THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

“ I’ve given up on hope, from now on I fight.” – Nina Guerrera       THE CIPHER by Isabella Maldonado Thomas & Mercer Intense, thrilling, with a kick-ass Latina Heroine. Yes, I read it in one sitting, and yes, I love this "Warrior Girl" Nina Guerrera, who survives a nightmarish childhood, who thrives in the face of adversity, and brings villains to justice. I kept picturing a Latina Dr. Samantha Waters with brown hair, who gets inside the minds of serial killers to solve heinous crimes. The dynamic between Nina and FBI Mind Hunter Jeffrey Wade was brilliantly complicated. Not enemies, but certainly not friends. By the end, they learn to trust one another and have each other’s backs.  We’re hoping for a Book 2. We don’t want to let Nina and Wade go.  Maldonado’s writing is realistic, sharp, precise, graphic, and well detailed. It helps that she is a former Police Captain.  This made the book very intense, very suspenseful, and very addictive. Reade...

The Latina Book Club is honored to participate once again in  Multicultural Children’s Book Day January 29, 2021.  The book was a gift, but the review is our own.  We welcome author Vanessa Varela. ATTRIBUTES OF A HISPANIC GIRL: I CAN  Written and illustrated by Vanessa Varela, M.Ed., M.A. FLL.  (Bilingual Book)  The stick-figure drawings are powerful in their simplicity and femininity. The book is short, sweet, pink!, and to the point. The author has taken all the negative remarks about girls and Latinos, and turned them into positive attributes, like speaking two languages allows girls to bridge two cultures. And she does it all in English and Spanish.  All we can say is: Brava! INTERVIEW The Latina Book Club: This book started as an academic paper based on Gloria Anzaldua’s book BORDERLANDS & Jaques Lacan’s MIRROR STAGE. Share with us what you saw in their work that inspired you. Vanessa Varela: Literature is the window that has let me unders...

The Latina Book Club wishes everyone a Happy & Healthy New Year.  We wanted to start 2021 with a powerful and inspirational book,  and are well pleased with our find.  I AM THESE TRUTHS by Sunny Hostin is a timely, poignant and moving memoir. From New York, to Washington, and back again, our heroine has overcome poverty, racism and sexism through hard work, education and tremendous perseverance. Sunny’s story is a triumph and an inspiration to women everywhere. I AM THESE TRUTHS A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and  Living Between Worlds by Sunny Hostin HarperOne What are you? A simple and difficult question for a Latina woman straddling two cultures. Sunny Hostin has lived between two worlds and has learned to “bridge them together to fight for what’s right.” Asunción Cummings Hostin aka Sunny Hostin grew up half Puerto Rican and half African-American raised by teenage parents in the South Bronx. Escaping poverty and the turbulence of her early life thro...

Gallery Books/ Simon & Schuster “I believe that culture shapes identity and defines possibility; that it teaches us who we are, what to believe, and how to dream.   We should all be able to look at the world around us and see a reflection of our true live experiences.   Until then, the American story will never be complete.”   -- America Ferrera Inspiring.   Courageous. Amazing.   Once again, actress and activist America Ferrera has brought together a diverse group of individuals who straddle two or more cultures to bring us a wonderful collection of personal experiences that attempt to answer the question of “what kind of American am I?”    Contributors to this anthology -- AMERICAN LIKE ME: Reflections on Life Between Cultures --  include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Laurie Hernandez, Diane Guerrero, Carmen Perez, Carmen Carrera, Randall Park, Michelle Kwan, Padma Lakshmi, etc. Many readers will see themselves reflected ...

   Congratulations to Carmen Rita on her debut novel. The Latina Book Club is happy to name NEVER TOO REAL our Book of the Month.   “Everyone bore witness to…the supreme power of love. Family love and the love of friends. It was all so real.” Kensington Books THEY ARE EVERY WOMAN! Finally!  A book where today’s professional, savvy Latinas are represented.   Latinas will be able to recognize themselves in these four protagonists -- educated, professional, hard-working women, who are proud of their heritage and sexual orientation.  Readers will find the book funny and heart-wrenching, and at the end wish they too could be part of this tremendous sisterhood. NEVER TOO REAL is a “savvy and wise” novel by debut author Carmen Rita.  It’s awe-inspiring and very real.  It’s about fierce friendships that stay with you through lost careers, broken marriages, financial troubles and identity-crises.  It’s about the famil...

