THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

by Maria Ferrer Founder, The Latina Book Club   It’s been all over the news this week how Dartmouth College’s “Phiesta” charity fund raiser by two of the school’s Greek organizations was cancelled because one Mexican-American student was offended by the party’s theme and she made her displeasure widely known. Has Cinco de Mayo become another day and excuse to drink and party?   Can the same not be said of St. Patrick’s Day and Puerto Rico’s Independence Day? Whether you think the “Phiesta” is offensive or not, let’s use this incident to get away from the Mexican stereotypes.    Mexicans are more than sombreros, fat mustaches, tequila shots and guacamole. Mexicans are a proud people.   Their culture dates back way before the Pilgrims ever settled in Jamestown.   Mexicans had already tamed the Wild West before Texas was Texas.     Their aqueducts rivaled those of Rome; their alphabet and mathematical skills were equal to t...

I was in Ponce, Puerto Rico , this past November for my cousin Anita's birthday party.  I love visiting my home town and rediscovering it all over again.  New this time around, lions!  Which really should not come as much of a surprise since Ponce is named for Ponce de Leon, hence the lions all over the city.   Below are some lions I found in the main Plaza, all beautifully decorated and colorful.  I could not decide which was my favorite.   You try.  And, for a view of my Ponce and its main attractions, enjoy this video . --mcf The original leon from the Plaza Fountain Golden Glory Look at the mask on his coat Black and White and Spectacular The Red Mane is clear even through the fountain Ponce es Ponce. Lo demas es parking.  

Join me every week for Picture Friday.  Today's subject is the wonderful actress Ms. Chita Rivera . I just saw her last night on Broadway in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" at Studio 54.  She was stunning.  The woman is still a MegaStar.  In fact, of all the troope, hers was the clearest voice.  Definitely go see her and the play if you can. Happy Friday!--maria Chita Rivera as Miss Angela Prysock playing The Princess Puffer

   For me, Christmas is all about the music. Silent Night Little Drummer Boy Do You Hear What I Hear Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer But, I am a product of two cultures and two countries. And come Christmas, I want the best of both worlds – snow and Jibarro Christmas music. Dame La Mano Paloma Si No Me Dan De Beber Lloro Niño Jesus Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano One year my Tio Toñito –the best uncle in Ponce and all the world!– gave me eight CDs that he burned with all the Jibaro music he could find. It  is the best present ever. I would like to share with you some of my favorite Spanish Christmas songs. Feel free to blast them; I always do. And, if you happen to wake the neighbors, invite them over for a drink and some holiday cheer. From my home to yours, Happy Navidad and Merry Año Nuevo!                         ...

   The Latina Holiday Blog Tour is the brainchild of Icess Fernandez Rojas ( http://www.writingtoinsanity.com/ ).  She has gathered almost a month’s worth of writers and bloggers -- including yours truly -- for a blog tour.  Think of us as your very own Latina Advent Calendar .  There will be essays, stories, videos, photo albums, music, etc.  Stay tune for more details. In the meantime, here is the lineup for December: Dec. 1 Julia Amante Dec. 2 Valerie R. Dec. 3. Radames Ortiz Dec. 4 Deborah Staley Dec. 5. Sylvia Mendoza Dec. 6 Danielle Klenak Dec. 7 Lupe Mendez Dec. 8 Natasha Oliver Dec. 9 Maria Ferrer -- The Latina Book Club Dec. 10 Sidney Williams Dec. 11 Toni Plummer Dec. 12 Mayra Calvani Dec. 13 Kristy Harding Dec. 14 Thelma Reyna Dec. 15 Rose Molina Dec. 16 Regina Tingle Dec. 17 Teresa Dovalpage Dec. 18 Mirta Espinola Dec. 19 Kim Brown Dec. 20 Gwen Jerris Dec. 21 TBA Dec. 22 Icess Fernandez Roja...

by Maria C. Ferrer Two words. Two messages. READ LATINO When I founded The Latina Book Club in 2005, I was looking for other people who shared my love of reading and who were interested in reading Latino authors in English. I have always been an avid reader. I devour books. But around 2004, I realized that except for the courses I took in college and an odd book here and there, I didn’t read any Latino authors. Heck, if they didn’t have a big name, I didn’t even know them or how to find them. Hence, I purposely set out to discover Latino authors, and thus the birth of The Latina Book Club. I started with Esmeralda Santiago’s WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE -- books totally at opposite ends of the spectrum but two classics that captured the best of Latino literature. And so a dream was born to read Latino, to read Latino authors, and to share those books with others – Latinos and non-Latinos alike! – so they too could discover th...

