THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

I was seeing everyone's tawdry little secrets because murder had thrown a light everywhere.   It was depressing to see how numerous and trashy they were.   --Skeet Bannion   This month's Book of the Month is EVERY LAST SECRET by Linda Rodriguez.   It's Rodriguez' dazzling debut with a kick-ass heroine, a fast-paced mystery with lots of twists and turns, nail-biting suspense and an explosive ending. Rodriguez is a gift storyteller.   I was on the edge of my seat as I read this book.     I was so invested in Skeet and her friends that I could not put it down.   I love when I find a book like this.   And book two will be out later this month, and I am so looking forward to seeing how everyone is doing and what is next for Skeet and company. SUMMARY:   Marquitta "Skeet" Bannion was Kansas City's highest-ranking female Detective, but she leaves her beloved city and job when he cop-husband divorces her because he's jealous o...

   New York has a “Literary Way” – a street dedicated to literature.   Hurray.   It has  a row of bronze plaques that run up and down the street full of quotes from famous authors and books.   Of course, I didn’t see any quotes from Spanish or Latino authors, but I did find one with a two gallos that I liked and wanted to share with you.   Enjoy and Happy Friday!  --mcf  from E.B. White, LETTER TO JAMES THURBER     

Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall – think of it, ALWAYS. --Mahatma Gandhi Me, La Chicana, with a birth certificate that had the box for race checked white. I had lived by a rule that labels were just that, labels. I had convinced myself I was more than a label and I didn’t have to fit into one mold, or tout one line of thought. Even so, I admired those who believed so much that their power, be it brown or black with fists held high, could make a change. But I could never muster the passion to convert convictions into action. Partly, becomes some of my people had been screwing over their own for years. I wanted to live a different story. --Alejandra Marisol Nieto makes a sparkling debut with PIG BEHIND THE BEAR . It’s a fast-paced mystery about a cub reporter who gets in over her head quickly and stays afloat throug...

  The Latina Book Club welcomes author Greta Benavides-Adame.   Her new YA novel is an exciting adventure set amid the beauty of Texas and   majesty of Mexico.   Join us as we chat with Greta and learn about her family, her writing, and what she thought about the Mayan cruse that never was.  Also, take a close look at her book cover; Her daughter designed it.  Talent must run in the family. Q:   Tell about your background.   Where did you grow up?   family? A:   Either as a way of compensating a complicated premature debut on this planet (weighing 4 lbs.), or because my guardian angel turned out to be influential, my childhood was happy and privileged, without any mayor bumps or traumas.   My father was the director of the library of a private university in Monterrey, Mexico, and later the director of the state archives in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, wrote six books (historical novels) and a monthly article for a...

The Latina Book Club's mission is to promote Latina / Latino authors, which we do through book reviews, author interviews, publicity announcements, book of the month selections, etc.  A new feature we are adding is "Writers Wednesdays."  The first Wednesday of each month we will feature a Latina / Latino writer talking about .....writing.   Enjoy! HOW I WROTE MY SECOND NOVEL, THE HONEYEATER by Yolanda A. Reid Writing, for me, is like breathing air. I always wrote little stories and poems as a child. We had lots of books in our home. My mom was a college professor, so during the summers she'd bring home boxes of books (literally) for us to read and have our fill. So in junior high and high school I read numerous books—especially in the summertime—as I wrote in my diaries. This, not surprisingly, turned out to be extremely beneficial for me as a writer. For that way, I practiced and fine-tuned my writing. Then, when I was about 19 years old, I wrot...

Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was often referred to as "The People's Poet."  He was world reknown for his poetry and writing, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.  Neruda also always wrote in green ink, as it was his personal color of hope. To honor Pablo Neruda and in celebration of National Poetry Month, this month's book selection is his INTIMACIES: POEMS OF LOVE.  Below is one of my favorite Neruda poems.  Please share your favorite poem with us by leaving a comment below.  ---mcf ALWAYS I am not jealous of what came before me. Come with a man on your shoulders, come with a hundred men in your hair, come with a thousand men between your breasts and your feet, come like a river full of drowned men which flows down to the wild sea, to the eternal surf, to Time! Bring them all to where I am waiting for you; we shall always be alone, we shall always be you and I alone on earth, to start ou...