And you, have you already greased the guts? Christmas is just around the corner and the calendar begins to fill with cakes and gastronomic meetings. Lunch with the water polo team, the piscolabis with those at work, dinner with the girls of the ballet class … But none of them is as significant, none as representative of these dates as family food. For your aunt's kisses, for your grandfather's ear jerks, for that irritating mania of your mother to scratch the bottle of aniseed while you sing carols, but especially for him: your brother in law.
It is a disconcerting, almost mythical figure. You do not know where it came from or who gave it its infinite knowledge about all matters, but for some years it has been part of your life and occupies the space immediately yours in the teak table on Christmas Eve.
You have long stopped wasting your time trying to impress your brother-in-law, it was an exasperating and useless task. He is up to date on the latest culinary and musical trends, he has barely left the country, but he knows the customs of the most remote cultures. What have you had access to a confidential file filtered from the Pentagon? It doesn't matter, he has already seen it. His political ideology is the only valid one and his sentences are lapidary. He has been training for the moment all year long and it is not going to be you who chafe.
Assume you can't beat him and join him. From PlanetadeBooks We propose you a list of ten books to give to your brother-in-law for Christmas. We assume that you have read them already, but just in case.
1
In The art of listening, from Erich Fromm, we found a series of texts that serve as a sample of what this psychologist and sociologist, of capital importance for the renewal of psychoanalysis in the twentieth century, considered the art of psychoanalysis.
The book explores the facet of the author's therapist and his relationship with the "suffering" man of our time, and talks about what he considered the foundation of psychoanalysis: listening.
If what you want is to throw a small hint at your brother-in-law, it's a good option.
two
If you cannot prevent your brother-in-law from hoarding the conversation, at least try to enjoy it. If what you want is not to go through the branches and be clear in your presentationMaybe you should give him Public speaking for Dummies, from José María Palomares.
In this book, the keys to becoming a good speaker are taught in an entertaining way, from tricks to overcome stage fright to how to prepare for a job interview, emphasizing important elements such as rhetoric, oratory, oral expression or the content.
3
If you think daggers rain on your Christmas Eve dinner, wait to read Uncensored, from Michelangelo Revilla, a small nuclear bomb in the form of a book that spares no adjectives to denounce the behavior of businessmen, political parties, presidents of the Government or the Royal House itself.
The current president of Cantabria has wax for everyone. His goal is to denounce serious situations that he says occur in our country and throughout the world, and he does it bluntly and without hot cloths, because as he himself affirms: «I am seventy-five years old and the only thing I intend is to say what I think to be at peace with myself ».
4
It may also happen that the erudite verbiage of your brother-in-law hides a need to draw attention to try to hide that he is going through the dreaded crisis of the forties. If you suspect that this is the case, you can reassure him by giving him Survive at forty, from Frank Blanco.
The book is a compilation of phrases, jokes and anecdotes that define what it is to face the forties. The work helps to face with humor and optimism that vital stage in which we begin to feel older to make us understand that the best is yet to come.
5
Juan Gomez-Jury and Arturo González-Campos, two of the members of the geek cultural podcast Almighty, sign a work that can not be missing in your library (or your brother-in-law's).
The force for wedges It is a hilarious book but with didactic purpose, namely that your brother-in-law and other laymen in the field understand the complexity of the Star Wars universe to stop calling the Jedi knights "those of the lightsabers." But the book also hides a claim of what has been called "frikism" and that for the authors is nothing more than pure and genuine popular culture.
6
Imagine spending the day cooking for others and that at the moment of truth "someone" comes up with the idea that it is a good idea to advise you on how to turn your bland soup into a category dish. To avoid nervous attacks and ensure a quiet evening we recommend 1000 gold recipes, the new book of Karlos Arguiñano.
This recipe book collects the best dishes of what has become the most beloved television cook, in each of which we find the ingredients that have given him fame: simple preparation, good raw materials, joy and passion for cooking.
7
Is your brother-in-law a healthy declared? Do you see with bad eyes your occasional fondness to catch you cogorzas on the sofa and dare to rebuke you for it? Give it away Kalsarikänni, from Miska Rantanen. It doesn't matter if you don't know how to pronounce it, the content is worth it.
In this book it is developed as a relaxation practice to bring happiness to our lives on kalsarikänni, which is nothing more than "that feeling that you're going to get drunk alone at home in your underwear, with no intention of going out." The definition comes from a dictionary created by the Tourism Board of Finland to explain to the rest of the world some Finnish terms with difficult literal translation, and it seems that this is a national custom and is not much less frowned upon. We remember, just in case, that Finland has been chosen by the UN the happiest country in the world in 2018. It will be for something.
8
Another good way to send a hint is Tragic Christmas, from Christie Agatha, a new and intriguing case for Detective Poirot.
Tragic Christmas is the story of the murder of Simeon Lee, the patriarch of a family who has just bled to death in the neck during Christmas Eve dinner. When Poirot arrives at the house to lend his help, mutual suspicion floats in the environment, as it seems that each and every one of those present had reason to detest the old man. The famous detective will have to work hard to solve a case that bears the unmistakable seal of the master of the criminal novel.
9
One thing is theory and another practice. How many times have you heard that phrase? Surely you also know someone (we don't want to point out) who bases his rhetoric on such manic topics as that, and that we all, to a greater or lesser extent, use to excuse ourselves before or after doing or saying what we should not.
In So many topical fools, Aurelio Arteta It gathers many of these precooked phrases and analyzes their weak foundations and their harmful effects in the creation of prejudices and in the abandonment of critical thinking. «Say what It is said that allows us to comment without the trouble of thinking what we say and, incidentally, achieve the illusory certainty of understanding and being understood ».
10
If you grew up reading Dragon ball and you are tired of being called Sangocu To your favorite fiction hero, you have an opportunity to bring blasphemers to the bright side with the new manga numbers of your childhood.
The mythical red series returns to bring us the continuation of the masterpiece of Akira Toriyama, which is called Dragon Ball Super. The manga derived from the most successful anime of recent years, which offers us the unprecedented adventures of Goku and his friends in the martial arts tournament organized by the gods of destruction.
The last number published coincides with the end of the third plot arc of the series. If you blink, you will miss it.
Surely with any of these 10 books, this year you will leave your brother-in-law with his mouth open 😉 And if you want more, Don't miss our most Christmas literary selection!