Last 5 books I’ve made it through?
In reverse chronological order
La Muerte de Artemio Cruz-Fuentes
Les Jeuxs son Faits-Sartre
Cien Anos de Soledad-Marquez
Penguin History of Latin America-Williamson
Republic-Plato
Our school has us do an aboslutely insane amount of reading BUT, admittedly it is one amazing book after another and the 30 or so books I’ve had to read in the last year have all been exceptionally enjoyable, no complaints with any of them.
Quick summary of the five listed:
La Muerte de Artemio Cruz-wow. This is by far the most demanding literary achievement I have ever read. The style is absolutely impeccable and the story is rather interesting also. As with many LA novels, it is not at all chronological but of course is logical in context so if you are reading a book for literary merit… look no further
Les Jeuxs son Faits-a terrific little existentialism work. If French is not your native tongue (isn’t mine) let me warn you that because the play was written a ways back, the vocabulary is archaic now at best and can be a bit puzzling at time. Not the best read for improving your conversational French but if you’re interested in existentialiasm and are looking to maintain/improve your French, you’ve found your match.
Cien Anos de Soledad-a much easier read than La Muerte de Artemio Cruz in terms of literary minutae. The story is straight forward and the subtleties are not evasive if you read the book with any attention. A quite interesting (hi)story of Columbia or most of South America really but a bit long. The book could have been made half the length and I woudl have enjoyed it much more. Either way, if your up for a fantastical book to read on the beach or somewhere else relaxed without too much effort, not a bad catch.
Penguin History of Latin America-if you’re interested in learning about Latin America, a disgustingly thorough review from pre-colonization to present. If you aren’t a history person, don’t bother, it’ll read like a dictionary. If 10 pages of statistical appendices and a 25 page bibliographical essay aren’t your cup of tea, try again 
Republic-what can I say? An absolute foundation to moral debates. The dialogue is comically “scripted” which leads to some quick laughs between sections but the content and arguments are absolutely intriguing. A great “strong mind strong body” kind of work in many aspects. If you wan’t to know why diet and exercise make you a better person in terms of morals, give it a whirl. It seems long and thick, but it flies once you get used to it.
This thread on some levels is nice, it allows people to swap good reads and keep up to date on what’s being put out there that is any good. On the other hand, I can see it becoming a “I read more studious novels than you do” and people recommending famed books they haven’t read. Hoping for the best, not the latter 