Miss Titat recommends one of the literary phenomena of the summer

The clown of Circ Cric, Ms. Titat (Montserrat Trias by civil name), this summer has rapidly and peacefully devoured a novel that has been one of the season's phenomena, The bookstore of dead hours (Columna), by Laura Autonell, a revelation author of 63 years. "It is located in my neighborhood, in the Raval of Barcelona, and I have recognized squares and streets that I constantly walked on as a child," she explains.

The epicenter of the story is on Elisabets street. Trias defines it as a book "that is about books and stories". The bookstore of dead hours follows the steps of Etna, a woman of privileged origin, from the upper part of Barcelona, who is disinherited by her father when he dies and decides to make a radical life change: she will open a bookstore in the Raval. "I like novels that explain what the characters, customs, and situations of that time and place in the world where the story takes place are like. I find that it opens doors to universes different from mine and helps me to change the screen and distance myself from the worries of daily life," she explains.

This summer, Circ Cric has packed its bags and left Sant Esteve de Palautordera. The Petit Circ Cric family toured during July and early August through Priorat and the Prades mountains. "It was very hot, and I was not in intellectual condition to read certain books," admits Trias, who defines herself as a reader who reads "in spurts".

The bookstore of dead hours is the debut work of Laura Autonell, who had previously self-published A pinch of salt. After a successful word-of-mouth, she is now rewriting the first book to publish it with a publishing house and already has a third one finished. The retirement from the sports shop she has run all her life in Taradell will leave her free to explore her new vocation.