When I look at the summer reading suggestions from the “mainstream”print media, I seldom see a book by a Chicano/a or Latino/a writer…bigsurprise, right? Do I soundannoyed? Well, I shouldn’t be at thispoint in my middle age. Anyway, since wehave La Bloga, we can remedy this. So,here are several book recommendations (all published in 2012) to fill yoursummer days with fiction, poetry, memoir and literary scholarship by wonderfulwriters you may or may not know. And ifyou have some recommendations, please feel free to make a suggestion in thecomments below. And remember: ¡Lea unlibro!
◙ WovenVoices: Three Generations of Puertorriquena Poets Look at Their American Lives(Scapegoat Press) by Anita Vélez-Mitchell,Gloria Vando and Anika Paris (with an introduction by Linda Rodriguez)
“This is not yourusual book of poetry. It was designed tobe a...conversation of poetry among three very different but truly relatedpoets, Anita Vélez-Mitchell, grandmother and mother, Gloria Vando, mother anddaughter, and Anika Paris, daughter and granddaughter. The work of each woman has been divided amongcommon subjects and placed in relation to work of the other two women, forminga poetic conversation…, the poetic equivalent of pulling up a chair and sittingwith a cup of tea or coffee to listen to the three generations of women talkingtogether about the important issues of their lives and often laughing together.”–Linda Rodriguez, from the Introduction
◙ RoseHill: An Intermarriage before Its Times (HeydayBooks) by Carlos E. Cortés
From the publisher: “The son of a MexicanCatholic father with aristocratic roots and a mother of Eastern European Jewishdescent, Carlos Cortés grew up wedged between cultures, living a childhood in ‘constantcrossfire-straddling borders, balancing loves and loyalties, and trying to fitinto a world that wasn’t quite ready.’ Inhis new memoir, Rose Hill: An Intermarriage before Its Time, Cortéslovingly chronicles his family’s tumultuous, decades-long spars over religion,class, and culture, from his early years in legally segregated Kansas Cityduring the 1940s to his return to Berkeley (where his parents met) in the1950s, and to his parents’ separation, reconciliation, deaths, and eventualburials at the Rose Hill Cemetery.” Youmay read La Bloga’s previous interview with Prof. Cortés here.
◙ TheTemptation: A Kindred Novel (HarperCollins) by Alisa Valdes
From the publisher (teen fiction): “Shane isnear death after crashing her car on a long stretch of empty highway in ruralNew Mexico when she is miraculously saved by a mysterious young man who walksout of nowhere. She feels an instantenergy between them, both a warmth that fills her soul and a tingle that makesher shiver. But who, or what, is he? For the first time in her life, she believesin the term ‘soul mates’—Travis is her destiny, and she is his. But she soondiscovers that Travis is dead and strict rules govern kindred spirits ofdifferent dimensions. Even a kiss coulddestroy both their souls. And whileTravis is almost impossible to resist, temptation proves to be the kindestenemy they encounter. In this partromance, part supernatural thriller, true love discovers it may not be able tosurpass all—especially the power of pure evil.”
◙ BuenasNoches, American Culture: Latina/o Aesthetics of Night (Indiana UniversityPress) by MarÃa DeGuzmán
From the publisher: “Oftentreated like night itself—both visible and invisible, feared andromanticized—Latina/os make up the largest minority group in the US. In hernewest work, MarÃa DeGuzmán explores representations of night in art andliterature from the Caribbean, Colombia, Central and South America, and the U.S.,calling into question night's effect on the formation of identity for Latina/osin and outside of the U.S. She takes asher subject novels, short stories, poetry, essays, non-fiction, photo-fictions,photography, and film, and examines these texts through the lenses ofnationhood, sexuality, human rights, exoticism, among others.”
◙ NotMyself Without You (BilingualReview Press) by Lourdes Vázquez
From the publisher: “In NotMyself without You, a working-class Puerto Rican family of the 1950s livessurrounded by spirits, ghosts, and witches, a result of incantations performedin their living room. Chronicling nearlytwo decades of the family's history including their occult activities the storyinvolves characters who are centered in Puerto Rico but who move through theCaribbean, Central America, Spain, and New York as they are pulled by theeconomic, political, and social conditions of the times and by their own intensedesires. Lacking the tools to understandthe complexity of the world around them, these entities often travel withoutclear concepts of place or time and in a constant aura of exile. As their stories come to light throughfragments of prayers, sayings, poems, newspaper articles, and excerpts frombooks as in a family scrapbook, the characters themselves speak of intimate,political, or social issues in voices that are familiar, erotic, satirical, andhumorous. Based on oral history andresearch, Not Myself Without You isthe author’s own memoir with astrong fictional twist.”
◙ Traces: ABook of Poetry (BilingualReview Press) by Danny Romero
From the publisher: “In simple, wistful verse, Danny Romero gives usa glimpse into a man who recognizes the connections between himself and hisworld. He acknowledges his nobleancestral roots, and he juxtaposes them with memories of a harsh youth in thebarrios of 1970s Los Angeles. Theseaccessible and straightforward poems explore topics that are decidedly not. The poet points to the uncertainty of life,facing the daunting and the delightful with equal honesty, and touches on adepth of emotion we desperately want to understand. Romero expertly yet lightly reveals that therichest parts of life are often small and fleeting, challenging us toappreciate them.”
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