YOUR IDEAL BOOKSHELF

Do you know this website? 

If you had to choose just 12 or fewer books that mean the most to you, the ones you'd have on your "ideal bookshelf" – what would they be, and why?

What would I include in mine?

The Bible
Pippi Longstockings (Astrid Lindgren)
A big visual book (either Magritte, photography (Chema Madoz), impressionist painting)
El Cuento Infinito (Poldy Bird)
A compilation of American short stories
A compilation of poems 
My compilation of recipes (it's a book after all)
A Henning Mankell that I haven't read yet
A Niccoló Ammaniti
Whatever book we're reading in our book club, of course

That's what I can think of off the top of my head. YOUR TURN!

SHORT STORIES: INTERVIEW WITH EUGENIA RICO

Do you like reading short stories? I loooove them! Eugenia Rico has really good ones too.

Here's an interview with her with some interesting thoughts on the genre, such as this one:

"El cuento es literatura en estado puro. El cuento es como un relámpago que ilumina la noche y nos deja recordando lo que vimos con los ojos cerrados. El cuento es una historia que comienza a suceder en tu cabeza en el mismo momento en que se termina su última página."

UPDATES FOR AUSTENITES

Ana is right, Jane Austen is quoted a lot in this blog... And I have to say December was my month to "revisit" Jane. I was watching a TV miniseries, Lost in Austen, which may be sappy but it also gives us a different outlook on our favourite characters from Pride and Prejudice. And also I was not at all disappointed to see a different Mr Darcy emerging out of the fountain at Pemberley. Not bad at all.

And then I incidentally got a hold of Jane Austen Made Me Do It, a collection of short stories which I'm reading at the moment. As soon as I'm done anyone who'd like to read it is more than welcome to read it. I'm attaching Amazon's review below:

"An anthology of 22 original short stories inspired by Jane Austen, literature's witty muse of the modern novel and astute observer of human nature and the heart, with contributions from Adriana Trigiani, Karen Joy Fowler, Lauren Willig, and other bestselling and beloved authors. Indisputably one of history's most cherished and widely read writers, Jane Austen has had an incomparable influence on contemporary fiction, inspiring countless bestselling sequels and spin-offs. This engaging collection of completely original short fiction pays homage both to the great Jane as well as to the wonderful stories she helped to create, featuring new Austen-esque fiction such as "A Night at Northanger," by Lauren Willig; "Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane," by Adriana Trigiani; "Jane and the Mistletoe Kiss," by Jo Beverley; "Jane Austen's Cat," by Diana Birchall; and many more.