Bikini operation? Llibrestiu!

This Saturday, we agreed with some friends that summer is always a promise of happiness. I suppose that's why we like the preparations for the summer period so much: getting the terrace ready for dinners with people we love, booking flights for a weekend getaway or a long trip, rushing to buy tickets for the Grec or Peralada before they sell out, taking advantage of the first days of sales to renew our wardrobe with clothes that flatter us... I am aware that not everyone shares the pre-holiday euphoria that my friends and I feel around this time of year. I think of those naive people who, after Easter, no longer order dessert in restaurants because, they say, they have started the bikini operation, as if giving up a chocolate coulant or a mid-afternoon gin tonic could compensate for a winter of excesses, the passage of time, or the weight of gravity.

I think of those naive people who, after Easter, no longer order dessert in restaurants because, they say, they have started the bikini operation

Those of us who are thrilled preparing for summer, next Thursday, July 15, have a mandatory appointment.A hundred bookstores across the country are celebrating the first edition of Llibrestiu, a book festival promoted by the Cambra del Llibre and the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Barcelona City Council. Until eleven at night, they will set up book stalls in the streets and host a series of activities related to the world of books: presentations, debates, storytelling... All with the aim of promoting the purchase of books before the great summer escape.

The book sector is thus committed to placing a new major event with books and literature on the country's cultural calendar. The most important, logically, is Sant Jordi. The second best sales period is around Christmas, although the Setmana del Llibre en Català, the third major book event of the year, is gaining more and more momentum. This autumn, the fair reaches its 39th edition. It will be held, surely with great success, from September 10 to 19.

The book sector is thus committed to placing a new major event with books and literature on the country's cultural calendar.

Organizing an event to promote reading just before holidays seems like a magnificent idea to me.There are many people who claim to profess a great love for books, but who only find time to read during summer vacations---paradójicamente, estas mismas personas tan ocupadas están muy al día de las series de Netflix y HBO, pero este sería otro tema---. Evidently, readers who read all year round also cannot conceive of a vacation without stocking up on books.

Books to make a long wait at the airport more pleasant; books to read on deck, during a sailing trip; books to devour sprawled in a hammock, on a cool evening; thick books to accompany us throughout the vacation; simple and fun novels to read while having a cocktail without fear of losing the thread of the plot. That is, books for all tastes and situations.

For the bikini operation, you are already late and it is also a waste of time and joys, but you are still in time to enjoy a summer full of good readings. Long live the new Llibrestiu!