Hello everyone! Bookseller Bennard here and I've been told that you all are looking for some book recommendations which is why I am taking over our Twitter account.

I mainly read fiction and poetry with small doses of nonfiction. I know I basically described most of the stuff that we sell at Politics and Prose so, to narrow it down, just think of me as this image:

To start with, let us start with the twin towers of my personal canon: Gabriel García Márquez and Alice Munro.

For Gabo, chances are you already read One Hundred Years of Solitude so let me direct you to his short story collection about Latin Americans in exile, Strange Pilgrims. This is just in case you need further proof of Gabo's status as a master.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781400034697

I considered Munro to be the greatest living writer and that is very apparent with her short stories. I recommend that you start with Runaway, a collection with the force of a miracle.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781400077915

Moving on to the rest of my personal canon, John William's Stoner is a moving celebration of the unremarkable life. How this novel became forgotten before being reprinted by @nyrbclassics is a mystery that only Hector Belascoaran Shayne can solve.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781590171998

Speaking of Hector Belascoaran Shayne, he is the protagonist of the many detective novels written by the modern master, Paco Ignacio Taibo II. The first one of which is An Easy Thing, a mystery novel unlike any that I've ever read.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781590580066

To me, there is no greater poet than Pablo Neruda and, among his love poetry, there is no greater collection than 100 Love Sonnets.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780292756519

While we are on the subject of love, how about you follow Neruda with Anne Carson's Eros The Bittersweet where Carson, through the lens of ancient Greek literature, examines desire.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781564781888

Still on the subject of love, My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead (edited by Jeffrey Eugenides) is a short story anthology with works by Alice Munro, Lorrie Moore, Anton Chekhov, and many others. Anthologies are often hit-or-miss but this one is 100% hits.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780061240386

@ValeriaLuiselli is one of the greats and my favorite work of hers is Sidewalks, a collection of essays that accompanied me in my most melancholy moments as an immigrant. I find comfort in it still.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781566893565

The line between melancholy and despair is often a thin one so when I find myself teetering over to despair's territory, I find solace in Emil Cioran's On the Heights of Despair.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780226106717

The world is celebrating Clarice Lispector's 100th birthday this year. You can take part in the festivities by reading her masterpiece, The Hour of the Star.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780811219495

Or you can wait until @NewDirections publishes the centenary edition.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780811230049

In case it's not apparent yet, I love short stories. One of my favorite practitioners of the form is Jorge Luis Borges and @PenguinClassics has collected all of his short stories in one volume for your enjoyment.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780140286809

Book recommendations from me is not complete without any mention of books by Filipinos or Filipino-Americans.

Let me start with this gem from Elaine Castillo, America Is Not The Heart.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780735222427

@GinaApostol is one of the Philippines' greatest living writers. Insurrecto was one of the best books of 2018.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781641290920

But, to me, her best work is The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata which you can now pre-order.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781641291835

F. Sionil Jose, one of the most celebrate writers from the Philippines, is himself the proprietor of an independent bookstore in Manila.

Dusk, the first part of his famed Rosales Saga, is a hallmark of Philippine literature.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780375751448

@PenguinClassics has reissued some of the Philippines' most beloved books.

José Rizal's Noli Me Tangere helped spark the Philippine Revolution.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780143039693

And Carlos Bulosan's America Is In The Heart is a landmark of immigrant fiction.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780143134039

Doveglion showcases the incredible poetry of José Garcia Villa.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780143105350

And The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic cements Nick Joaquin's claim as the greatest Filipino writer in English.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780143130710

And, with that, I end my takeover of our Twitter account.

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