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Showing posts from October, 2016

REVIEW: LABYRINTH LOST BY ZORAIDA CORDOVA

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! The Latina Book Club has been counting down all this week with great books celebrating the dark and mysterious. Here’s a good bruja story to keep you up at night! Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Sourcebooks Fire Enchanting, magical, captivating! This is Zoraida Córdova’s answer to the TV show, Charmed , about the three witch-sisters. LABYRINTH LOST features a whole family of witches, and Alexandra is the youngest and most powerful. The family expects a lot from her. Unfortunately, she can’t tell them that she doesn’t want to be a witch so she casts a spell to wipe out her powers and instead vanishes her whole family. Now she has no choice but to learn and work her magic and get her family back before nefarious forces vanish them – and her – forever. We loved this book and are so glad that there will be more books in the series! Vivan las Brujas!  Viva Brooklyn! Book Summary:   Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning
REVIEW:  SANTA MUERTE: THE DANIELA STORY BY LUCINA STONE   As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week,   The Latina Book Club   will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.    Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Story Merchant Books La Santa Muerte in Mexican tradition is the beloved goddess of death and a protector of souls residing in the dark underworld. I can see the connection with Lucina Stone’s new novel, SANTA MUERTE: THE DANIELA STORY. Our young heroine learns that she too is a protector, and soon she will learn what she is truly made out of. Suspenseful. Mysterious. Captivating. Engaging. Lucina Stone’s SANTA MUERTE: THE DANIELA STORY is an amazing and imaginative debut and the great start to a new series. Readers will enjoy the magic and the time travel elements, as well as the struggle of our heroine to accept that she is a bruja, and to come to grips with her powers before they destroy her.

REVIEW: THE ART OF THE BOOK OF LIFE BY JORGE R. GUTIERREZ

       As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week,   The Latina Book Club   will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.    Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Dark Horse Books THE ART OF THE BOOK OF LIFE by Jorge R. Guitiérrez is full of vivid colors, incredible images -- life like and eerie simultaneously -- and wonderful storytelling.  The art celebrates the traditions of Mexico, but more importantly it conveys the eternal battle of good against evil and the universal promise of true love. Once you finish this book, don’t hesitate to get the Fox movie—The Book of Life—starring Zoe Saldana and Diego Luna.  And there is also a book by Stacia Deutsch. Book Summary:   This volume is an inspirational behind-the-scenes look at the making of the animated feature film The Book of Life, from visionary producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) and director Jorge R. Gutierrez (El Tigre: The Adventures

REVIEW: SHADOWSHAPER BY DANIEL JOSE OLDER

As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week,   The Latina Book Club   will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.    Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Scholastic A Puerto Rican heroine, living in Brooklyn, with magical powers and zombies on her tail.  I am hooked!  SHADOWSHAPER is a thrilling and magical YA debut by writer, editor, composer Daniel José Older. The war between good and evil has never been this creepy or terrifying. I hope this is the first of many books in a Shadowshaping series. Book Summary:   Sierra Santiago planned to have an easy summer of making art and hanging out with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep real tears... Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is going on. With the help of a mysterious fellow ar

REVIEW: THE WEIGHT OF FEATHERS BY ANNA-MARIE MCLEMORE (DEBUT NOVEL)

As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week, The Latina Book Club will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.  Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!  Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press For never was a story of more woe  than this of Juliet and her Romeo.   ―   William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet meets Cirque du Soleil! Warring families of traveling performers butt heads and fists over old feuds and superstitions. Matters become worse when Lace Paloma is saved by Cluck Corbeau. Yes, her grandmother would rather see her dead than in debt to her enemy. Lace gets kicked out of her family, and so naturally she moves in with Cluck’s. He is not prepared for the fallout over his good deed, but he’s not sorry either. And when Cupid’s arrow hits them, they will stand firm against both families to protect their love. Congratulations to Anna-Marie McLemore on a fascinating debut!  In THE WEIGHT OF FE

REVIEW: ORDER OF VESPERS BY ELYSE REYES (DEBUT AUTHOR!)

  As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week, The Latina Book Club will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with,    including this debut novel by Elyse Reyes .    Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!   Hey Jude Don’t make it bad Take a sad song and make it better …. And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain Don't carry the world upon your shoulders               “Hey Jude” by The Beatles This is an exciting and dramatic debut from new author Elyse Reyes.  Her young adult novel – ORDER OF VESPERS – is a coming of age novel about a teen with extraordinary powers who was unable to save her family from destruction. Now she must learn to harness her powers in order to save her world. Who is Jasper really? What is she? Why is she stuck going in circles in an inferno of her own? And why is the mysterious Order so interested in controlling her powers? ORDER OF VESPERS is well-written with lots o

REVIEW: JEWELER’S MARK BY R.V. Reyes

“He was using me as bait. And I was nobody’s bait. My mother had not crossed the Straits of Florida with a baby in her arms for me to become bait on dry land. I, Giselle Santos, was going to solve this mystery on my own. ”—Gigi Given that diamonds are hot right now -- Good luck, Kim! --, it seems fitting to review a book full of a girl's shiny and sparkling best friend, and we found the perfect one. JEWELER’S MARK: A Love and Diamond Mystery by R.V. Reyes is a fun, breath-stealing, edge-of-your-seat page turner! Miami. Murder. Mafia. Mayhem. Giselle “Gigi” Santos is a sassy modern Latina working to make her family diamond company on par with Winston and Cartier.  She is also dateless for her 10 th year high school reunion.  Enter sexy and brooding Detective Carlos Garcia; just what the doctor ordered, or was he? Carlos in investigating a recent theft at Gigi’s jewelry store, but why does she feel like a suspect? Suddenly her whole week goes to piece

Q&A WITH RAQUEL ZEPEDA FITZGERALD (FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY!)

   We at The Latina Book Club are intrigued by all things Mayan and Egyptian so we are happy to welcome an author who has combined both cultures in an exciting, dark and chilling series.  Welcome Raquel Zepeda Fitzgerald , a CEO turned writer, and author of The  Osiris Trilogy Mystery Series.  And many thanks  for her gift -- a free guidebook to the series; see below.  Meanwhile, here is the scoop on her trilogy and what she plans for Halloween! Let’s start with a peek at the book trailer for Book Three in the series, OSIRIS 333. Click here . Raquel Zepeda Fitzgerald Q:  Tell us about your fascination with the Mayan and Egyptian cultures? What inspired your series? How do you conduct your research? RAQUEL: As a child I was very interested in the Aztecs because my paternal grandmother was part Aztec. Then I saw that movie, The Mummy. The part that scared me the most was when they wrapped up the priest alive. It gave me nightmares. The first time I went to Californ

BOOK OF THE MONTH: BLACK WIDOW BITCHES BY VICTOR CASS

Women who stepped up Were measured as citizens Of the nation, not as women… This was a people’s war, And everyone was in it. ---Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby First Director of the Women’s Army Corps, WWII Golden Foothills Press This quote from more than 60 years ago is so apropos today.  Women have always had a role in wars, but usually behind the scenes in medical units or where they weren’t at risk of being captured.  But earlier this year, women were finally approved for combat duty, specifically in the infantry, which is why Victor Cass’ new novel seems to be pulled right from the headlines, and maybe a little prophetic too. BLACKWIDOW BITCHES is a political thriller about the first all-female combat infantry unit of paratroopers; Not only soldiers but airborne soldiers! Be warned! This is a big book—846 pages!—about terrorism and war.  It’s raw, horrific, with “blood-soaked” images of war. There are also race issues, gang issues, bullying, hazing,