Since 1930, every April 23rd is celebrated as International Book Day , as it “celebrates” the simultaneous death of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. Later, different research teams, apprentices of Gloria Serra, came to the conclusion that neither one nor the other would have asked for land on that day. These investigations also came to the conclusion that it was very lazy to start looking for another day for the book now, because there are international days for everything and don’t you think there is much space left…

If you have reached this second paragraph, I will assume that you are a reader , with a certain habit at least, since I have seen books shorter than some entries in this blog.

So, if you are of that race, a lover of literature, a devourer of novels, essays, poetry or graphic novels, you are in luck . On the other hand, if the last title you have read in your life is Lord of the Flies because it was required reading in 4th year of ESO, well… It doesn't hurt to read a little more, man. Because I bet my arm that you didn't even finish the book, you went to Rincón del Vago for a summary and you know it.

Well, today we want to honour the book by analysing the different categories and recommending a title from each one. Let's start, we got tangled up in the prologue (excuse the redundancy).

Novel

The top category, the MotoGP of books. The novel is the most widely consumed literary genre , it is the classic story (fictional or not) that tells us something with a beginning and an end in a way that is, a priori, entertaining. There are many types of novels: adventure, romantic, science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime…

Beyond the genre, what you have to avoid is reading bad novels. Because there are some. Lately, they are proliferating more than tourist apartments or nail salons (Why doesn't the Nails Armstrong store exist yet?).

Sliwils Recommendation

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Whether you're just reading best-selling author Carmen Mola or you've given up reading for a while because you haven't found a book that hooked you, you must read this classic.

The unique worldview of Ignatius J. Reilly, the protagonist of this gem, is hilarious. His daily life, his relationship with his mother… All the ingredients are gold in a book that is the history of modern literature. The worst thing is the premature death of its author, who, apart from this, only left another hilarious title, The Neon Bible.

Poetry

There are those who say that poetry is experiencing a period of resurgence , a kind of rebirth, that the new generations are discovering it with adoration. Although there were also those who said that we would emerge from the pandemic as better people, and look. You can't trust them.

It's the same with poetry as with music , there's a lot of it, yes, but quantity is not synonymous with quality. You're hiding behind free rhyme to let loose some nonsense bigger than the Burgos Cathedral. Slow down, Gustavo Adolfo.

Sliwils Recommendation

Material by Yolanda Castaño.

This is the latest collection of poems by the 2023 National Poetry Prize winner. In this seventh book of poems, the Coruña native expresses more mature verses that are at the same time more detached from the norm, proposing her own style that avoids formalities. My goodness, we write as if we knew what we were talking about. Read poetry, it's really cool.

Self-help

Self-help books are the homeopathy of literature . They do help their authors to get rich, those who blame you for being poor or not having done an MBA in London. I imagine them as villains in a movie, raking in money in their mansions and thinking to themselves: “Tomorrow I'll publish another one, it's going to be called I'm going to tell you how to live your life, because it seems you don't know, you idiot .”

Of course, the titles of these kinds of books are a different matter, they are less thought out than a Manu Chao letter. Maybe they would benefit from a book like this: Give them a good title, or better yet, stop publishing shitty books and get to work .

Sliwils Recommendation

Self-help: A short manual of NO personal development by Alberto Montt.

A very sharp criticism of the business created around emotional well-being, personal growth and mental health that is sold to us by that group of private school kids whose only problem in life is NONE. Traffickers of misery, birds of prey of naivety, leeches of false protection ... It is obvious that it is our favorite category, right?

Graphic novel

You can still call it a comic, or even a comic book, but in order to dignify the genre, it would be better to call it a graphic novel. But, yes, it is the comic strip of a lifetime , the cartoons. Until not long ago, it seemed to be the exclusive domain of children, but today it is clear that the graphic novel has no age.

Just as the movie-loving father is eager to show his three-year-old son The Goonies , there are also many parents trying to transmit their passion for comics to their child through classics such as Mortadelo y Filemón, Tintín or Corto Maltés . Much better than throwing the tablet in his face to stop him from bothering him, where is it going to end up?

Sliwils Recommendation

Old promises from Iñaki San Román, Álvaro Velasco and Pedro Rodríguez.

A 2x1 if you're not only a comic book fan but also a football fan. The creators of the podcast Paquetes (which already has a graphic narrative version) now bring you a fun and endearing story, with a bit of nostalgia. A well-channelled passion for football. Yes, it can be done.

Children

Children's and young adult authors are used to having to endure the condescending gaze of their colleagues, creators of supposedly more thoughtful and complex works. Nothing could be further from the truth, literary creation for early ages is an art , RESPECT .

Bedtime stories, first readings, all of these are unique experiences that mark us for life. We are what we read. The challenge of children's literature is to create future readers and not future VOX voters.

Sliwils Recommendation

I have a volcano by Miriam Tirado and Joan Turu.

A story that teaches adults and children alike how to channel anger and bad feelings . A story to name what happens to us and to live it intensely, whether it is good or not. Not a single book by Pérez Reverte is more useful than this one.

From influencer

This is the newest genre of all, that of writers who have never read a book . Fortunately, this doesn't happen in other professions. A thirty-eight-year-old guy wearing a cap doesn't walk into an operating room and start performing open-heart surgery. "I've seen every season of House, I know how to do it." Come on in, you freak, and take off your cap indoors, please.

As if wasting eight hours a day following Mr.Trueno96 on Instagram, Tik Tok or Twitch wasn't enough, now you can read his book (don't worry, it rarely exceeds a hundred pages), which was actually written by an anonymous scriptwriter at his home in Ciudad Real using articles about Generation Z slang as a reference.

Sliwils Recommendation

We can't. There are so many books to read on the shelves of local bookstores that we don't want to randomly give away one more fake title. If you want to read nonsense like pianos, you have Ok Diario or self-help books (see point 3).

What goes with a good book?

Walking around with a good book under your arm will already make you look like someone really cool, but if you also add (pun intended) some Sliwils laces to your outfit, even better.

We don't have any book-print laces yet, but you'll find a wide variety of models to promote reading, celebrate life or love. Remember that in Catalonia, April 23 is Sant Jordi, where tradition calls for books and roses, it's their own Valentine's Day.

And hey, write to us if you would like to see the cover of your favourite book on your laces, or better yet, the full text of your favourite novel. "Many years later, facing the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice..." . The R&D here never stops.

Whatever you do, always buy your books at the local bookstore. Local literature, zero-kilometer lyrics. Buying from Jeff Bezos is like going to the mechanic to ask for 200 grams of mortadella. It's not the place.

PS: Now it's your turn. What are you reading? What do you recommend? If you're telling us that El Xocas is going to publish a book, it's better not to comment.