   THE WINNER STANDS ALONE by Pablo Coehlo Harper Perennial In THE ALCHEMIST, what many consider Pablo Coehlo’s most famous work, a boy goes off in search of his dream. In THE WINNER STANDS ALONE, the protagonist has found his dream and will do anything…anything… to keep her. THE WINNER STANDS ALONE is the story of Igor, a successful, driven Russian entrepreneur who has everything but the perfect woman. Well, he did have her and now she’s gone. Igor will do anything to win back his ex-wife, Ewa, and no one, not even Ewa, will stand in his way. Set amid the frenzy of the Cannes Film Festival, the characters will mingle with the super rich, super famous, the has-beens and the wanna-bes. Glamour, fame and fortune are theirs for the taking, but behind this beautiful fairytale world is another -- a degenerate world of excess and depravity, where hunger and obsession can destroy so easily. COMMENT: Let us know your favorite Pablo Coehlo novel.     ...

     Our April Book of the Month is AS HAPPY AS LING by Carlos Aleman. The characters, some real, others mere illusions, have all made the same blunder. They have chosen to judge their lives. And in judging and labeling, they have eaten from the tree of good and bad, unaware that tragedy is often the greatest teacher of compassion and love. ----Unknown balsero A benediction: May you be as happy as Ling, rolling in the cool morning sand, shouting to the one you love, ‘te amo!’ ----Carlos Aleman, author AS HAPPY AS LING is surreal, passionate, disturbing and irresistible. It’s like Dante’s INFERNO and Garcia Marquez’ 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE. I whole heartedly recommend it. AS HAPPY AS LING is about war, compassion, abuse, truth, faith, depression and most of all, about love -- Love of family, of lovers, of friends, of God… love of self. It’s the story of Adrianna and Octavio, whose marriage is torn asunder by war. He is deployed yet again and she enters into ...

    THE VOTING BOOTH AFTER DARK: Despicable. Embarrassing. Repulsive. By Vanessa Libertad Garcia Fiat Libertad http://www.vanessalibertadgarcia.com/ “Raise your white flags, dirty as they may be.” THE VOTING BOOTH AFTER DARK is a short volume of poetry and essays that follow a group of gay and lesbian Latino club kids in Los Angeles during the course of the 2008 presidential elections. As Obama moves into the White House and Bush moves out, the characters too find themselves on the “Eve of Change.” Whereas, before the elections, they—like most of the country—find themselves full of angst, hopelessness, just like “another ungrateful useless American sitting on the edge of a cliff.” But that “Anguish” is followed by a little hope: “I yearn, I thirst, I crave not to throw all my hard won years away.” And, what begins as dead end days, full of despair, end in acceptance, compassion and trust. With a 40-ounce or a bottle of Barcardi on hand, these 20-somethings a...

                                          Q: You are a writer and a painter. Do you prefer one medium over the other or do the two feed of each other within you? A: I like to think of painting as taking a snapshot, and writing as directing a full length motion picture. Other than that, it's hard to draw parallels. I'm a great admirer of other painters, and a bit of an art history buff. Since my work hasn't been exhibited, I don't take my own work too seriously, and do it purely for enjoyment. I started writing only a few years ago. I never thought I had the literary background to write fiction, but over time, I transitioned from journaling to an attempt at a memoir (a very bad one I might add). Eventually, I wrote nine drafts of AS HAPPY AS LING, polishing to the point t...

  MISS SCARLET'S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING A Crafty Chica Novel by Kathy Cano-Murillo Grand Central Publishing Our March book is passionate, electrifying and fun! MISS SCARLET’S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING is Kathy Cano-Murillo’s second book in her “Crafty Chica” novel series. Many of you will remember WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER, which debut to critical acclaim. In the second Crafty Chica novel, we have a passional heroine who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it. Scarlet Santana, a chemical engineer with two degrees, chucks a six-figure salary to follow her dream of fashion design. Her fiance dumps her, her parents lay on the guilt, and her boss at the fashion studio undervalues her, but Scarlet will not give up her dream. BLOG TOUR & BOOK GIVEAWAY – MARCH 10 The Latina Book Club is pleased to be part of MISS SCARLET’S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING blog tour. Join us on Thursday, March 10, for an intimate Q&A with author Kathy C...

      HOUSE DIVIDED By Raul Ramos y Sanchez Grand Central Publishing Release date January 28, 2011 DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!! Details and links at bottom. “Honor doesn’t come cheap.” “Dead from hungry? Dead from bullet?... Dead is dead.” A son may have taken the same path as his father, but he is not following in his footsteps. Powerful. Realistic. Terrifying. Thrilling. Spellbinding. Raul Ramos y Sanchez must be congratulated on writing such a realistic and gripping saga. I could not put either of these books down until I had read the endings. The stories are so real that it feels like I should be able to turn on my TV and watch the updates on CNN or, better yet, on You-Tube. If you’ve read AMERICA LIBRE, you know it was the story of Manolo Suarez, a man struggling to provide and protect his family amid smoldering ethnic tensions that give rise to a Hispanic liberation movement that ignites a new civil war upon American soil. HOUSE DIVIDED, b...

