Reading under a warm plaid with a cup of hot cocoa is the best thing you can do in autumn. There’s a dreary rain outside and a colourful story on the pages that takes you far, far away from inclement weather. Together with LitRes, the largest book service in Russia and the CIS, we have made a selection of books that will make autumn evenings cosy.
“Three apples fell from the sky”, Narine Abgaryan
This is the story of the small mountain village of Maran in Armenia and its few inhabitants. They know well what grief is and remember the joys of the old days, when their village was large and children’s laughter was heard everywhere. It seems that life has finally left these places. But – an unexpected miracle inspires hope for a change for the better: the last Maranite is born. A leisurely epic in the vein of Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude” – a book about people who hold real treasures of the spirit.
“Nora Webster”, Colm Toibin
Provincial Ireland in the 1960s, mother of four Nora Webster becomes a widow. Grieving for her dead spouse becomes her outlet for a new life. No longer does she need to hide and suppress her own individuality. It’s time to be herself, to put her long-held ideas and plans into practice, to start earning her own money – in short, to assert herself fully. But is the environment of Nora Webster – one of the most memorable women in modern literature – ready for such a change.
“Autumn,” Ali Smith
The British writer is an acknowledged master of fine intellectual prose. She is known for her bold experiments with genre forms and her ability not to sacrifice beauty of language and depth of meaning. “Autumn” is the first part of a tetralogy – a collage novel, which brings together bold reflections on the nature of art, satirical sketches of contemporary politics and intimate feelings. It’s also a book about a great love that can transcend centuries.
“Chocolate”, Joanne Harris
This book is about how easy it can be to regain joy when you put tolerance in the fight against indifference and convention. That’s exactly what a young woman, Vianne, does when she arrives in a sleepy little French town with her daughter. Opening a chocolate shop, she soon discovers the residents’ innermost desires and offers everyone exactly the kind of chocolate treat that allowed them to get a taste of life again.
“Running for the Wind” by Khaled Hosseini
A story of friendship under exotic circumstances. Kabul, 1970s. Amir and Hasan belong to different social classes. Lord and servant, prince and beggar, handsome and cripple – these differences do not prevent them from being each other’s closest people. But war will divide them on different sides of the barricades. Will the characters manage to stay true to their friendship when history has become an unpredictable paper kite which only obeys random gusts of wind?
