Writing a book can be a very enjoyable, introspective experience. When you write a book, you are truly writing about a very important aspect of your own life. Many of the great literary giants in times past taught the important lesson to “write what you know.” It is quite common for first time authors to put a great deal of themselves into their first book.

The Temptation of the Impossible:

Victor Hugo and Les Misérables

Mario Vargas Llosa

John King, translator

Princeton University Press

232 pages

Hardcover $24.95

978-0-691-13111-5

Here, in this compelling book, readers can enjoy the fascinating encounter between two literary giants: Mario Vargas Llosa and Victor Hugo.

Written Lives by Javier Marías (translated by Margaret Jull Costa)

New Directions

ISBN 978-0-8112-1689-0

Trade Paperback

Okay, booklovers and prolific readers, here is a great little book to carry along down to the beach on the Gulf shores, to your vacation getaway in the mountains, or to your lawn-chair in your backyard for a relaxing afternoon.

Internationally renowned Spanish author Javier Marías has served up a wonderful picnic buffet of biographical tidbits in which readers will discover strange and surprising things about some of the world’s most famous writers.