Reading Lists - Latin American Fiction and Authors

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende - An orphan raised in Valparaiso, Chile, by a Victorian spinster and her rigid brother, vivacious young Eliza Sommers follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Entering a rough-and-tumble world of new arrivals driven mad by gold fever, Eliza moves in a society of single men and prostitutes with the help of her good friend and savior, the Chinese doctor Tao Chi'en. 

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in tum-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love.

2666 by Roberto Bolano - Three academics on the trail of a reclusive German author; a New York reporter on his first Mexican assignment; a widowed philosopher; a police detective in love with an elusive older woman--these are among the searchers drawn to the border city of Santa Teresa, where over the course of a decade hundreds of women have disappeared.

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez - It is November 25, 1960, and three beautiful sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—“The Butterflies.”

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver - In The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Poisonwood Bible and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, tells the story of Harrison William Shepherd, a man caught between two worlds—an unforgettable protagonist whose search for identity will take readers to the heart of the twentieth century’s most tumultuous events.

The Invisible Mountain by Carolina de Roberts - On the first day of the year 1900, a small town deep in the Uruguayan countryside gathers to witness a miracle—the mysterious reappearance Pajarita, a lost infant who will grow up to begin a lineage of fiercely independent women. Her daughter, Eva, a stubborn beauty intent on becoming a poet, overcomes a shattering betrayal to embark on a most unconventional path. And Eva's daughter, Salomé, awakens to both her sensuality and political convictions amid the violent turmoil of the late 1960s. 

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros - Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.

The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes - As the novel opens, Artemio Cruz, the all-powerful newspaper magnate and land baron, lies confined to his bed and, in dreamlike flashes, recalls the pivotal episodes of his life. Carlos Fuentes manipulates the ensuing kaleidoscope of images with dazzling inventiveness, layering memory upon memory, from Cruz’s heroic campaigns during the Mexican Revolution, through his relentless climb from poverty to wealth, to his uneasy death. Perhaps Fuentes’s masterpiece, The Death of Artemio Cruz is a haunting voyage into the soul of modern Mexico.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder - "On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below." With this celebrated sentence Thornton Wilder begins The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of the towering achievements in American fiction and a novel read throughout the world. By chance, a monk witnesses the tragedy. Brother Juniper then embarks on a quest to prove that it was divine intervention rather than chance that led to the deaths of those who perished in the tragedy. His search leads to his own death -- and to the author's timeless investigation into the nature of love and the meaning of the human condition.

Local Authors Fair Part 2

The Authors Fair is growing closer, so here is a look at more of the people that will be featured. Enjoy, and remember, comments are welcome.

Zita the Spacegirl. Book 1, Far from home by Ben Hatke - Zita's life took a cosmic left turn in the blink of an eye. When her best friend is abducted by an alien doomsday cult, Zita leaps to the rescue and finds herself a stranger on a strange planet. Humanoid chickens and neurotic robots are shocking enough as new experiences go, but Zita is even more surprised to find herself taking on the role of intergalactic hero. Before long, aliens in all shapes and sizes don't even phase her. Neither do ancient prophecies, doomed planets, or even a friendly con man who takes a mysterious interest in Zita's quest.Zita the Spacegirl is a fun, captivating tale of friendship and redemption from Flight veteran Ben Hatke. It also has more whimsical, eye-catching, Miyazaki-esque monsters than you can shake a stick at.

How do you do, Mrs. Wiley? by Missi Magalis - How Do You Do, Mrs. Wiley? is the story of Grace Wiley, a strong and courageous, funny and loveable girl whose parent's marriage ends tragically, causing her to have to go live with her quirky grandmother, Gwen Wiley. Grace and her two best friends, Sadie Cooper and Ollie Clark, are unable to escape the curious guidance of this odd but loving grandmother. This story is packed with heartbreak and humor and will leave the reader missing the characters.

This is an excerpt from one of the poems on Jose Padua’s blog.

“I wonder how different

things would have been,

if instead of calling the first

track on Electric Ladyland,

“And the Gods Made Love,”

Jimi Hendrix had called it,

“And the Dogs Made Love”.”

Can I Just Take a Nap? by Ron Rauss - The newest winner of the General Mills Spoonfuls of Stories contest is a young boy who’s very tired from his busy day, but can’t seem to find enough peace and quiet to fall asleep. Can I Just Take a Nap? is the winner of the 4th annual Cheerios® New Author Contest. Selected from more than 8,000 entries by a team of editors, teachers, librarians, and General Mills staff, Can I Just Take a Nap? will also appear in a bilingual (English/Spanish) mini-paperback edition in 3 million specially marked boxes of Cheerios.

  

The Christmas Truce by William Shifflett - Tommy Howell loves Christmas invitations. But this year the celebration is threatened by a dreaded invitation to a place filled with memories of deception and pain. Recollections provoked by the invitation inflame the anger he's successfully avoided for years. It's the last place on earth he intends to go for Christmas, and he resolves to decline the invitation.

But something gets in his way: his children. He must confront his painful memories, a dark secret known only to himself, and the man behind it all.

Can he find the strength to forgive? Will he carry angry resentment the rest of his life or will this season of peace bring a Christmas Truce?

Wolf Pie by Brenda Seabrooke - These are the Pygg brothers: James, Marvin, and Lester. And when they get a visit from a wolf named Wilfong, what you think is going to happen doesn’t. And what you think couldn’t possibly happen actually might. But one thing that will definitely happen is that everyone is going to learn how to make wolf pie—and you know what the main ingredient in that is, right? (It’s probably not what you’re thinking.)

