THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

The Latina Book Club is proud to be part of Ellen Castro’s Condor Book Tour.   We like that Ellen has come up with 52 Ways for people to build trust, stay positive and flourish.   Read all about this “ Chief Energizing Officer ” and her new book.    And, for a full listing of the tour stops, see end of interview below. ---mcf Q:   You seem to be a very spiritual person.   Please tell us a little about yourself and where your faith and positivity come from.   Why is trust so important to you that it is the basis of your book? A:    I am a spiritual person. If not for my belief in God, I probably would be depressed, an alcoholic or dead. My mom was bi-polar, totally unstable and mentally ill. She committed suicide when I was 17. With a sixth grade education and heavy thick Mexican barrio accent, my dad broke through the poverty cycle for his family. None of his many successes were ever enough because he could not comprehend he was already enough. Dad was a genius in creating

  Guess which Latino celebrities have written children books.   Latina.com listed eight of them and I had to share them here.     I didn’t know all of them, but I was fascinated to learn that many of these books were inspired not only by the author’s children, but also by their siblings and pets.   For the full article visit Latina.com by clicking here . LATINO CHILDREN AUTHORS 1.     Ricky Martin -- SANTIAGO THE DREAMER IN LAND AMONG THE STARS     2.     Gloria Estefan – THE MAGICALLY MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURES OF NOELLE THE BULLDOG 3.     Mario Lopez – MUD TACOS and MARIO AND BABY GIA 4.     Cheech Marin – CHEECH AND THE SPOOKY GHOST BUS   5.     Thalia – CHUPIE: THE BINKY THAT RETURNED HOME 6.     Perez Hilton – THE BOY WITH THE PINK HAIR 7.     Shakira – WORLD SCHOOL DAY ADVENTURE WITH DORA THE EXPLORER, written with Nickelodeon 8.     Jorge Ramos – I’M JUST LIKE MY MOM, I’M JUST LIKE MY DAD (bilingual)   Do you know any others?   Let us know.

   The Latina Book Club is proud to introduce artist and poet Lorena Fernandez.   She has written two books on personal growth and healing through art.   It’s a fascinating and creative process that uses the mind and the body, the spirit and the soul.   I know you will enjoy “meeting” Lorena as much as I did.   ---mcf       Making art can ease the suffering in emotional moments, and,  in the long run, it helps us to know ourselves and make sense of our own life journey. –Lorena Fernandez         Q:    In your book SPIRITUAL HEALING WITH ART, it is part art book, part memoir. In it we see you creating each painting at different stages of your life. Do you think this "lifetime painting" technique can work for everyone? How so?     A:   Yes. I think that making art as we live our life allows us to get to know ourselves and to make sense of our own evolution.   When we feel overwhelming emotions, activities like drawing and painting are helpf

   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 have added to our site is that of "Writers Wednesdays." The first Wednesday of each month we feature a writer talking about .....writing.  Happy Reading!      I NEVER FORGET THE SOFRITO by Alidis Vicente Two years ago my son’s nursery school teacher asked to speak to me about something he said in school. Like any mother, I prepared for the worst. Then she asked me to translate what my son meant when he said, “I had pansito for breakfast, but it was too hot for my lengua”. That moment provided the affirmation needed for my writing endeavors. Shortly after my son was born, I decided to take my love of writing more seriously. I remember going to a major bookstore in search of reading material he could culturally relate to. A store employee referred me to a sectio

  This month’s selection, MEXIZONA, is set in the midst of the current Arizona-Mexico border crisis. Larson has given us a modern-day Romeo and Juliet love story. Our young lovers are from different sides of the border, literally. Unfortunately, prejudice and politics are against them from all fronts. Their forbidden romance leads to betrayal, revenge and murder.   Click here for the full book review.   Happy Reading. --mcf