O HOSPITAL DE ALFACES [The Hospital of Lettuces] Pedro Chagas Freitas, Publisher:‎ Oficina do Livro, Language: Portagues, Pages 221***Shortlisted for the 2025 Bertrand Prize for Best Book of the Year, this outstanding novel was Portugal’s 2025 bestselling title by a Portuguese author, which is why I take the liberty of drawing your special attention to it.********O Hospital de Alfaces by Pedro Chagas Freitas is a poignant novel weaving three generations—grandfather, father, and son—through intimate, reflective moments that explore life’s fragility and the redemptive power of love. Blending lyrical prose with emotional depth, the book offers a quiet yet profound meditation on memory, family, and resilience. Its title, evoking both innocence and impermanence, symbolizes the delicate beauty of human connections. The narrative transcends personal history to touch universal themes, making it a deeply moving literary experience.*

I convitati di pietra by Michele Mari, Publisher:Einaudi/Italy, Pages: 161 *****has been awarded the 2026 Strega Giovani Prize*****1 Somewhere between The Big Chill and Final Destination, Michele Mari’s new novel is both hilarious and poignant. A ticking time bomb of a book, its relentless beat offers a sharp, wicked reflection on the time allotted to us. July 22, 1975: a high school class, celebrating the end of their final exams with a dinner, makes a blood-and-money pact. Each of the thirty classmates will contribute a yearly sum, invested to grow into a fortune over the decades. The rule is simple: the raffle ends when only three classmates remain alive, who will then split the jackpot. But year after year, as they reunite on July 22 for the ritual dinner, buried grudges, unspoken loves, broken promises, and simmering envies resurface. The conversations circle around each other’s ailments, as everyone silently speculates who might be next to “depart”. Soon, the classmates are no longer old friends but gamblers around a roulette table, “for whom guessing a number means wishing for it – if only to keep playing”. And every game has rules, and ways to bend them: clandestine bets, secret affairs, suspicions, murder attempts, unlikely spells, and above all Chance itself, that great spoiler of human plans. Mari, at his most playful and mischievous, follows his characters into 2050 and beyond, in a narrative machine that keeps readers glued to the page. After all, we have all dreaded those class reunions – moments when time seems to have stopped, until nostalgia gives way to the disillusion of individuals who no longer share anything at all. I convitati di pietra is a novel about youth – the time when we believe ourselves immortal – and, by extension, about the anxieties of old age. Without abandoning the obsessions that have made him beloved (comics, cinema, the taxonomic impulse), the author of Tu, sanguinosa infanzia delivers a moving yet playful story about the most ineffable experience of all: being human. RIGHTS SOLD: Greece (Ikaros Books), Mexico (Integral_Brunch Press), WEL (And Other Stories)

Kırmızı Buğday" (Red Wheat) by Ahmet Büke,,Publisher: Can Yayınları, Pages 496 ****The standout award-winning novel from Turkey in 2026 is "Kırmızı Buğday" (Red Wheat) by Ahmet Büke. Published by Can Yayınları, it was awarded the prestigious 55. Orhan Kemal Roman Armağanı (Orhan Kemal Novel Prize) in May 2026************Ahmet Buke's 'Red Wheat' is a powerful literary work that intertwines history, folklore, and national identity. It draws on the symbolic story of Arab Ali Efe, an Afro-Turkish resistance leader whose blood is said to have dyed the wheat red, representing sacrifice and resilience. The novel reflects on how people's lives are deeply tied to their land, transforming suffering into renewal. Published in Turkish, it blends narrative depth with cultural memory, resonating as both a historical epic and a metaphor for endurance. While some sources reference a folk song version, Buke’s work elevates the legend into a profound literary exploration of heritage and struggle.