8-9-2026 MY FAVES: girls' club

 what i'm reading...

i completed until august by gabriel garcía márquez. a quick read, super vivid and perfect for summertime. this was márquez' final work, initially scrapped then published (pretty much unfinished) by his sons, against his final wishes. i love márquez' sensory-evoking storytelling. you can smell the gladiolas, hear the bolero songs, and taste ana magdalena's gin tonics. the book is mainly about female desire and infidelity. and like many books before (bridges of madison county, ana karenina), the reader might justify the main character's needs. the book did feel unfinished. i needed to understand more about ana magdalena's dead mother, why was she buried on the island, did she too have a lover who still leaves her flowers? the ominous last quote by our main character leaves us on edge: "don't be scared. she understands. she's the only one who could. what's more, i think she'd already understood when she decided to be buried on that island". according to this article from the i paper, "the novel has qualities: it is set in a world that strikes an evocative balance between the real and dreamlike. for the most part, the prose flows and does not lack energy. that said, there are repetitions, which stand out in a short book, and the story ends so abruptly that it is obvious that it is unfinished."

there's another exploration of generations like one hundred years of solitude. we find the deceased mother (a mystery, basic facts: buried on the island, gladiolas on the grave, died prematurely, over 50s), ana magdalena (main character, we know her flaws, we can empathize and pity her, we can justify her and hate her), the daughter micaela (could she be the mix of the extreme - wanting to be a nun but also going out with jazz players?). 

i also completed the short story 260 dana (260 days), a devastating book documenting the homeland war of the 90s in croatia through the eyes of a preteen boy. croatian's thanksgiving and memorial day is celebrated august 5th, when the country celebrates its hard-fought freedom. when you look into literature and media documenting this war, it will naturally trigger negative emotions. hopefully it will humble us and remind us how thankful we are not being direct victims of war. perhaps it will shed more light and empathy toward those who are suffering under the horrors of war. what we see online is often censored, and the horrors are often even worse than what we perceive.

what i'm listening to...

sib's been on a search for a lost, forgotten croatian song we would apparently hear on the radio during our first years of living in croatia. in solidarity, i've been listening to playlists with the best radio hits croatia can offer. while we're not certain what song is tormenting sib's memories (yet!), i discovered some fantastic bops i'm adding to my summertime playlists:

24 sata - vanna

nemoj mi raditi to - et

peti element - dino dvornik

funky maniac - divas

traži se dečko - e.n.i.

during this comprehensive research, i really got interested in croatian girl groups. there's plenty out there. some grunge bands, folklore inspired, or r'n'b and spice girls inspired. below is a list of some fave all-girl groups from the croatian music industry, categorized by genre:

putokazi, ženska klapa dalmatinke, harmonija disonance, lelek - voices of tradition

these two bands tap into tradition in two different ways. for putokazi, i recommend their album androida (2004), which is completely defined by the gen x soft club aesthetic. the mesmerizing voices transport you to some neo-futuristic utopia. ženska klapa dalmatinke is an all-female acapella group that performs traditional klapa songs from the dalmatian. if you want true mediterranean tunes, i recommend cviće moje and izresla ruža rumena. lelek represented croatia this year in the eurosong contest with their song andromeda. similar to lelek is harmonija disonance, also taking inspiration from traditional singing groups of croatia's past. beside nevera (lei, lei), and zima, they also collaborate with modern songs, such as their collab with let 3, alen vitasović in the remake of the hit profesor jakov.

divas, e.n.i., feminnem - pop divas

these three bands are pop culture divas, and can compare to tlc, spice girls, and little mix. divas introduced r'n'b to the croatian pop scene with their song funky maniac. e.n.i. shamelessly sing about female lust in their hit traži se dečko, and they respond to let 3's profesor jakov with a girl point of view mara pogibejčić. feminnem recently had a 20-year reunion, but their greatest hits came during the noughties and early 2010s: subota bez tebe, chanel 5, baš mi je dobro, and lako je sve are just a few girly pop bops that will keep your hips moving!

punčke, žen - for some edge

in the mood for modern day grunge? both bands have grit with strong female vocals. if you're looking for underground, these bands should be added to your fall rotation, especially the songs opet gange and uroni u san.

cacadou look, mexmett, kontesa nera - ladies from the 80s

these iconic rockstars got my attention through covers, like tako lako, motori, and vječna vatra. cacadou look also has the hit kao pjesma, one of the best songs of the 80s. some of croatia's best music came out of the yugoslavian era. these rock girls confirm it.