May 2008: Drown

Latino Book Club will meet on May 31st to discuss Junot Diaz' collection of short stories, Drown.

Please post your comments!

A possible topic:

Which is your favorite story, and why?

Junot Diaz (author of Drown, our May 08 book) was on Colbert Report on June 18th, to talk about his Pultizer winning novel The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao.
Watch the video

Thank you Lizzy for staying up late, and informing us.
Enjoy!

We met today to discuss JUNOT DIAZ' DROWN. Most of us liked it. Personally it was the best I have read in our series. We also had one member with few reservations about some of the stories.
As it is the summer and if you are leaving town take the next two books with you THE LATIN DELI and July's book THE RAIN GOD.
If you are in town, please come to our next meeting, especially those who haven't been able to make it to any one our meetings.
Remember, the blog site is always there to leave your comments. You don't need any password. All you need to do is click on COMMENT and write your comment in the box that appears. Choose the NAME/URL option at the bottom of the box and leave your name.

April 2008: In Cuba I was a German Shepherd

Latino Book Club meets on Saturday, 26th April at 3 PM to discuss Ana Menendez' In Cuba I was a German Shepherd.

Leave your comments!

Last Saturday we met to talk of Ana Menendez' In Cuba I was a German Shepherd. We all thought it was a tough read, especially with all the symbolism and the non-linear story telling style. If you didn't quite get it, you were not alone. We all agreed that nostalgia and loneliness were the dominant emotions.
If you did enjoy it, please share your comments with us.
We also enjoyed Jeremy's great music after our discussion.
Here is the next read for the month of May: Junot Diaz' Drown. We have also decided the book for June, and it is Judith Ortiz Cofer's The Latin Deli.
If you want to read a specific author or writer please send suggestions and they will be added to our box.
Happy readings and don't forget to write comments at our blog site.

March 2008: Bless me, Ultima

The Latino Book Club meets Saturday, March 29th at 3PM.

Please leave a discussion topic and your comment to get the discussion going!

Some topics:

Nature as a character

Tony

Lunas v. Marezes

Ultima

Thank you all who came out this past Saturday to our discussion of Bless me Ultima. I am happy we all enjoyed the novel, especially New Mexico's landscape.

April's book and author: In Cuba I was a German Shepherd by Ana Menéndez.
The book is available at Pomegranate Books at a 15% discount for our Book Club members.
We have also picked the book for the month of May, it is Junot Diaz' collection of short stories titled Drown.
Please feel free to send titles to be added to our box. Please visit the Blog site and leave comments about the books you are reading.
If you any other questions, feel free to write back.

February 2008: Down These Mean Streets

Latino Book Club meets on Saturday, February 23rd to discuss Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets.

Some topics of discussion:

1. Racism

2. Life in the Barrio/Spanish Harlem of New York

3. Machismo

4. Father and son relationship

5. Piri's sexual fantasy with White women

Thank you to all who came out on Saturday to our discussion of Piri Thomas’ Down These Mean Streets.

It was really interesting to hear of the west coast perspective to gangs and gang wars in comparison to Piri’s east coast experience.

Keep the discussion going. The blog site is always available to continue, and for those who could not come.

Next month, March 2008 we will be reading Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless me Ultima, and we also picked the book for April 2008, Ana Menendez’ In Cuba I was a German Shepherd. I will soon be sending out the e-newsletter for this month with information for the March book.

January 2008: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Book Club meets on Saturday 26th January to discuss Julia Alvarez' How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. If you cannot make it to the meeting, please feel free to write a comment for discussion. Those who can come, you are also welcome to write a comment.

Some discussion themes:

1. Your favorite García sister: Carla, Yolanda, Sandra or Sofía?

2. Your favorite episode?

3. Machismo vs. feminism

Muchas gracias to all those who made it to our first book discussion yesterday, in spite of the gloomy weather. It was a great success!
It was wonderful to hear of everyone's reactions, personal associations, and opinions about the many themes that arose from the novel.
BLOG SPOT: Some you might have received an email from Irene, in continuation of our discussion about Latino youth. (For the new members: Irene referred to an article in the Newspaper [Sunday] in the "Today" section titled " Suicide among young Latino Girls.") Please use the blog spot to continue the discussion. Simply click on the title of our discussion and leave a comment. You do NOT need any ID or password. If you couldn't make it to the book meeting, please leave your comments. We would love to hear from the rest too.
NEXT BOOK:For the next month we have chosen to read Piri Thomas’ Down These Mean Streets, and for March Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless me, Ultima. We have also decided that we will meet at the same place, Francesco’s Café at 3 every LAST SATURDAY of the month.
I will contact Kathleen (Pomegrante Books) and request her to bring in copies of Piri Thomas’ book. Once they are available I will send out an email.
E-NEWSLETTER: You will also be receiving the next e-newsletter soon. If there are any announcements regarding Latino activities in town that you would like mentioned in the e-newsletter, please forward them to me.
For any questions, please feel free to write back to me.

Welcome

This blog is for Latino Book Club members. 

Please leave a comment, if you successfully accessed this site.

Gracias,

Amrita