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Any suggestions on Fiction or Non-fiction books

Will be in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona in September. Would love to hear your favorite books set in Spain.

Posted by
16321 posts

Michener's Iberia is a great read. Non-fiction.

Posted by
2942 posts

Some great suggestions for BARCELONA:

https://www.amazon.com/Homage-Barcelona-Colm-Toibin/dp/0330373560 engaging book about Barcelona's history

https://www.amazon.com/Cathedral-Sea-Novel-Ildefonso-Falcones/dp/B002HREKEQ and the obvious: do spend some time at the centre of it all: the church of Santa Maria del Mar, located in the neighbourhood of La Ribera.

https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zafón/dp/0143034901 a good thriller during one of the darkest periods of the fascist dictatorship of assassin General Franco in Spain.

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842 posts

If you like history, I recommend Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey.

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7175 posts

'Barcelona' by Robert Hughes - a monumentally informed and irresistibly opinionated guide to the most un-Spanish city in Spain. Hughes scrolls through Barcelona's often violent history; tells the stories of its kings, poets, magnates, and revolutionaries; and ushers readers through municipal landmarks that range from Antoni Gaudi's sublimely surreal cathedral to a postmodern restaurant with a glass-walled urinal. The result is a work filled with the attributes of Barcelona itself: proportion, humor, and seny -- the Catalan word for triumphant common sense.

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279 posts

Many volumes of Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" series take place during the Duke of Wellington's Penisular Campaign in Spain. Very historical in the big picture and quite good. Sharpe is a rifleman and an officer who commands line infantry during the campaign.

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315 posts

The Spanish author Arturo Perez-Reverte initially published historical fiction. Then, he moved on to pure recent fiction. Queen of the South and The Seville Communion are excellent. All of his work is published in English and can be found in most public libraries.