On a trip to Barcelona, years before I ended up living there, my friends took me to the Sant Antoni Sunday Book Market on a sunny Sunday in November. That morning I brought home a ruined version of Mecanoscrit del segon origin, by Manuel de Pedrolo, and a copy of the first edition of the book Nosotras que contamos, by Inés García-Albi. It was almost new. Having just graduated, that book that provided an x-ray of female journalists in Spain triggered my desire to read. A book that talked about Josefina Carabias, Pilar Narvión, Maruja Torres, Rosa Montero, Joana Bonet, among others, and that shed light on them.
They being protagonists, them being readers. Because they tend to read more and are the ones who visit bookstores and libraries more frequently. The latest Barometer of Reading and Book Purchasing Habits in Spain shows that women are “considerably” more readers than men: they are 69.9% compared to 59.5%. In addition, the percentage of women reading in their free time is “significantly” higher, according to the Government's study, than that of men and occurs in all age groups, especially from 25 to 34 years old. Reading books in free time is greater among women and this gender difference has remained stable over recent years. And they read more when they are studying, but also when they are in quarantine, and even when they retire, when their paid work time is over and they only have to continue caring at home. As they have always done.
They are also the majority in reading clubs, at book presentations and at signings, especially at signings. There is a lot of romance in that tense wait until that author takes the book, asks you for your name and signs... and you shrink there feeling so much next to someone who masterfully describes what you feel, what you experienced, what you remember. Oh, that Inés, and her joy, that Almudena Grandes drew! At that moment, there is no rush in the empathy or admiration that you profess to the writer at the table who signs it, dates it, and returns the signed copy to you. Someone immortalizes the moment and you see yourself with that ridiculous gesture, which dances between the shame and emotion of a five-year-old child. There, in that moment, the book has fulfilled its role.
This is why this Sant Jordi Day is so magical: we give away books, and even roses like in Catalonia, or we simply celebrate the book, without further ado... Because there, in its paragraphs, swim our desires, our memories, the knowledge that we search Only in the paper pages of a book do I find the peace that I cannot find on turbulent days. Does it happen to you too? Happy Day, readers.
