THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

Al jibaro nunca se le quita la mancha de platano. A jibaro can never wash away the stain of the plantain .                         -Esmeralda Santiago Vintage, 1990 If you are Puerto Rican, you have probably heard of Esmeralda Santiago.  She is the author that gave Puerto Ricans a face and a voice.  She is every Boricua – torn between two cultures, two languages, two identities.  Which is the real Esmeralda? The answer is another question – why can’t she be both? Esmeralda’s WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN is the first of three memoirs that take readers from the pueblitos of the small Caribbean island to the big city in Manhattan.  Esme’s new life is full of challenges, discoveries and dualities.  In fact, the original version of the novel had two parts  –  Puerto Rico and America.  Esmeralda is both Puerto Rican ...

  We are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with fun "Top 14" Lists.   Here is a list of New York's Leading Latino Authors.   How many do you know?   Feel free to add to our list by leaving a comment.   And, follow us on Twitter.   Our hashtag is #amreadingwiththelatinabookclub.   Matt de la Pe ñ a 1.        Esmeralda Santiago, www.esmeraldasantiago.com   2.        Theresa Valera,   http://theresavarela.com/   3.        Chris Campanioni, http://chriscampanioni.com/   4.        Manuel A. Melendez, http://www.manuel-melendez.com/   5.        Torrey Maldonado, http://www.torreymaldonado.com/ Theresa Varela   6.        Matt de la Pe ñ a, http://mattdelapena.com/   7.      ...

     There are so many good, memorable, inspiring memoirs that it was difficult to choose only 14.   Please feel free to add your favorites to this list.---mcf 1)       RITA MORENO: A MEMOIR by Rita Moreno 2)       HANDBOOK FOR AN UNPREDICTABLE LIFE by Rosie Perez 3)       TAKE THIS MAN: A MEMOIR  by Brando Skyhorse 4)       A CUP OF WATER UNDER MY BED by Daisy Hernandez 5)       CONFESSIONS OF A BOOK BURNER by Lucha Corpi 6)       THE CLOSER by Mariano Rivera 7)       SHATTERED PARADISE:   MEMOIRS OF A NICARAGUAN WAR CHILD by Ileana Araguti 8)       WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN by Esmeralda Santiago 9)       DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS by Piri Thomas 10)    ALMOST WHITE: F...

The Latina Book Club is pleased to introduce the talented Liz DeJesus.  Born in Puerto Rico, Liz is a novelist and a poet, and has been writing since she was able to hold a pen.   She has published several novels, and has just started a new exciting fantasy series.   Please join me in welcoming her. Q:   Your writing is an “intriguing blend of fiction and fantasy” so I have to ask – Do you believe in magic?  If so, how do you know it’s real? How long have you believed? A:   I do believe in magic. But not the kind that’s described in my books. I don’t think people can control wind and fire or anything like that. I am a very spiritual person and I do believe that there is a very thin veil that divides the real world and the spirit world. I think that if you pay close attention you can see a lot of things, both good and bad. I have believed this my whole entire life. How do I know it’s real? Faith. Simple as that. Q: You wrote in jou...

  The Latina Book Club is proud to be an official stop of the COUNT ON ME Condor Book Tour . The blog tour dates and links are at the bottom of this post. Leave a comment and you will be entered to win a free copy of the book . Comadres…the term encompassses some of the most complex and important relationships that exist between women. Comadres are best friends, confidants, coworkers, advisors, neighbors, and godmothers to one’s children. Comadres are the women they know they can count on, lean on, and ask for advice or for help when needed . ---Nora de Hoyos Comstock, President & CEO, Las Comadres Para Las Americas I have been a member of Las Comadres Para Las Americas for almost eight years. I am now one of the New York City Chapter’s Moderators and the group’s Book Club Coordinator. I find this organization to be amazing, and not just because of the networking, but because of the friendships forged – fierce friendships. We have sisters who attend the monthl...

Edited by Adriana V. Lopez, Atria Books Comadres are the women [we] know [we] can count on, lean on, and ask for advice or for help when needed. Like Las Comadres Para Las Americas, comadres make up the support system women create for themselves on the personal and professional fronts. --Nora de Hoyos Comstock, PhD President & CEO Las Comadres Para Las Americas As comadres, we share our most intimate and formative life experiences so that they become each other's life experiences as well. --"Road Sisters" Stephanie Elizondo Griest Book Summary:   Friendships can bring us peace, fill the emotional shortcomings in our romantic relationships, and help us remember what lies deep inside every one of us. For more than twelve years, the international organization Las Comadres Para Las Americas™ has been bringing together thousands of Latinas to count on, lean on, help, and advise one another.  Comadre is a powerful term. It encompasses...