   STAY WITH ME by Sandra Rodriguez Barron HarperCollins Passionate. Suspenseful. Poignant. Well-written. Fast-paced. A must for everyone’s to-be-read pile. Rodriguez Barron has created six great characters that readers will grow to care about and to cheer for. From the author of THE HEIRESS OF WATER, comes a new book about family – the joy, the fights, the sacrifices and the bonds that keep one together--, because sometimes it’s not the family you are born into that nurtures your soul but the family you gather around you. SUMMARY: In 1979, five toddlers wash upon the shores of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, during the aftermath of Hurricane David, all alone on a luxury yacht with a mysterious starfish “tattoo” on their hands. No one comes forth to claim them and speculation runs wild. Even though the kids are ultimately adopted into different families in the US and PR, the kids grow up considering themselves siblings. Now adults, David, the oldest, calls them together...

 It's a Young Adult novel, but don't let that scare you.  Carida Ferrer does an excellent job in bringing her characters to life.  This book is about puppy love, dreams, dancing, marching, seduction, betrayal and redemption.  It's for readers of all ages. For the book review and a quick Q&A with the author, click here . To read more about Caridad, click here . Happy Reading!         

( Also, Today, Nov 30 --Raul will be discussing the Latino Vote on HITN cable TV. See bottom of this post for more details.) AMERICA LIBRE By Raul Ramos y Sanchez Grand Central Publishing To watch Book Trailer, click here . To read the Book Review, click here . Q:   You started writing AMERICA LIBRE in 2004. Your America has an ex-black president and a lot of civil unrest due to prejudice against Hispanics. That’s about 4 years before Obama was even on the Democratic Ticket’s radar, before the Texas border wall, before the Arizona immigration controversy. Where did you get the idea for the book?            A:   For over 20 years, I’ve made a living in advertising. In that business, it’s important to spot trends. And one of the trends I noticed were early reports from the 2000 about the explosive growth of the Latino population in the United States. As a student of U.S. history, I sensed this might create...

(Part II: Q&A with author Raul Ramos y Sanchez will be posted tomorrow, November 30 .  Join us!) AMERICA LIBRE By Raul Ramos y Sanchez Grand Central Publishing Like the thirteen English colonies huddled along the coast of North America in 1776, the countries of Latin America will one day reach an epiphany of consciousness and unite into a single nation. This is their inevitable destiny. –Jose Antonio Marcha, JUSTICIA Hispanics in America have come to accept the way things are, not because they’re fair or just, but because it’s the way things have been for a very long time . –Josefina Herrera Being Latino was something he’d simply learned to endure with dignity, like a handicap. The revelation shamed him . –Mano Suarez During WWII, the U.S. government imprisoned many Japanese-Americas in concentration-liked camps, even as many of them fought in the war. The government did it in the name of homeland security. Could it happen again on American soil? Could one group ...

BEBA AND LITTLE SISTER ISLAND / BEBA Y LA ISLA NENA Author: Rafael Landron Illustrator: Maria Antonia Ordoñez Translated by: José Rafael Landrón Campanita Books, an imprint of Editorial Campana Language: English and Spanish Official Release Date: November 19th, 2010 PRESS RELEASE New York, Nov. 4, 2010 - Campanita Books announces the release of its latest bilingual children's book, BEBA AND LITTLE SISTER ISLAND. Featuring Beba the manatee and her many friends. A fable inspired by the true story of how the people of Puerto Rico saved "Sister Island" Vieques from environmental destruction. This wonderful story, penned by talented new writer Rafael Landrón and gorgeously illustrated by award winning artist María Antonia Ordóñez, is a timeless tale of courage, solidarity, love and justice set in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean. Beba, a young manatee, is summoned by her friends to travel and discover the origin of the thunderous noise they keep ...

   By Caridad Ferrer Thomas Dunne Books Release date: November 23 I've never been in love.   Aymadredediosomigod.  I couldn't believe I'd said it. But what else could it be? This odd, terrifying feeling of falling down Alice's rabbit hole into this unknown world.  That made me want to laugh and cry and want to throw up and wrap myself in everything Jonathan represented all at the same time.                                                                    --Soledad Reyes Does anyone remember that Brooke Shields movie, “Endless Love?” What about Donny Osmond’s “Puppy Love?” They were both about the wonder of first love – the joy of...

       As a Catholic, I celebrate November 1 as All Saint’s Day and November 2 as All Soul’s Day. (And, November 15, as my birthday!) I pray to the Saints for my family’s well being and for the souls of my loved ones in heaven. November 2 is also regarded as the Day of the Dead by Mexicans and Mexican-Americans everywhere. It sounds like a “dark” concept, but it’s actually a beautiful tradition of honoring and remembering loved ones that passed away. In the Mexican tradition, one would build an “altar” to a lost loved one and say prayers in their honor. My mother would turn over in her grave if I were to build an altar for her or Papi. My Abuela would love it though. I won’t be building any altars anytime soon, but I will be thinking of my lost loved ones – Mami, Papi, Mama (my grandmother), cousin Larry. I pray that they are all together and having a wonderful time in heaven. However, I am interested in the Day of the Dead and the traditions behind it. ...

             Gautami Tripathy wins a free copy of A.E. Roman's THE SUPERMAN PROJECT, the second book in the Chico Santana, P.I. mystery series! Congratulations!   Read Latino!