THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

    NEW! Every Wednesday The Latina Book Club will feature excerpts from exciting novels by Latino authors. Happy reading! and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! LUCK IS JUST THE BEGINNING By Celeste León Floricanto Press Book Summary:  This novel is based on Celeste Leon’s father’s true story – he won the Puerto Rican lottery and used the winnings for the benefit of all. It’s fiction but an inspiring heroic adventure.  Read our review of LUCK IS JUST THE BEGINNING by clicking here .  And click here for Celeste Leon’s post about her father. EXCERPT: CHAPTER 1 Maunabo, Puerto Rico November 17, 1944 Ramon León had a powerful premonition. Something extraordinary was about to happen. Just that morning, he shot an unprecedented seven free throws in a row. He watched the seventh ball soar into the air and sail through the tattered net when numbers appeared, high in the sky above the palm tree that held the fa...

       The Latina Book Club continues to celebrate and honor our Fathers. Here’s a loving tale about a Dad who is a true hero to his family and his town;  and an inspiration to men everywhere. If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. —Maya Angelou And for the cruel person who tears out the heart with which I live, I cultivate neither nettles nor thorns; I cultivate a white rose. —José Marti   It’s your family, your friends, and our belief in one another that count most in the end. —Ramón Carrasquillo.   “Ramón León Carrasquillo had a powerful premonition. Something extraordinary was about to happen.” Floricanto Press So opens LUCK IS JUST THE BEGINNING, a novel by Celeste León based on her father’s true story.  It’s a beautiful, inspiring, mesmerizing tale written by a loving daughter to honor the man and father she admires most.  But don’t think this is just anoth...

   The Latina Book Club wishes Fathers everywhere a Happy Father’s Day. We also welcome author Celeste Leon, who shares with us the story of her “lucky” father  and the reasons she just had to write a book about him. And many Felicidades to Celeste on her book, LUCK IS ONLY THE BEGINNING, being named a Finalist in the 2016 International Book Awards, and a Finalist for the Mariposa Award for Best First Book in the  2016 International Latino Book Awards . Three Generations Author, father & daughter FROM CELESTE LEÓN: In 1944 my father, Ramón León, won the lottery. $18,000, a fortune! ($500,000 in today's money.) To say that it changed his life and the lives of others is a gross understatement. His story has become such family lore that ten years ago, I decided I must tell it. “Why do you want to write about me?” my father asked when I said I was writing a book about him. His response shows his humility. What he accompli...

    It's March and The Latina Book Club is celebrating Women's History Month .   To help us is Teresa Dovalpage , who shares with our readers her interview of an exciting new author with a great family tale to tell. Meet Celeste León , award-winning writer and a 2013 alumna of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. She is the recipient of First Prize in the annual contest for the High Sierra Writers group in Reno, Nevada for her essay, “Finding Home,” about her travels to Puerto Rico in search of her family roots. When Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor read the piece, she said, “If your work on your short story reflects your work on your book, it will be successful.” Bueno, Celeste has proved her right!  The piece was also a finalist in the 2014 annual contest for The Preservation Foundation. Her short stories “Sharing Luck” and “A Lucky Man” (both published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating People Who Make a Differenc...