Spain's top book picks: from Tolkien to the Fed

Top Book Picks in Spain: From Tolkien to the Federal Reserve

What is your favorite book? This seemingly innocent question triggers a cascade of recommendations spanning from The Silmarillion to a 65-page manual on how banks create money out of thin air. In the thread, the conversation shifts from epic fantasy to financial critique without missing a beat: what unites participants isn't genre, but utility. Some seek worlds to get lost in; others look for tools to understand why their paycheck buys less every month.

Tolkien, Verne, and the Pleasure of Rereading

The Silmarillion kicks things off. Tolkien’s work is defended as being "just as entertaining" as The Lord of the Rings, though it requires a map of the elven lineage to avoid getting lost among curses and sacred jewels. The history of humans also receives praise. It’s not a beginner’s recommendation, but the consensus is clear: with a genealogical guide at hand, the experience changes completely.

Jules Verne appears as the author who makes you "feel inside the adventure." Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea takes the crown, with special mention of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld saga. A curious division emerges here: the magic-focused saga is considered "terrible" compared to the City Watch and Industrial Revolution arcs, which receive high praise. Rereading, far from being a symptom of nostalgia, is presented as a way to squeeze out what the first read missed.

Financial Crisis Explained in 65 Pages

The twist comes with La Finanza y el Poder by J. Bochaca. A slim 65-page booklet promising to explain what a bank is, how central banks function, what the Federal Reserve does, and how FIAT money originates "with a simple accounting entry." The hook is powerful: understanding the mechanism that turns an annotation into legal tender. The recommendation includes a link to a free PDF and a paperback version for €27.

The critical vein doesn’t stop there. The Secrets of the Federal Reserve by Eustace Mullins joins the list with a free PDF and a physical edition for €22. The conversation makes it clear there is an audience seeking intellectual ammunition to question the official economic narrative rather than mere escapism. Curiosity, in this case, is as concrete as the price of each copy.

Sci-Fi, Dystopias, and Don Quixote

Science fiction finds its place with The Day of the Triffids, a novel where giant carnivorous plants grown for industrial oil become deadly when an asteroid blinds humanity. According to those recommending it, it’s the most reread novel. Asimov also appears with Foundation and the short story The Last Question, described as "a quick read with a wonderful ending." Brandon Sanderson and his Cosmere complete the section on addictive sagas.

In classic dystopia, Huxley’s Brave New World slips into the essentials, alongside Orwell’s 1984. The mention of the latter leads to a political reading connecting it to the present, though without specific data to support it. Don Quixote and The Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk represent the most classic and satirical vein, with Pío Baroja’s The Tree of Knowledge cited as an example of perfect style.

Stephen King and Everyday Pavor

Pavor has a name: Stephen King. It is described as the definitive novel about childhood and antiestéticar, while The Stand is "his epic," a battle between good and evil in a world ravaged by a bicho. Length, far from being an obstacle, is justified: "it reads itself." The Long Walk also receives praise, albeit with recurring criticism regarding the sensual of minors as a repetitive theme in his work.

The discussion on King serves to remind us that pure entertainment has as many defenders as serious non-fiction. Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is cited as an example of an engaging book "without being academic drudgery." The boundary between learning and enjoying blurs.

The Club of Uncomfortable Essays

Los últimos anestesiados by Gustavo Bueno is presented as an alternate history where an invasion fiercer than the one in 711 leaves Spaniards isolated in a reserve, sunk in a unique savagery. There, Gustavo Bueno and Ortega y Gasset debate Platonic-style causes of this situation. The description is as original as it is rigorous, appealing to readers seeking new mental frameworks.

Opus Nigrum by Marguerite Yourcenar and Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations complete a list where philosophy and history carry weight. Vargas Llosa’s Time’s Fury, about a coup in Guatemala, and Pérez-Reverte’s Fire Line, about the Battle of the Ebro, prove historical novels have loyal fans too. Over 800 pages read in a weekend.

The Book as Cult Object

Some keep a copy of Lovecraft’s Travels into Another World since they were 17, bought in a now-closed bookstore in A Coruña, preserving it through every move. The book ceases to be text and becomes an object of memory. This anecdote, repeated in various forms, explains why the initial question generates so many answers: you don’t choose a book, you choose a moment.

The list closes with A Confederacy of Dunces, The Necronomicon, and Gracián’s Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia, a compendium of aphorisms from 1647 that, it is said, offers something interesting on any page. Centuries later, it still works.

In the end, the question "what is your favorite book" has no single answer, but a pattern: the books recommended with the most fervor are those that changed something in the reader. Whether it’s a map of elven lineages or a manual on the Federal Reserve.