Our Next Good Read. . .The Only Road

Join us on Monday, March 12th at Red Door Brewing (400 Gold Ave SW #105) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading The Only Road (Grades 3-7) by Alexandra Diaz.

Here’s a sneak peek into this award-winning book: (from Goodreads)

Twelve-year-old Jaime makes the treacherous and life-changing journey from his home in Guatemala to live with his older brother in the United States in this gripping and realistic middle grade novel.

Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead.

Everyone in Jaime’s small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that’s known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed—like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There’s only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico.

Inspired by true events, The Only Road is an individual story of a boy who feels that leaving his home and risking everything is his only chance for a better life. It is a story of fear and bravery, love and loss, strangers becoming family, and one boy’s treacherous and life-changing journey.

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of April’s featured book, How I Became a Nun by César Aira.  Join us that evening to be entered!

 

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Our Next Good Read. . .The Inexplicable Logic of My Life

Join us on Monday, February 12th at Red Door Brewing (400 Gold Ave SW #105) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading The Inexplicable Logic of my Life (Grades 7 and up ) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

Everything is about to change. Until this moment, Sal has always been certain of his place with his adoptive gay father and their loving Mexican-American family. But now his own history unexpectedly haunts him, and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, loss, and grief.

Suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and discovering that he no longer knows who he really is—but if Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of March’s featured book, The Only Road (Grades 3-7). Join us that evening to be entered!

 

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Our Next Good Read. . .Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller

Join us on Monday, January 8th at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller (Grades 2 – 7) by Xavier Garza.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

Margarito acts like any other eleven-year-old aficionado of lucha libre. He worships all the players. But in the summer just before sixth grade, he tumbles over the railing at a match in San Antonio and makes a connection to the world of Mexican wrestling that will ultimately connect him—maybe by blood!—to the greatest hero of all time: the Guardian Angel.

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of February’s featured book, The Inexplicable Logic of my Life (Grades 7 and up). Join us that evening to be entered!

 

Our Next Good Read

Join us on Monday, December 11th at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  It’s another adult novel month! This month we decided to do a “fan favorite” and our book group chose Like Water for Chocolate/ Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel.  This book is available in both English and Spanish (each version is hyperlinked above)!

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and he is seduced by the magical food she cooks. In desperation, Pedro marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her, so that Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds.

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of January’s featured book, Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller (Grades 2 – 7).  Join us that evening to be entered!

Our Next Good Read. . .American Street

Join us on Monday, November 13th at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading American Street (Grades 9 and up) by Ibi Zoboi.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

American Street is an evocative and powerful coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Everything, Everything; Bone Gap; and All American Boys. In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this lyrical exploration of America with magical realism and vodou culture.

On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life.

But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own.

Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of December’s featured book, Like Water for Chocolate/ Como agua para chocolate (Adult).  Join us that evening to be entered!

 

Our Next Good Read. . .Reputations / Las reputaciones

Join us on Monday, October 9th at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  Throughout the year we will be alternating our young adult book choices with adult novels.  In October we are reading Reputations / Las reputaciones by Juan Gabriel Vásquez.  This book is available in both English and Spanish (each version is hyperlinked above)!

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

A brilliant novel about the power of politics and personal memory from one of South America’s literary stars, the New York Times bestselling author of The Sound of Things Falling.

Javier Mallarino is a living legend. He is his country’s most influential political cartoonist, the consciousness of a nation. A man capable of repealing laws, overturning judges’ decisions, destroying politicians’ careers with his art. His weapons are pen and ink. Those in power fear him and pay him homage.

After four decades of a brilliant career, he’s at the height of his powers. But this all changes when he’s paid an unexpected visit from a young woman who upends his sense of personal history and forces him to re-evaluate his life and work, questioning his position in the world.

In Reputations, Juan Gabriel Vásquez examines the weight of the past, how a public persona intersects with private histories, and the burdens and surprises of memory. In this intimate novel that recalls authors like Coetzee and Ian McEwan, Vásquez plumbs universal experiences to create a masterful story, one that reverberates long after you turn the final page.

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of November’s featured book, American Street (Grades 9 and up).  Join us that evening to be entered!

Our Next Good Read. . .Lucky Broken Girl

Join us on Monday, September 11th at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading Lucky Broken Girl (Grades 6 and up) by Ruth Behar.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

Based on the author’s childhood in the 1960s, a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl is adjusting to her new life in New York City when her American dream is suddenly derailed.

Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to New York City. Just when she’s finally beginning to gain confidence in her mastery of English and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood’s hopscotch queen, a horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast and confined her to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie’s world shrinks because of her inability to move, her powers of observation and her heart grow larger. She comes to understand how fragile life is, how vulnerable we all are as human beings, and how friends, neighbors, and the power of the arts can sweeten even the worst of times.

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of October’s featured book, Reputations / Las reputaciones (Adult).  Join us that evening to be entered!

 

Our Next Good Read. . .The Jumbies

Join us on Monday, August 21st at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading The Jumbies (Grades 3-5) by Tracey Baptiste.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

A spine-tingling tale rooted in Caribbean folklore that will have readers holding their breath as they fly through its pages.

Corinne La Mer isn’t afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They’re just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn’t belong to a jumbie. Or could they?

When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne’s house, cooking dinner for Corinne’s father, Corinne is sure that danger is in the air. She soon finds out that bewitching her father, Pierre, is only the first step in Severine’s plan to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn’t know she possessed to stop Severine and save her island home.

With its able and gutsy heroine, lyrical narration, and inventive twist on the classic Haitian folktale “The Magic Orange Tree,” The Jumbies will be a favorite of fans of Breadcrumbs, A Tale Dark and Grimm, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

We hope to see you there!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of September’s featured book, Lucky Broken Girl (Grades 6 and up).  Join us that evening to be entered!

 

Our Next Good Read: Echo

Join us May 22 at Casa Rondeña Winery (733 Chavez Rd, Los Ranchos De Albuquerque) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book from Goodreads:

Winner of a 2016 Newbery Honor, ECHO pushes the boundaries of genre, form, and storytelling innovation.

Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

Richly imagined and masterfully crafted, this impassioned, uplifting, and virtuosic tour de force will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck.

Be sure to get entered in our drawing for a free copy of the book!! All you have to do is comment on any blog post by May 8!

We hope to see you on May 22!

Our Next Good Read: The Head of the Saint

Join us April 10 at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading The Head of the Saint by Socorro Acioli.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book from Goodreads:

After walking for days across the harsh Brazilian landscape only to be rejected by his last living relative, Samuel finds his options for survival are dwindling fast – until he comes to the hollow head of a statue, perfect for a boy to crawl into and hide…

Whilst sheltering, Samuel realises that he can hear the villagers’ whispered prayers to Saint Anthony – confessing lost loves, hopes and fears – and he begins to wonder if he ought to help them out a little. When Samuel’s advice hits the mark he becomes famous, and people flock to the town to hear about their future loves. But with all the fame comes some problems, and soon Samuel has more than just the lovelorn to deal with. A completely charming and magically told Brazilian tale, sure to capture your heart.

Be sure to get entered in our drawing for a free copy of the book!! All you have to do is comment on any blog post by April 3!

We’ll also be raffling off a copy of May’s featured book, Echo.  Join us that evening to be entered!

We hope to see you on April 10!