Insomniac City - New York, Oliver and Me, by Bill Hayes

This is such a beautiful book. I first heard of Bill Hayes in Oliver Sacks autobiography On the Move; I was curious and I read his book The Anatomist, that I liked very much, and now I was interested in reading his account of the last days of Sacks. And so I found out there's so much more about Bill Hayes than having been Oliver Sacks' companion. His writing is beautiful, his essays most intelligent and perceptive, his narrative of his times with Sacks, in the form of a journal, moving and never corny, they actually brought tears to my eyes a few times. Reading this book was a tender and fulfilling experience, and I'm looking forward to read more of Bill Hayes.

The Physics of Sorrow, by Georgi Gospodinov

I was recently on holidays in Bulgaria, and as usual I looked for some recent fiction from the country. This time, I had the invaluable advice of some who knows the country and has an excellent literary taste - the writer Garth Greenwell - and he advised me to read this book. As usual, I'm happy I followed his advice. This is a beautiful book, it takes us to a rich universe of feeling and thinking, through the labyrinth of the narrator's imagination and memory, where his storytelling is the Ariadne's thread that guides us along paths dealing with family, country, childhood, sorrow, love - in short, what makes us who we are and how we look for some sense from our lives.

Sometimes, the book looks a little too ambitious, as if the author wanted to fit too many ideas and thoughts in it, but the writing is just beautiful and always a pleasure to read.

I leave the link to Garth Greenwell's review in the New Yorker, much better than anything I'd be able to say.

The Destroyers, by Christopher Bollen

I liked this book very much - it's an excellent thriller that feels like an instant classic. The reviews on the back cover mentioned Graham Greene, and at first I didn't see why, but as soon as I reached the point where one of the main characters disappears, I kept being reminded of The Third Man, so the reference is quite fitting. The plot is great, the atmosphere of the Greek island of Patmos (never been there, but can imagine it from my stay in Mykonos) is extremely well rendered, and the author has the rare and enviable skill of defining a character or a place in a few words, like a painter that draws a true-to-life portrait in a few brushstrokes. The writing is elegant and rich, sometimes a little too elaborate, but always a pleasure to read. I'm looking forward to read more books by Christopher Bollen.