friends who leave Guayaquil behind to immerse themselves in a playful experience at a music festival called Ruido Solar (Solar Noise) at the foot of an Andean volcano in the year 5540.
This territory is where the missing people who were taken by political violence and never returned home go to hide, making it an intense experience.
2. Villa Triste: a novel of hidden stories
Intrigue, vague loves, and unforgettable images created from the mundane.
A man flees from war, from his past, and from himself, says Calles about the novel by Nobel Prize winner Patrick Modiano.
“As readers, we cling to the minute details that Modiano leaves like crumbs in a forest.
However, the beauty is in the gaps, in what is not said, in the love that is not declared, and in the tension maintained by secrets,” says the teacher from PrepaTec Valle Alto.
Patrick Modiano, author of “Villa Triste” won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2014. Photo: Adobe Firefly.
3. Until August: García Márquez’s posthumous work
Although Until August was initially going to be a short story, Gabriel García Márquez decided to turn it into a novel along the way. However, it was never published.
“Both his publisher and his sons reviewed, proofread, and published this book. It is the first work by García Márquez that has a mature woman as the protagonist,” says Reyes.
This has made it one of the most important publishing events so far in 2024.
4. Fieras familiares (Family Beasts): experiences that teach respect for the life around us
Pythons, crocodiles, and orangutans fill the pages of this book with fun and adventure.
“In addition, the pages fill us with passion for animal life, questions about their existence and conservation in the fierceness of the global world,” says de Alva.
Andrés Cota Hirirart, the author, is both a zoologist and a writer. He studied biology at UNAM and provides surprising anecdotes and memories about animal life.
5. Kitchen: a refuge in the kitchen
In 1988, Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto published her first work, Kitchen, which has gone through more than 50 editions.
“It tells the story of Mikague who, after losing her grandmother, takes refuge in the kitchen and in her neighbor and friend Yuichi’s very peculiar family.
It’s a tender and gastronomic novel,” says Professor Reyes.
It is worth noting that this work has won several literary awards and two film adaptations have been made.
6. Joyland: youthful idealism with a touch of mystery
This novel by Stephen King features a murder from the past, a nostalgic portrait of youthful idealism, ghosts with ambiguous intentions and, best of all, the atmosphere of an amusement park full of supernatural clues.
“It’s a fun novel to add mystery to hot or rainy summer days,” says Calles.
7. The Undying: a testimony of persistence in life
Anne Boyer wrote this book as both a cancer survivor and as a survivor of the increasingly precarious health care system in the United States.
“In this book, there’s a mixture of essay and testimony about the lack of empathy of a system that forced her to work shortly after surgery.
However, it is also a story about resistance, persistence in life, and the quest not to die,” says de Alva.
8. Strange Weather in Tokyo: a novel about appreciating solitude
Hiromi Kawakami’s book, “is not a love story although it’s promoted everywhere as one,” says Calles. Rather, it is a portrait of the life of a woman who finds beauty in solitude.
Later, when company arrives, the protagonist also takes on the process of adapting with a calmness that is refreshing.
“It’s a subtle and quiet novel to accompany sunsets and star-filled nights,” says the PrepaTec professor.
9. The Reader: a work about love, horror, and pity
Reyes also recommends a translation of a German book. This is The Reader by Bernhard Schlink.
“It’s a work that covers the post-World War II generation, family conflicts, and forbidden relationships, and gives some nods to great works of literature.”
In 2008, this work was adapted for the big screen.
10. Los niños de paja (Straw Children): for horror lovers
In 2003, Mexican author Bernardo Esquinca published the book Los niños de paja, which was chosen by the SEP (Ministry of Public Education) to join the Libros del Rincón (Book Corner) program in 2009.
“If you like horror, Bernardo Esquinca’s Los niños de paja is a collection of short stories inspired by the horror novels of the ‘80s about teenagers, which will surely please and amuse you with a scare or two,” says de Alva.
Tips to further enjoy and develop the habit of reading
If you want to get into the world of reading, Tec de Monterrey and PrepaTec experts recommend:
- If you are going to travel, read books about your destination.
Going to London? Read Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie. Going to Paris? Read Modiano, Balzac, and Slimani. Staying in Mexico? Read Alma Delia Murillo, Rafael Bernal, or Elena Garro.
- Starting the habit of reading
Start with short works, perhaps short stories or novellas.
- Always carry a book with you
A line at the airport or train station is better with a book than with a cellphone.
- Make a list of interests and look for related reading.
There are books on everything you can imagine.
Take notes as you read, underline quotes, jot down memorable phrases on sticky notes. Write down questions that come up or reflections on what you are reading. They might be useful later.
- End the day reading
When we were kids, our parents would read to us, and it calmed us down at the end of the day. It still works.
- It’s okay to leave a book halfway through if you don’t like it.
Don’t blame yourself. It doesn’t matter whether you read five, ten, or thirty pages a day. Read for pleasure and read what you want.
Think about how many books you read a year and how many years of life you have left. Maybe you will only read fifty, a hundred, or a thousand more books. Take advantage of them. Let them be the ones you really like, and they will leave you with something.
If you are more visual, look for films that are based on a novel.
Read the novel before or after watching the movie and compare the two versions.
- Join a reading club to discuss books
You will also find recommendations there from other readers.
The Tec will form a Reading Club in preparation for the Monterrey International Book Fair.
Here is the calendar for you to join (in Spanish).
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