   Ana is a girl “cloistered and swaddled in the expectations of her class, but she identified with the audacity of the conquistadores, with the confidence that, if they turned their backs on country, family and custom, they could make fortunes and more exciting lives through the work of their hands, the might of their swords. The more she read, the more Ana longed for a world beyond her balcony….” CONQUISTADORA By Esmeralda Santiago Alfred A. Knoft BOOK SUMMARY:   Gloriosa Ana Maria de los Angeles Larragoity Cubillas Nieves de Donostia – aka Ana – is a young Spanish senorita at the beginning of the 19th century. She discovers the diaries of her ancestors and is entranced by their stories of Puerto Rico and Ponce de Leon. Ana is eager to conquer worlds of her own and to visit the Caribbean paradise; she finds a way in the handsome Argoso twin brothers – Ramon and Inocente. She marries Ramon, the oldest, and the trio moves to a sugar plantation on the island....

   Best known for her memoir, WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN, Esmeralda Santiago conquered the crowded events room last night at the 86th Street Barnes and Noble. Esmeralda began her book tour for CONQUISTADORA in Puerto Rico last week. If you missed her last night, not to worry she will be back. Esmeralda will be at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 18, and at El Museo del Barrio on September 28. For more information on Esmeralda visit her on http://www.esmeraldasantiago.com/ . Below are pictures from last night’s booksigning.  Esmeralda was happy to take pictures with me and my fellow Comadres, as she is a comadre herself.  (For more information on Las Comadres, visit http://www.lascomadres.org/ .) And do come back on August 1, for our review of CONQUISTADORA. ---mcf Comadres Julia, Raquel, Esmeralda, Maria. Esmeralda speaking about new book. Store sign.  

Believe it or not, it's December already.  Time for good cheer and holiday shopping.  And, if you are looking for books to stuff in your stockings, here are some great choices.   Merry Navidad & Feliz New Year! --Maria FOR THE COMADRES, COMPADRES & FRIEND BOOK CLUB: LAS CHRISTMAS: Favorite Latino Authors Share Their Holiday Memories by Esmeralda Santiago y Joie Davidow FOR THE ELLA BOOK CLUB: NOTORIOUS by Michele Martinez Book 4 in her suspense series FOR THE LATINO BABY CLUB: RENE HAS TWO LAST NAMES by Rene Colato Lainez in Spanish and English

http://www.lascomadres.org/lco/lco-eng/events/bookclub.html This National Book Club is organized by Las Comadres through a partnership with the Association of American Publishers (AAP).  The purpose is to promote reading of Latino authors. Membership is open to anyone -- women and men. Most of the books selected are also available in Spanish.  There are book clubs in 11 states. Las Comadres Para Las Americas was founded by Nora de Hoyos Comstock.  Their motto:  Connecting Latinas Everywhere! Their December book is  LAS CHRISTMAS: Favorite Latino Authors Share Their Holiday Memories by Esmeralda Santiago y Joie Davidow. This book contains beautifully illustrated book with stories and recipes from: Julia Alvarez, Liz Balmaseda, Gioconda Belli, Denise Chávez, Sandra Cisneros, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Mandalit del Barco, Junot Díaz, Martín Espada, Francisco Goldman, Estela Herrera, Jaime Manrique, Victor Martinez, Aurora Levins Morales, Rosario Moral...

by Esmeralda Santiago Like the latest installment of the Harry Potter series, Esmeralda Santiago’s third memoir has also been eagerly awaited. Fans met the young Esmeralda in WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN, which documented her trip from Puerto Rico to New York. Now, Esmeralda is 20 and in love. She runs away from home with her Turkish Lover, a man 20 years her senior. For the next seven years, her world will revolve around his. She will forsake family and friends for her lover’s sake, until one day she begins to realize that she has needs of her own and desires of her own that he cannot comprehend. And so Esmeralda is reborn and freed. Questions to discuss: 1) Do you think Esmeralda was abused by her lover? 2) How would you describe Esmeralda's relationship with her mother?