THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

NEW! Every Wednesday The Latina Book Club will feature excerpts from exciting novels by Latino authors. Happy reading! LAY YOUR SLEEPING HEAD A Henry Rios Mystery Novel Korima Press December 2016 Thirty years ago, THE LITTLEDEATH introduced Henry Rios, a gay, Latino criminal defense lawyer who became the central figure in a celebrated seven novel series. LAY YOUR SLEEPING HEAD is a brilliant reimagination of that first crime novel by its author Michael Nava. It’s coming out in December, just in time to make a great holiday gift. Hint. Hint. EXCERPT: I stood in the sally port until the steel door lurched back with a clang and then stepped into the jail. A sign ordered prisoners to proceed no further; an emphatic STOP was scrawled beneath the printed message. I looked up at the mirror above the sign where I saw a slender, olive-skinned, dark-haired man in a wrinkled seersucker suit. I adjusted the knot in my tie. A television camera recorded the ge...

  Happy Day of the Dead. The Latina Book Club has been counting down all this week with great books celebrating the dark and mysterious,  but today we celebrate our loved ones who have passed away. Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Arte Publico Press THE REMEMBERING DAY / EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS is a three-hanky book. Be prepared to cry happy tears.  This is Pat Mora’s take on the origins of El Dia de los Muertos and why it is such an important day and not just another excuse to paint sugar skulls on your face. Endearing. Emotional. Enjoyable. No matter what age you are or if you are Mexican, Puerto Rican, American, European, Chinese, et al, we all have someone we have loved and lost. Remember them. Recall a wonderful memory and celebrate that love which lives forever in your heart.    Book Summary:   Long, long, long ago, Bella and her grandmother Mamá Alma admired their vegetable garden. They l...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! The Latina Book Club has been counting down all this week with great books celebrating the dark and mysterious. Here’s a good bruja story to keep you up at night! Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Sourcebooks Fire Enchanting, magical, captivating! This is Zoraida Córdova’s answer to the TV show, Charmed , about the three witch-sisters. LABYRINTH LOST features a whole family of witches, and Alexandra is the youngest and most powerful. The family expects a lot from her. Unfortunately, she can’t tell them that she doesn’t want to be a witch so she casts a spell to wipe out her powers and instead vanishes her whole family. Now she has no choice but to learn and work her magic and get her family back before nefarious forces vanish them – and her – forever. We loved this book and are so glad that there will be more books in the series! Vivan las Brujas!  Viva Brooklyn! Book Summary:   Nothing says Happy...

REVIEW:  SANTA MUERTE: THE DANIELA STORY BY LUCINA STONE   As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week,   The Latina Book Club   will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.    Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Story Merchant Books La Santa Muerte in Mexican tradition is the beloved goddess of death and a protector of souls residing in the dark underworld. I can see the connection with Lucina Stone’s new novel, SANTA MUERTE: THE DANIELA STORY. Our young heroine learns that she too is a protector, and soon she will learn what she is truly made out of. Suspenseful. Mysterious. Captivating. Engaging. Lucina Stone’s SANTA MUERTE: THE DANIELA STORY is an amazing and imaginative debut and the great start to a new series. Readers will enjoy the magic and the time travel elements, as well as the struggle of our heroine to accept that she is a bruja, and to come to gri...

       As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week,   The Latina Book Club   will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.    Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Dark Horse Books THE ART OF THE BOOK OF LIFE by Jorge R. Guitiérrez is full of vivid colors, incredible images -- life like and eerie simultaneously -- and wonderful storytelling.  The art celebrates the traditions of Mexico, but more importantly it conveys the eternal battle of good against evil and the universal promise of true love. Once you finish this book, don’t hesitate to get the Fox movie—The Book of Life—starring Zoe Saldana and Diego Luna.  And there is also a book by Stacia Deutsch. Book Summary:   This volume is an inspirational behind-the-scenes look at the making of the animated feature film The Book of Life, from visionary producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Lab...

As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week,   The Latina Book Club   will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.    Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!    Scholastic A Puerto Rican heroine, living in Brooklyn, with magical powers and zombies on her tail.  I am hooked!  SHADOWSHAPER is a thrilling and magical YA debut by writer, editor, composer Daniel José Older. The war between good and evil has never been this creepy or terrifying. I hope this is the first of many books in a Shadowshaping series. Book Summary:   Sierra Santiago planned to have an easy summer of making art and hanging out with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep real tears... Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is g...

As we count down to Halloween and Day of the Dead this week, The Latina Book Club will bring you some “dark and intriguing” books to stay up late with.  Happy Reading.  And always, Read Latino!  Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press For never was a story of more woe  than this of Juliet and her Romeo.   ―   William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet meets Cirque du Soleil! Warring families of traveling performers butt heads and fists over old feuds and superstitions. Matters become worse when Lace Paloma is saved by Cluck Corbeau. Yes, her grandmother would rather see her dead than in debt to her enemy. Lace gets kicked out of her family, and so naturally she moves in with Cluck’s. He is not prepared for the fallout over his good deed, but he’s not sorry either. And when Cupid’s arrow hits them, they will stand firm against both families to protect their love. Congratulations to Anna-Marie McLemore on a fascinating debu...