I thought I wasn't going to like this book. I'd rather read about a protagonist I admire, or at least one I might like as a person. There's not a lot to like about Lupita at the beginning of the story, and the first few chapters show all the signs of disintegrating into a preachy literary slice-of-life tale ( Read more... )

Signal to Noise is the debut novel of Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who has spent the last few years carefully crafting a respectable reputation for herself as a short story author (of the excellent This Strange Way of Dying) and editor (of various anthologies published through Innsmouth Free Press, the micropress she created ( Read more... )

Haven't posted in a while. Here's a series of mini-reviews with some spoilers. Also, some of the books contain potentially triggering content.

6. Un-Nappily in Love by Trisha R. Thomas
7. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
8. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
9. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
10. Umbrella by Taro Yashima
11. Little Joy by ( Read more... )

5)A Nameless Witch by A. Lee Martinez ( Read more... )

#21: House Divided by Raul Ramos y Sanchez

( House Divided )

I’m a total book snob, not only in regards to content, but in regard to book quality. This is the reason I have multiple (beautiful!) editions of Jane Eyre, and why I am such a sucker for Penguin and their amazing design aesthetic. All this to say that I was totally peeved when I bought the hardcover edition of Rudolf Anaya’s “Bless Me, Ultima” the ( Read more... )

50) Can Smart People Believe in God? by Michael Guillen ( Read more... )

Dirty Girls on Top is Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's sequel to her highly successful debut novel The Dirty Girls Social Club. Dirty Girls on Top reunites the sucias (dirty girls), Rebecca, Sara, Lauren, Usnavys, Elisabeth, and Cuicatl, six affluent friends in their thirties who bonded in college and continue to meet up once a year in order to reconnect.

( Read more... )

In a steampunk version of 1897 Texas, singing “tutors” for a giant computer called Cathedral (because it’s housed in one) try teach it self-awareness. The computer was built by Europeans on land belonging to the Latino/a “natives;” many years later, Latina tutor Glory and Sumner, the white son of one of the inventors, fall in love. Their romance ( Read more... )

 #30. Luba: The Book of Ofelia (Vol. 2 in the Luba trilogy; Vol. 21 in the Complete Love & Rockets)
2005 (material originally published 1998-2005), Fantagraphics Books

Warning: Long and obsessive plot details ahead!  This is a crazy long book -- 240 pages -- and incredibly dense, for a graphic novel.  Also, the storytelling modalities are highly ( Read more... )