After lots of research and input from book group members we’ve decided on the books for this year’s Vamos a Leer Book Group! Thanks so much to all of you who contributed ideas and conversed with us about so many wonderful options. We’re trying something a little different this year. We’re going to alternate young adult and adult titles. After 3 and a half years of reading solely young adult literature we thought we’d mix it up this year. All the titles still focus on Latin America, the Caribbean, or the Latino/a experience in the United States.
I’m really excited about this new format! We’ve tried to balance our selections to include a variety of reading levels (with the YA books), themes, male/female protagonists and countries. We can’t wait to get started in September. We look forward to hearing your thoughts! Happy reading!
We’ll see you the first Monday of the month (there are a few exceptions for holidays, including September, so check dates below) from 5:00-7:00 pm at Bookworks, Tractor Brewery, or St. Clair Winery. As you can see we’re also changing up our locations a little this year as well. We’ll continue to meet at Bookworks every other month. Feel free to drop in for any of our meetings. This is definitely not an all or nothing book group. Even if you haven’t had time to read the book, but are interested in the discussion, you’re always welcome to join us. Don’t forget–we’ll be raffling a copy of the next month’s featured novel at each monthly book group, so there’s extra incentive to join us!!
See our printable version of the calendar for reference. Feel free to share it with anyone who may be interested.
We’ll continue to create an Educator’s Guide for each young adult book, so be sure to check out our Educator’s Guide tab to access the curriculum materials for the featured book. We’ve already created 34 guides over the past four years, so if you’re new to our blog, definitely check out our list of available teaching materials.
September 14th | Bookworks
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero | Ages 14 and up | United States
October 5th | Tractor Brewing (Wells Park)
Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón | Adult | Latin America
November 2nd | Bookworks
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario | YA Version Ages 12 and up or Adult | Honduras
December 7th | St. Clair Winery
American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood by Maria Arana | High School/Adult | Peru and the United States
January 11th | Bookworks
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older | Ages 12 and up | United States
February 1st | Tractor Brewing (Wells Park)
Names on a Map by Benjamin Alire Sáenz | Adult| Mexico and United States
March 7th | Bookworks
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle | Ages 12 and up | Cuba and the United States
April 4th | St. Clair Winery
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat | Adult | Haiti
May 2nd | Bookworks
Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos | Ages 14 and up | United States
We hope you’ll join us in reading these throughout the year, either through our online community here or our local book group!
–Katrina
Vamos a Leer 
Thank you for including Enchanted Air!
It is certainly our pleasure, Margarita! We’re looking forward to it!!
Lost City Radio – I agree, great book. Thanks for sharing this list!
We haven’t read Lost City Radio yet, but we’ve seen lots of good reviews. Glad to know you agree with what they’re saying. 🙂
I can’t quite face the fact that summer is rapidly coming to an end.
Thanks for the reading list. I love YA literature, but the adult titles look interesting too.
I can’t quite accept that summer is almost over either. It always goes by so much faster than I expect. Having some good books on the list to read this fall is making it a little easier 🙂