Celebrate #NationalLibraryWeek with Library Hotel Collection!
Published: April 8th, 2019Reading is a task we all say we want to do more of but unfortunately we don’t always make the time to do. In the spirit of #NationalLibraryWeek we asked some of our Library Hotel Collection team they’re current book recommendations.
Check out this list & take your pick for your next read!
Library Hotel Recommends
Justin recommends, Malazan Book of the Fallen
“If you love Game of Thrones or anything about Game of Thrones, you will love Malazan Book of the Fallen. It is a high fantasy book series of 10 books which includes everything from gods, to shape-shifters, to all different type of “alien” species you could imagine. It involves everything from familial conflict, territorial conflict, and even deity conflicts. The character development of Erikson is outstanding, and it fascinating to watch the series develop in each book and culminate into a great conclusion. You don’t know where the series is heading until the last moments.”
Dolores recommends, The Shepherd’s Crown by Sir Terry Pratchett
“This is the final book in the Discworld series and was published shortly after his passing in 2015. As any other Pratchett’s book, The Shepherd’s Crown is a unique comic fantasy mash-up of high fantasy, sword and sorcery, satire that is easy and fun to read. While the book is final novel of the Tiffany Aching’s series, it is a lovely way to enter the Discworld.”
Hotel Elysée Recommends
Cheryl recommends, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
The Glass Castle is an incredible book based on the hope of overcoming poverty and achieving a dream. This memoir focuses on hardship, perseverance, heartbreak, and triumph, and will motivate you to do something you have always wanted. Bonus fact: Jeanette Walls is a frequent occupant of the Hotel Elysée.
John suggests, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Okay, we’re not going to pretend that some of you haven’t read this one already. But what book list is complete without this 1951 classic. Following a teen named Holden across Manhattan, the reader is able to look back and remember a time when they were placed in frustrating but ever-too-common teenage situations. For younger readers, life of Holden parallels their own, sharing the same feelings that come with being a teenager. For all ages, this book is a necessity.
Casablanca Hotel Recommends
Nick recommends, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
“The Tipping Point is a compilation of anecdotes that explore the reasoning behind why certain things become popular. He dives into what the “tipping point” is behind why some shoe brand becomes popular, why crime numbers may suddenly drop in a major city, or why you never heard of William Dawes, the other rider in Paul Revere’s midnight run. All of Gladwell’s books are must reads, as they cause you to reevaluate the way you view the world.”
Kim suggests, Memoirs of a Geisha
An unforgettable book that I read years ago. The story of a young girl’s life as a geisha and her journey into adulthood. “In the 1920s, 9-year-old Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) gets sold to a geisha house. There, she is forced into servitude, receiving nothing in return until the house’s ruling hierarchy determines if she is of high enough quality to service the clientele — men who visit and pay for conversation, dance and song. After rigorous years of training, Chiyo becomes Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang), a geisha of incredible beauty and influence. Life is good for Sayuri, but World War II is about to disrupt the peace.”
Hotel Giraffe Recommends
Ray recommends, The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden
Set in the 1930s and 1940s, a jazz musician named Harlan travels the U.S. in hopes of becoming a star. His travels take him to Paris where he has no worries of being denied service from any restaurant or bar. He believes life is going great until German soldiers invade and take Harlan and his friend Lizard. They are taken to Buchenwald, a Nazi concentration camp, where Harlan’s life is irreparably changed.
Ray also recommends, Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Moby Dick is a classic that not everyone has read but one that everyone should. Moby Dick focuses on a sailor named Ishmael and his adventures aboard the Pequod with Captain Ahab steering the ship. This book, originally labeled an utter failure, is one of the greatest literary works of all time and has something that will captivate readers of all genres.
Hotel X Toronto Recommends
Saira Morris recommends, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin S. Sharma
“The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma is a fictional story of a lawyer who sells his mansion and Ferrari to study the seven virtues of the Sages in the Himalayan mountains. It is a story of one’s journey that will not only inspire you, but also motivate you to reach your best self through living a simple life. It fuels your dreams and teaches you that if your thoughts are pure, this will give your mind the power to make it through this exercise and anything is achievable. You learn that the success on the outside begins from within. The book begins and ends with success, the only difference is that it starts with the success of a lawyer but ends with a richness of a man. A must read for those seeking to master their own mind.”
Luke Nixon-Janssen recommends, Let my people go surfing by Yvon Chouinard and Naomi Klein
“I loved this book because it told the story of Yvon Chouinard, climber, surfer, adventure seeker and founder of Patagonia, Inc. I loved Chouinard and his team’s passion for not only Patagonia products and the people who make their company successful but the quest they are on to help change how people consume their products and the role Patagonia plays in protecting our environment. Great book and great brand!”
Aria Hotel Budapest Recommends
Regina Parti recommends, Az őz (The Fawn) by Szabó Magda
“Eszter Encsy, a now accomplished actress, finds herself thinking about her impoverished and frustrating childhood and path to accomplishment as she hears news of an old childhood acquaintance. She engages in a series of internal monologues, delving into the depths of the humiliation, isolation, poverty, social and emotional exclusion and despair she has experienced, desperately attempting to unearth and comprehend all of her experiences. At first she recalls them with a disturbing calmness and an indifferent detachment, outwardly remaining unperturbed and icy, but soon finds her manner of speaking and her demeanor slowly changing as it becomes more and more difficult for Eszter to choke down the intense feeling of hatred and resentment she has been allowing to quietly ferment for years. It is a composed, restrained feeling of hatred which is always with her, but breaks out on only a few occasions, and which now begins to contaminate her entire life like a deadly poison.
Magda Szabó tells a good tale of certain selfish ambition having its own payback and her portraits of the three main women – Eszter, Gizi and Angela – both as girls and women is excellent. Clearly she was thinking of her own situation, when she struggled as an artist and had to make compromises but this is not her story but an original and fascinating one of an artist who is no saint.”
Sára Sötét recommends, Talks about love and fondness with Vilmos Csányi and György Bánki by Gábor Révai
“Why do we love? When do we fall in love with whoever it is we’ve fallen in love with? Why does it fade away and what does it transform into? Do women love differently, than men do? Human Ethologist Vilmos Csányi and Psychologist György Bánki are looking for answers and share opinions from different prospectives, based on their professional work, scientific facts and personal experiences. Our basic need to love and to feel loved effects how we act and what we think about the world. The topic has been studied for thousands of years by philosophers, writers and psychologists, these three exceptional minds also give it a try through very interesting interview series.”