THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

The Latina Book Club thanks Boroughs Publishing for pointing out this quote from the legendary writer. Isabel Allende on the Craft of Writing “Show up. Show up in front of the computer or the typewriter. And if I show up long enough – it happens.” “When I started writing, I always had the feeling that the book was like a gift–that it would just fall in my lap like an apple or something. So I almost had the feeling that it wasn’t going to happen again. That I had written The House of the Spirits, and that was it. Or I had written the second or third book, and that was it. But what I have learned in time, in thirty-two years of writing, is that it’s a lot of work, and if I just show up, and I work and work, there is a moment, a magical moment, at some point, when it gives. And then you don’t need the effort anymore. It’s like dancing. When you’re dancing and counting the steps, you’re not dancing. When your body just goes—then you’re dancing, and then there’s a ...

   La Latina Book Club continua con su celebración de Hispanic Heritage Month todo este mes.   Mas tenemos para ustedes reseñas todos los Viernes de libros en Español.   Le agradecemos a Open Media Español su regalo de una copia de DESEO DE UNA  NOCHE.   Dejen un comentario aqui o un Tweet con nuestro “hashtag” #amreadingwiththelatinabookclub.   Buena suerte!   //   The Latina Book Club continues celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and our Spanish reviews on Fridays.   We want to thank Open Media Español who is donating an e-copy of Alonso Cueto’s book, DESEO DE UNA NOCHE (in Spanish), to one lucky reader.   Enter to win by leaving a comment below or Tweeting our hashtag, #amreadingwiththelatinabookclub.   Good luck! Las historias pasan dentro de cada uno de nosotros. Y al final esto es lo que cuenta, creo: que las historias son parte fundamental de nuestras vidas y sirven para tratar de explicar lo que no tiene...

   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...

Libros Publishing, 2013 "Never forget our ceremonies and hide the rest of our icons and our precious ancestors, for they alone will speak the truth to use." -- Inca Emperor Manco Capac   “They were here on this spot trying to find love. This was their last shot, and none of the women was prepared to lie down in defeat like the famed woman of the Dead Woman’s Pass. Each was struck as if by a lightning bolt, and understood that if there were such a thing as a soul mate, he had to be here on this Inca Trail—or no such thing existed at all.” -- MISSING IN MACHU PICCHU I love Cecilia Velastegui’s books! They are always an adventure. Velastegui is a master at weaving anthropological history and modern tales in such a way that the reader doesn’t realize she/he has been given a history lesson. The narrative is rich and detailed; her characters are realistic and appealing; and her plot lines are gold. MISSING IN MACHU PICCHU is her best novel to date, which is probab...

The Latina Book Club's mission is to promote Latina / Latino authors, which we do through book reviews, author interviews, publicity announcements, book of the month selections, etc. A new feature we are adding is "Writers Wednesdays." The first Wednesday of each month we will feature a writer talking about .....writing. Enjoy! ENRICHING THE JOURNEY:  DISCOVERING MY MUSE IN LATER LIFE by Beatriz F. Fernandez My writing journey began with a column cut out from a local paper: “The Poet’s Corner” by Rita Dove in which she showcased a poet, Andrea Hollander Budy, (now Andrea Hollander) and the title poem of her book, THE OTHER LIFE. In Hollander’s poem a woman takes out a scarf from a drawer and the waft of its faded perfume reminds her of other lives, unlived lives, pregnant with past possibilities. In the same way, over the passing years I would take out the brittle slip of newsprint and re-read it, taking solace in the voice of another who had put into words wh...