Reading is a journey that leads us to discover new worlds, different cultures and, most importantly, ourselves. What better time to indulge in this practice than during the summer?

Why is summer reading so special?

With its long days and more relaxed pace, summer offers the ideal time and attitude for reading. Without the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we can finally indulge in the pleasure of leafing through a book, letting ourselves be captivated by the stories and losing ourselves in the words. Reading during the summer helps us expand our horizons, stimulating our imagination, keeping our minds exercised and reducing stress.

Here are our recommendations for holiday reading

Whatever your destination, we thought we’d offer you a collection of books selected from the most read and appreciated titles of our publishing houses (Battello a vapore, De Agostini, Einaudi, Electa, Mondadori, Mondadori Electa, Mondadori Children’s Books, Piemme, Rizzoli and Sperling & Kupfer, Star Comics and Utet), designed to satisfy readers of all ages.

The Mondadori Group participates in the celebration of love in all its forms and nuances through some of the most interesting and representative books published by our publishing houses, dealing with themes such as diversity.

In our Group, we strive every day to build a more inclusive world where everyone can feel loved and accepted. So this month, through the power of words, writing and reading, we want to promote stories that speak a universal language: the language of love.

With an unprecedented live stream on Lucca Comics & Games‘ Instagram profile today from the headquarters on Corso Garibaldi, the community event and the Star Comics publishing house jointly announced the participation of an exceptional guest: mangaka Hiro Mashima will be in Italy for the first time, in Lucca, from 1 to 4 November, to meet fans during a series of appointments and signings.

The publisher unveiled a host of new publications ahead of the Master’s visit to Italy.

Rave – The Groove Adventure, Mashima’s debut manga published by Star Comics starting in April 2004, will be available in a new edition, with the first issue also distributed in a limited-run variant-cover edition. Variant covers are also planned for the first volumes of Hiro Mashima’s most famous series, Fairy Tail, and his latest work, Edens Zero. Star Comics will also offer an Edens Zero Starter Pack containing volumes 1 through 4, perfect for newcomers to this compelling sci-fi epic. Last but not least, Star Comics will publish the self-contained volume Mashima Hero’s, a crackling crossover that unites the best loved characters from his three main series – Rave, Fairy Tail and Edens Zero – in a single adventure.

A look at the career of sensei Hiro Mashima

Born in Nagano Prefecture on 3 May 1977, in 1998 Hiro Mashima won the 60th edition of the prize for first-time authors of Weekly Shonen Magazine, the historic and prestigious magazine of the publisher Kodansha, with Magician. He then made his debut in FRESH Magazine with the self-contained short story Bad Boys Song. At age 21 he embarked on his first serialization with Rave – The Groove Adventure, published in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1998 to 2005. The serial took Mashima into the big time: Rave became a huge success, inspiring an anime, video games and merchandise, and raising the author’s notoriety and reputation.

Mashima achieved the ultimate consecration with his second serialization, Fairy Tail, also produced for Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2006 to 2017. Fairy Tail became one of the magazine’s all-time best-sellers and one of the most iconic manga of the 2000s, surpassing total worldwide sales of 72 million. During this period the author completed his evolutionary path, establishing a highly distinctive soft pop graphic style with an immediate impact. He is currently at work on the sci-fi battle-action Edens Zero, which began in 2018 and is now in its 26th volume. Successful anime and a variety of transmedia products have been derived from all his major works.

Hiro Mashima is also active in video game design and has produced a manga miniseries based on the hugely popular Monster Hunter franchise, Monster Hunter Orage. Recently the publisher Kodansha announced that the Master would soon begin his fourth serialization, simultaneously with Edens Zero: Dead Rock, for Monthly Shonen Magazine.

Fairy Tail was named best shonen manga at the 2009 Kodansha Manga Awards. Mashima also received the International Spotlight Award at the 2017 Harvey Awards, and the Fauve Special Award at the 2018 Angoulême Festival, where an exhibition and numerous events were dedicated to him. In July 2021, he met French President Emmanuel Macron during the latter’s visit to Japan, with Macron posting news about the meeting on his social media.

This June, our brands take part in the festivities of Pride month, a time of the year dedicated to celebrating the diversity, inclusion and rights of the LGBTQIA+ communities.

Pride month is an occasion to foster values such as respect, equality and tolerance towards each individual, regardless of their gender, identity or sexual preferences.

For pride month, we recommend a series of publications on LGBTQIA+ topics published by our publishing houses. We believe in the power of books as a tool used to convey inclusiveness through stories speaking of all shades of love.

Mondadori and Star Comics created a special Pride month page on their respective websites to demonstrate their commitment towards inclusion and diversity. In fact, the same will contain various book suggestions for its readers. And there’s something for everyone: from comics to novels or autobiographies to memoirs.

Thanks to this initiative, people can access a vast range of editorial offers depicting heartfelt and open-minded stories full of brave characters.

Our publishing houses also suggest other reading suggestions:

The Wom also created a special section on its website. The Wom in fact addresses its community through such area by sharing content developed to give space to the LGBTQIA+ communities and clarify the most controversial issues to spread awareness and inclusion.

 

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After announcing the appearance of the master, Norihiro Yagi – author of Ariadne in the blue sky and Claymore – Star Comics and Lucca Comics & Games revealed two other important international guests during the press conference for the 2022 festival that are linked to the massive Knights of the Zodiac – Saint Seiya fictional universe.

At Lucca we’ll be joined from neighbouring France by writer Arnaud Dollen and illustrator Jérôme Alquié, authors of the official Knights of the Zodiac – Saint Seiya spin-off that was announced during Lucca Comics & Games’ official 2022 press conference.

The series, entitled Knights of the Zodiac – Saint Seiya: Time Odissey, will consist of 5 volumes that will be released by the Star label.

The master, Kurumada, personally supervised the project, which has an art style very close to the anime, and gave fans a personal message that can be read in the first issue.

The 5 volumes will be available in a 21 x 28 cm hardback format. Additionally, each of them will also be available in a collector’s edition​, with volumes measuring 25.5 x 33.8 cm, containing unpublished extra material and exclusive content. Both the Regular and Collector’s Edition of the first album will be available from 28 October in comic stores, bookstores, online stores and, of course, at Lucca Comics & Games.

Jérôme Alquié and Arnaud Dollen will be at Lucca Comics & Games from 29 to 31 October. Events that are open to the public that they will be participating in will be announced soon.

From the dawn of time, the gods of Olympus have fought for control of the Earth. Against them stands the goddess Athena, aided by her knights! When a new opponent enters the scene, the Knights’ very future is at stake. Can Ikki, the Phoenix Bronze Knight, unravel the threads of destiny?

Jérôme Alquié

The French illustrator and colourist was born in 1975 and got his start illustrating artbooks for Japanese anime in the ‘80s. A big fan of Saint Seiya, he’s created numerous illustrations over the years, and helped create the trailer for Saint Seiya – The Hades in 2001. In 2003, he made studies for statues of Captain Future and Captain Harlock. In 2011, he formed an artistic partnership with Arnaud Dollen with the series The Supernaturals (Delcourt). In 2019, the Captain Harlock comic mini-series, written by Dollen, started being published with Kana. At the same time, the two were working on creating Saint Seiya Time Odyssey.

Arnaud Dollen

Aerospace engineer, novelist and comic book writer. He began collaborating with Jérôme Alquié in 2002, creating the fantasy novel, The Ring of Seven. After the Supernaturals​​series (Delcourt), he created the recent ​Saint Seiya Time Odyssey, again in partnership with Alquié. He currently works as the lead author on the Cross the Ages project (www.crosstheages.com).