A Latin@ Summer Reading List from Las Comadres

Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club's released its SUMMER READING LIST with "something for everyone!"

“We are launching a Summer Reading List,” said Edith Milagros Reyes, Book Club Project Manager, "to complement our monthly Book Club meetings and Teleconferences.  Plus, it's in line with our mission to promote the work of Latina/o authors.”

As their campaign states, the list features something for everyone: fiction, erotica, memoirs, classics, YA, children's, and even a cookbook.

"That is one feature we want to stress-- that there is something for everyone --and every generation!" said María Ferrer, Media Relations Coordinator for Las Comadres.

The list was announced two weeks ago via Las Comadres's wide network of book clubs, friends, and partner organizations.

"We are excited on the buzz that the List has generated," Reyes told La Bloga.  "In fact, we have received communication on people interested in starting a local book club chapter with us."

There are Comadres Book Club meetings in over 20 cities in the US and, if there isn't a book club chapter near you, it's fairly easy to start one. Membership is free and the national organization will help you get started. For more information, click here.

"Also, there are dozens of summer reading lists out there. A couple even are bold enough to have a Latino book or two," said Ferrer. "But Our Summer Reading List has 15 Latino books and all by Latino authors, many of which are available in English and Spanish."

"Creating the Summer Reading list was an addition to our other efforts of promoting the work of Latino authors," explained Reyes.  

"We feel strongly in wanting to add 'our granito de arena' in helping Latino authors.  Plus, we want everyone, not just Latino, to enjoy and appreciate the work of many of these fabulous authors."

Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club 2015 Summer Reading List: 

1. A Decent Woman by Eleanor Parker Sapia (fiction) – Booktrope Editions

2. Ana of California: A Novel by Andi Teran (YA) – Penguin Books

3. Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx by Sonia Manzano (memoir) – Scholastic Press

4. The Distant Marvels by Chantel Acevedo (fiction) – Europa Editions

5. The Lady Matador’s Hotel by Cristina Garcia (fiction) – Scribner (Simon & Schuster)

6. Empanadas: The Hand-Held Pies of Latin America by Sandra Gutierrez (cookbook) – Stewart, Tabori and Chang (Abrams)

7. The Heart Has Its Reasons by Maria Dueñas (fiction) – Atria Books

8. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (classic) – Vintage (Knopf Doubleday)

9. I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin (YA) – Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Simon & Schuster)

10. Just One Night by Caridad Pineiro (romance fiction) – CreateSpace

11. Letters From Heaven/ Cartas del Cielo by Lydia Gil (children, bilingual) – Arte Publico

12. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos (classic) – Hachette Book Group (and other publishers)

13. The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood by Richard Blanco (memoir) – Ecco (HarperCollins)

14. Shutter by Courtney Alameda (YA thriller) – Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan)

15. Stepdog by Mireya Navarro (memoir) – G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin)

The Las Comadres & Friends National Latino BookClub was started in 2007 in partnership with the Association of American Publishers to promote reading of Latino authors.  All books are written in English by Latino authors. Membership is free and open to all readers.  

Las Comadres Para Las Americas is the parent organization of the Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club.  It was started in Austin in 2000 and just celebrated its Quinceañero. Today, Las Comadres has over 15,000 members worldwide, and is on a mission to connect and empower Latinas everywhere through community building, networking, culture, learning, technology and literature.