Day 4 LHM Challenge: A Latine book that features family drama

Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

The story begins with an English teacher named Ava Rodriguez whose divorce was just finalized a year after her ex abruptly left her. She gets this news while at a teaching conference and decides to celebrate “New Ava” with a drink from the bar. This version of her is much more daring so when a hot guy named Roman sits down beside her and seems to be flirting, Ava is down for a casual fling. The problem is, one night isn’t enough.

The two bump into each other again at her cousin’s engagement party (he’s the best man!) and the chemistry is undeniable but Ava feels like she needs to hide it from her judgy Puerto Rican family. She’s always felt the pressure to be perfect and it builds up more with her role as maid of honor. Roman is the only person she feels she can be messy with so she doesn’t want to ruin anything by telling her family and friends (not even the Primas of Power).

To add to that drama, many of the people in Ava’s family believe that she is to blame for her divorce. They always have something to say, whether they’re talking to her or gossiping about her with each other, but if she confronts them about it they will say that she’s too sensitive and they were just joking around.

I read & reviewed this book in May and I still feel like it describes my maternal family’s dynamics incredibly well! I’m sure there are many Latinas who would agree that our men get away with a lot because our families place most of the responsibilities on the girls and women. “What did you do to make him leave you?” It’s a harm that is perpetuated by everyone, especially the mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. That internalized misogyny is intense and I was so relieved to see the author depict the truth of it in her book.

I can’t recommend it enough!

Want a chance to win up to £100 or $125 bookshop.org eGiftcard?

We’re doing this raffle style! We are starting off with £40/$55 and for every 25 members we gain, a £20/$25 is added until we reach the cap limit of £100 or $125! This is open to everyone that can shop on Bookshop.org with the giftcard for physical or eBooks!

This is a Bindery Giveaway, which means to participate, you need to:

• comment on this post

• subscribe to my bindery (free or paid subscriber)

Entries:

• Free members get +1 entry

• Paid subscribers get +5 entries and

• You get an +1 entry if you’re on the discord channel (which you can gain access to once you’ve subscribed on bindery)

Giveaway open till October 3rd midnight UK timing! Winner will be contacted by myself for the giftcard 🤎

Hey friends! Just wanted to hop on and let you know ICYMI, I now offer custom TBRs on my website kurryreads.com

I also sell t-shirts, mugs, and hoodies!!

Link to buy Silver Tier: https://kurryreads.com/products/custom-tbr-by-kurryreads-tier-1?variant=43623354990685

Link to buy Gold Tier: https://kurryreads.com/products/custom-tbr-by-kurryreads-tier-2?variant=43623355088989

Hi Bindery friends - I've got exciting news!
 I’ve got one pass to give away to BINDERYCON!

More info about BINDERYCON: https://binderycon.eventbrite.com/ 


BINDERYCON takes place on October 14th in Brooklyn and features immersive programming, sharable moments, and panels featuring both the authors and the tastemakers. Come dressed in your most creative, bookish, or genre-inspired look–costumes encouraged and celebrated!

This event will be celebrating the Bindery Fall releases: Orange Wine by Esperanza Hope Snyder, Dust Settles North by Deena ElGenaidi, Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho, Local Heavens by K.M. Fajardo, Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife by Deston J. Munden, Tempest’s Queen by Tiffany Wang, and To Bargain with Mortals by R.A. Basu.

>> Here's how to enter:

1. Be a follower or subscriber of my Bindery.,

2. Comment on this post (anything at all!),

That's it!
 This giveaway is open to everyone, and the BINDERYCON team
will handle sending you your ticket.


This giveaway ends Monday, September 29 at 11:59 pm ET. I will draw one winner and they will receive a single pass to BINDERYCON.

Good afternoon mis internet amigxs!

I'm coming at you this afternoon with a SECRET giveaway just for Bindery subscribers! So let's keep this chisme to ourselves!

If you want to win a $100 Bindery gift card, you must live in an area that Bookshop delivers to AND

Comment your favorite bookish emoji on THIS POST and then like this post!

That's it! I'll email the winner on Friday when I also pick the winner of The Posession of Alba Diaz as well. If you haven't entered that giveaway, then you can enter here!

Social media book club announcement and giveaways will be post on Instagram and Tik Tok around 3:00PM EST today!

xoxo,

Carmen

I hate cars.

Which is a bold statement for someone who owns a car and has been driving since age 15.

I grew up in the suburbs where having a car is a necessity. There is no walking for where you need to go in the suburbs. There’s no infrastructure for it. And public transport is incredibly limited.

But I’ve lived in Chicago for the last 5 years - a city known for its robust (by American standards) public transportation system. I live very close to one of the major train lines in the city as well as a number of bus stops and rental bike stands. Even with all of that, I still barely take public transportation. I do take the train from time to time, but I’d never taken a city bus (I don’t count the ones from my college town).

