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

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs!

I don't know what else Latinx literature needs to do to prove itself to big publishing. Just in this week's releases, we have a National Book Award Longlist title, a double middle grade fantasy releases, MULTIPLE nonfiction to inspire the littles as well as some highly anticipated fantasy, romance, literary fiction, AND SO MUCH MORE!!

Before we get into it...

An apology: Last week, I incorrectly included The Maiden and Her Monster on the release list but author Maddie Martinez is NOT Latinx! I'm so sorry for incorrectly identifying her as such. I am always trying to do better, but admit I am not perfect and always appreciate when people let me know so I can learn and correct my mistakes! I've removed her book from the list and taken down social media posts.

ALSO! I inadvertently left one of today's titles from Saturday's post, but have remedied it now if you want to check it out!

We've also made Monday reading/productivity sprints on Discord permanent. We meet at 8:00 PM EST and chat, work, chat again, work again...and in the end, we've gotten a bit more reading done or some things accomplished. It's a nice, gentle way to start the week.

EXCLUSIVE BINDERY GIVEAWAY!

As most of you know by now, The Posession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Canas is our October Discord Book Club selection! I completely failed at the giveaway last week, SO NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO ENTER TO WIN ONE OF 2 COPIES JUST FOR BINDERY SUBSCRIBERS! Just follow these simple instructions below:

1. You must have a US mailing address to enter!

2. Drop a spooky emoji in the comments

That's it! I'll be announcing on social media tomorrow for chances to enter to win there, as well! I'll be announcing the winners on Friday, so please be on the lookout in your email because you'll only have 24 hours to reply and send me your address!

BEFORE WE GET TO THE BOOKS, A COUPLE OF AMAZING SALES GOING ON RIGHT NOW!

Bookshop.Org is having a Latinx Heritage Month sale! 20% of SELECT TITLES (<-- use this link for select titles) when you use code LHM25 at checkout. The sale goes through September 30th.

Libro.FM's BOGO sale is here! You can shop the titles HERE.

If you haven't signed up for LibroFM, NOW is a great time because they have THREE FOR ONE audiobooks when you use code SWITCH when you sign up for a new LibroFM membership! That means if new members play their cards right, they could get SIX AUDIOBOOKS for the price of one credit when you subscribe!

And now onto this week's releases beginning with...

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE--

A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by Maria Dolores Aguila: Middle grade novel in verse based on the true story of Roberto Alvarez and the Lemon Grove Incident--an inspiring story of one child standing up against segregated schools. "When injustice grows, resistance blooms"

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

The Story of My Anger by Jasmine Mendez (Audiobook) Novel-in-verse centered on an Afro-Latina Texas teen who is battling racism in her theater program and book banning by her town's school board.

The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar by Sonora Reyes (Audiobook)

Lemons and Lies by Alexis Castellanos (Audiobook)

YOUNG ADULT SUPERNATURAL THRILLER

The Silenced Diana Rodriguez Wallach (Audiobook)

TRANSLATED FICTION

Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin and translated by Megan McDowell (Audiobook)

ROMANCE

Dance With Me by Alexis Daria

Wild Hit by Mari Loyal

WOMEN'S FICTION

Everything She Never Knew by Annette Chavez Macias (Audio only available on Audible)

LITERARY FICTION

Scab-Muggers by Yvonne Martinez

MIDDLE GRADE FANTASY

Witchlings: Scepter of Memories by Claribel Ortega (Audiobook)

Chloe Vega and the Agents of Magic by Leslie Adama (Audiobook)

LITERARY FICTION

The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore by Anika Fajardo (Audiobook)

PICTURE BOOK

Black Hair Can by Silvia Rodriguez (author and illustrator)

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK

Queer Latine Heros: 25 Changemakers from Latin America and the U.S. from History and Today by Sofia Aguilar and illustrated by Valentine De Luna Cortes

Claudia Said Si!The Story of Mexico's First Woman President by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky and illustrated by Carlos Velez Aguilera

POETRY

The Boy Kingdom by Achy Obejas

NONFICTION

Calladita No More: My Latina Journey and the Lessons that Shaped Me by Hady Mendez

Inside the Cartel: A True Crime Tale of Espionage, Undercover Operations, and a War Against Billionaire Drug Lords by Martin Suarez (Audiobook)

xoxo, Carmen