       Grieve. But let your grief be your process, not your address. —Pastor Taylor I should be on Prozac, but I’m on prayer instead. —Karen Valentin Publisher: Faith Words Karen Valentin’s new book—THE MOTHER GOD MADE ME TO BE—is poignant, tearful, hopeful and empowering. She married her best friend Gavin. He had doubts the day before the wedding but it could have been nerves. It wasn’t.  Three years and two boys later, he asked for a divorce.  It took two years for the divorce to become final, and during that time Karen drowned in heartache, loneliness and responsibility. But with a strong faith in God and the help of family and friends–including Gavin’s mother and sisters—Karen was able to provide for her sons.  She found a good job, and best of all, she found her voice and began singing and writing again.  It took a while, but Karen soon realized that she was not a victim of her ex’s choices, he was.  ...

The Party Continues!   Join The Latina Book Club every week this month for new book reviews, fun “Top 14” lists, author interviews and book giveaways.   This week, we are giving away an e-book copy of EVERY HIDDEN FEAR.   Leave a comment below or tweet our hashtag -- #amreadingwiththelatinabookclub --   to win. Happy Hispanic Heritage Month and Good luck! --mcf If you’re not constantly watching and taking care of little things with a house, all kinds of things will fester in the dark and grow out of sight to damage it until they pull it down on your head. —Gran Riveting. Masterful. Suspenseful. Memorable. EVERY HIDDEN FEAR is book three in Linda Rodriguez’s Skeet Bannion series.  It’s a fast-paced, exhilarating drama starring a clever heroine, a ghastly murder and more suspects than innocents.  Readers will be enthralled (once again) from the very first page to the last.  NOTE: This may be third in a series, but it stands alon...

   The Latina Book Club welcomes Valerie Tejeda , a journalist turned author.   She had a dream about Marilyn Monroe and a book idea was born.   Despite her writing credits and contacts, getting published was not easy, but not impossible.   We are looking forward to her book’s debut next July.   Congratulations, Valerie! CONTEST!  Enter to win an advance readers copy of HOLLYWOOD WITCH HUNTER by visiting valerietejeda.com/showmethemagic .  Good luck! “Writing and performing have always been passions of mine, even though now I wouldn't be caught dead acting!” – Valerie Tejeda Q:   Are you a "Valley Girl?" Tell us about yourself and what you love most about living in Southern California. Well, I was born in North Hollywood, California, grew up in Burbank and spent my high school years in the Sacramento area, so I am truly a California girl!   To be honest, I love everything about Southern California! I love ...

T oday is the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.   In celebration, The Latina Book Club will give one lucky reader a free e-book copy of THE AMADO WOMEN, our Book of the Week.   Enter to win by leaving a comment below or by posting this hashtag on Twitter, #amreadingwithTheLatinaBookClub.   It's a mouthful; we know.   Winner will be announced next Monday.   And, look for more prizes every week during this special month. Cinco Puntos Press   Happiness is a decision.   You simply cast aside that which you are tired of looking at, weary of battling, unable to accept and focus on that which remains.   --Mercy Amado, matriarch Stunning, original, beautiful, mesmerizing. I love that this novel is about gutsy Latina women, and better yet, gutsy Latina sisters.    They fight and argue like sisters will do, but pick on one and you are facing all three!   And that fire, that passion is what makes Zamorano's debut novel s...

   The Latina Book Club is proud to select CHASING THE SUN as its Book of the Month. “He should have stuck to what was working for them—ask nothing and expect no problems in return.”    “Someone who doesn’t want to be with you is not worth fighting for.”     Natalia Sylvester’s debut novel is fast-paced, rousing, suspenseful and nail-bitingly realistic.   This is the story of a marriage, a kidnapping, a lover’s triangle and a reunion.   I was hooked from the first page.   SUMMARY:      A well-to-do business man, Andres and his family live in Lima, Peru, during a time of civil and political unrest, where kidnapping is a thriving business and no one with money is safe. No one.   He is focused on expanding his company and his wealth.   Another argument with his wife Marabela leads to her disappearance—again.   He wonders if she has left him—again—until he receives a ransom note.   Ma...