I have a number of friends who are self described “bus girlies” but I never understood it. To me, if I was going to have to sit in traffic anyway, I may as well be the one driving. Then I was on my time table, not having to wait for a bus, and also being in charge of where I was going. I’m frequently someone who underestimates time, so the thought of having to juggle enough time to factor in public transportation somewhere felt to stressful.

However, a few weeks ago, I had a Saturday entirely to myself. After breakfast with a partner, I was going to walk home and then decided that I’d like to go to a couple of bookstores - what if I took a bus? So I did just that.

I walked along the route until a bus was due to arrive and then rode the bus the rest of the way. And it was one of the best days I’d had in a while. Here’s what happened:

• I stopped at multiple bookstores

• Smiled at an old man in the crosswalk

• Talked to someone at the bus stop

• Saw multiple pets in carriers and in windows

• Stopped in a vintage shop I’d only heard of and got a new jean jacket - something I’d been looking for for a while

• Added places on my route to want to visit list

• Saw someone reading Red Rising on the bus

I realized while riding the bus how passive it was. Instead of sitting in traffic and being just as annoyed, I ended up being less stressed by traffic because I don’t see what dumb drivers are doing. It was simply none of my business. I also felt way more in touch with the city around me because of the interactions with other people as well as an increased awareness and curiosity about my surroundings. I’ve always felt strongly about the need for public transport as a social support, but riding it more has made me even more interested in advocacy around it because I saw just how many people rely on it.

After my shopping afternoon, I even ended up taking TWO buses to visit a friend for dinner. After dinner, she informed me that buses stop at a certain time and had to take a bike home but I survived.

Since that weekend, I have been riding buses and walking around the city even more than before. I’m glad I started this during a time when the weather has been very nice - mild and no rain. And I know I will still use my car when it’s convenient or when the weather is awful. But it’s nice to be able to engage with my city like this and use my car way less, therefore avoiding my worst enemy: traffic.

None of this is groundbreaking. Many people use public transportation daily. But as I’ve described in previous posts, my brain has a very hard time letting go of conveniences and this is just one way that I’ve been able to branch out from that.

What inconveniences have you been embracing lately? Is there another area of life you’d like to see me tackle next?

• Procession- Katherena Vermette

• Detained- D. Esperanza; Gerardo Iván Morales

• The Adult- Bronwyn Fischer

• No Spiritual Surrender- Klee Benally

• The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy- Steph Jones

• The Rose That Grew From Concrete- Tupac Shakur

• Against the Loveless World- Susan Abulhowa

• You Were Made for This World- Edited by Stephanie Sinclair

• Talking to the Diaspora- Lee Maracle

• To Ride a Rising Storm- Moniquill Blackgoose

• The People's Project- Saeed Jones; Maggie Smith

• Save Me An Orange- Hayley Grace

• Gaza: The Story of a Genocide- Edited by Fatima Bhutto and Sonia Faleiro

• The Idea of An Entire Life- Billy-Ray Belcourt

Day 2 of the #LHMBookstaChallenge Sazón & Stories

American Dreamer was one of the first books by Adriana Herrera that I'd read so I have a special place in my heart for it.

Book 1 in the Dreamer Series is about Nesto Vasquez, a Dominican man from NYC trying to get his Afro-Caribbean food truck (OuNYe) off the ground in Ithica, and Jude Fuller, the Youth Services Director at the local library. The two feel sparks immediately when Jude hits up Nesto's food truck for lunch.

Unfortunately, the neighborhood Karen sees OuNYe as a threat to her community and will stop at nothing to take Nesto down.

This love story between a foodie and a book nerd is fantastic and I hope y'all pick it up!

On The Menu: Some of the food Nesto serves up at his food truck.

Yuca Fritters
Puerto Rican Burritos
Djon Djon

Hi Disco Dancers!

I've recently discovered a love of novels written in verse. When I was at uni I read epic poetry like Ovid and Homer, but never anything modern. It's such a fresh way to tell a story, and some of these books have fast become favourites. Here are 3:

Dark Star by Oliver Langmead

A drug addict detective living on an almost completely dark planet, where fire burns black and there's no sun, sets out to investigate the theft of one of three 'hearts', the only sources of light in the world.

This is a brilliant, and brilliantly bleak, sci fi concept, taking place in a murky, dark world where the poor become almost like ghosts, starved of light, using drugs to deal with the madness, while the rich live in illuminated palaces. It's very well realised and a facsinating read, though not exactly the happiest! I loved it though.

(S)kin by Ibi Zoboi

Two teenage girls living in Brooklyn find they are connected by a dark secret. One of them is a soucouyant, a Caribbean fire witch, trying to escape her oppressive mother. The other is mixed heritage, dealing with an intense, burning skin condition, and secrets at home.

This is a fantastic take on Caribbean folklore, and a truly emotional read.

Rapunzella, or Don't Touch my Hair by Ella McLeod

A Black South London girl visits a fantasy land in her dreams, and a myserious girl with magical hair, part of a community of women using song to push back against an encroaching evil. A gorgeous love letter to London, womanhood and community.

All the best!

Disco