The Literature Empire

It’s been almost 5 months since I’ve moved from the small town in the Czech Republic to Derby. This decision turned my life upside down. A foreign country, new people, new friends, different language and cars riding on the left side of the road. Seriously. Why are you driving on the left side? I can’t even count how many times I’ve almost been hit by a car. Moving to the United Kingdom has been my dream since I was 13 or 14 years old so… That means I’m kind of living my dream right now, doesn’t it? But living in England has also many advantages. And one of them are the secondhand bookshops. Exploring small secondhand bookshops makes my life in England much more comfortable. It took me some time before I found some of them but it was definitely worth exploring these places. In today’s post, I’d like to ‘introduce’ you some books I bought (and some of them got) during the beginning of the new chapter of my life.

Khaled Hosseini – The Kite Runner

I have to admit that I have no idea what I can expect from this author. My friend recommended The Kite Runner to me few month ago and when I saw it in the secondhand bookshop I couldn’t leave it there. The story takes place in Afghanistan and tells us about the boy named Amir. We can see how he becomes more and more adult. During his life, he goes through the war, escapes from the country and falls in love. I think that this story will speak to many people. And we will love it.

Stephen King – The Green Mile

I believe that everyone knows The Green Mile. And everyone knows Stephen King. He is famous mainly for his horror stories but this story is completely different. The main character is a prisoner John Coffey who is waiting for his capital punishment. I’m sure you know how the plot goes but I don’t want to write here spoilers anyway. But it’s worth saying that it’s a story full of magic, humanity, unexpected moments and truthfulness. And if you want to watch the film for the 10000th time, you can. But don’t be lazy. Read the book too.

Stephen King – The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

This book is by Stephen King. Yes, again. It’s a collection of short stories. What makes this book quite unique is that every short story has an introduction. Stephen King writes there about the formation and the process of writing of every single piece. The short stories are connected by the topic of manners, guilt and the life after death. It sounds a bit serious but I believe I will love this book.

Jack Kerouac – Doctor Sax

Before I’ll write anything about the book, you should know that Jack Kerouac is my favourite author. I love learning about his life, I love his novels and poems, I love the Beat Generation. Doctor Sax is very different from his other books. He writes about his early life in Lowell and memories penetrate dreams. Kerouac himself considered Doctor Sax to be the best of his books.

Tom Rob Smith – Child 44

I love books which take place in past and teach us about history. And that’s why I’ve fallen in love with this story. It is a fictional story but it takes place in Russia during the reign of Stalin. The main character is a secret police officer Leo Demidov. He has arrested many people who stepped out of line but one case makes him doubt the regime is really as good as he thought. Suddenly, he and his wife risk their lives to save the lives of others. In this book, every single page makes you say “Wow!” It has a brilliant storytelling and Tom Rob Smith prooved that he deserves more attention from readers.

David Nicholls – One Day

One Day is a charming but not a typical love story. The plot begins on the 15th July 1988 and goes on until the 15th July 2007. And as you can guess, yes, every chapter happens on the 15th of July. The story is about Emma and Dexter who meet on the night of their graduation. Even when they go their separate ways, they always meet again. Through the years they become wiser and more mature. The story is full of friendship, broken hearts, writing letters, unexpected events and showing how beautiful it is to live. I’m convinced that if you’ll give a chance to this book, you’ll love it.

Milan Kundera – The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Finding this book was a miracle. Why? Because it’s written by the Czech author Milan Kundera. And I found his book in the secondhand bookshop in Derby. I’m currently reading this book but I’m only in the beginning so I can’t really say what is the story about. The main characters are Tomas and Tereza. Tereza falls in love with Tomas but he is meeting many other women. So what can I say? I hope he won’t be so silly for a long time and he’ll stay with Tereza. But I believe I’ll love this story. Milan Kundera is one of the best Czech authors so I pin my hopes on this book!

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and I can’t wait to continue in running this blog. To be honest I have many many many other books I wanted to talk about in this article. But that would be too long and you won’t enjoy reading. That means you can expect one more article where I’d like to introduce you some books by Irvine Welsh, Kurt Vonnegut or Haruki Murakami.

Have a nice day and thank you for reading!