 Bloodroot Cantons: An Alternative Story of Virginia and the Blue Ridge by Larry Lamar Yates - In 1729, enslaved Africans made a well-planned, well-equipped flight from eastern Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley. Their brave effort, history records, ultimately failed. But in Bloodroot Cantons, history takes a different turn. The escaped Africans meet a Shawnee band, whose own ugly history with whites makes for an alliance that defeats the pursuing slavecatchers. The two linked communities create a refuge from British colonial power for native people and for the enslaved. Then call of justice, good farmland, and dissatisfaction with increasingly ungodly Pennsylvania, bring in a third group – Anabaptists and Quakers

The Authors Fair will be held at Samuels Public Library on Saturday, January 25th from 1-4 p.m. 

Local Authors Fair

So do you want to publish a book, but don’t know how to go get started? Are you writing a book and have hit a wall? Or, are you like me and have so many ideas that you don’t even know what to do with yourself? Well… Did you know that Samuels Public Library is having a local authors fair on Saturday January 25, from 1-4 p.m.? Come and meet people who have struggled and succeeded in the endeavor of writing a book!

Here is just a small sample of the author’s books that will be at the fair, more will be added shortly.

Smoke Eaters by Christine Andreae – Three years after qualifying for high command in the Forest Service, Mattie McCulloch is finally assigned to her first big fire. She is the first woman to hold tbe job. Under her are seventeen hundred troops and an operation that costs one million dollars a day to run. Mattie is put in charge of the fire after the camp is plagued with racial troubles, but that is only the beginning of her problems. Her son Jim is stationed at Justice, and she is torn between motherly concern and her duties as commander. Mattie also has to deal with subordinates who do not want her in charge and a group af nudists who do not want any firefighters on their land. As the tension of the firefight heightens, readers also learn that there is a psychopath on the loose. In his diary he writes about the games he likes to play with fire, and the amount of rage he displays toward women is frightening. Soon he begins to focus on Mattie with obscene and threatening messages.

1,000 to 1! : claiming, breeding and racing thoroughbreds on a shoestring-and beating the odds by Malcolm Barr – 1,000 to 1" is an anecdotal story about the varied people--from a cabinet officer to a bell captain--who have owned inexpensive horses with the Hampshire partnerships, the people who have trained and cared for the horses, and the horses themselves. This is not a "how to" book since, during our 17 years in the business, despite business plans and racing plans and breeding plans, and, you name it, any other plans, the dynamics constantly changed, and we changed with them. Racing and breeding thoroughbreds always seem to us to be a seat of the pants enterprise, with change being a constant. It is a story about how to spin a $2,500 share into a two-year ownership involving three, four, and sometimes five cheap race horses who, somehow or other, managed to reach the winner's circle a phenomenal 20% of the time over a 17-year period, some years twice that often. It is a story of how a group of novices stumbled into breeding thoroughbreds successfully, accomplishing the near impossible--that is, seeing all the foals they sent to the races wind up in the winner's circle! It is also a story of blind faith, faith in our trainers, in our animals, and in our jockeys who give their best for our entertainment in what can be, and often is, the world's most dangerous sport.

The courageous follower : standing up to & for our leaders by Ira Chaleff – For every leader it is necessary to have followers who work closely with them to achieve their goals. The Courageous Follower gives followers the insights and tools needed to effectively partner with their leaders. The results it offers are nothing less than highly satisfying and productive working relationships, organizations that are saved from the consequences of serious missteps by leaders, and leaders whose careers are saved by honest and effective feedback from those who know them best. The third edition has a new chapter on what people can do when they don't have direct access to a leader, when orders that come down to them through a hierarchy seem ill-advised -- a skill whose need has been thrown into high relief by the recent failures of economic leaders.

Rapunzel let down : a fairy tale retold by Regina Doman – Hermes McCaffrey is sick and tired of sharing his life with his father’s political career and his overbearing older brothers. So during his family’s vacation in New England, when he meets Raphaela, a lovely and brilliant girl dreaming in a hidden tower, is it surprising that he wants her all to himself? But visiting Raphaela is dangerous, and not just because of her mother’s paranoia about strangers or her estate’s sinister caretaker. When Hermes decides to go too far, the results are devastating for Raphaela ... and for Hermes as well.

What happens when falling in love means falling into deep sin?

Demystifying Mysticism Gratitude As Gift by Robert Colacurio – Jesus gave the key to the Kingdom and to life more abundant when he gave us the example of children. This book explores the idea that people are most themselves when they achieve the seriousness of children at play. When folks are most themselves, they naturally experience the beginnings of mystic perception. The demystifi cation of mysticism starts as simply as the focused attention of children at play, and takes small steps that, slowly but surely, lead to a life changing relationship with the Divine and the entire universe. Although this book is not intended to be a how-to manual, it nevertheless brings the demystifi cation of mysticism down to daily experiences that can be practiced by anyone. Mystic perception just penetrates beyond their surface appearances. Once even the fundamentals of mystic perception become clarifi ed in practice, sacred space opens up as one s natural environment. Within the environment of sacred space, gratitude as a gift giving exchange becomes the natural relationship one comes to enjoy with the entire universe.

The Lost Tribe of Us by Heather Davis –In The Lost Tribe of Us, Heather Davis offers her readers vivid, occasionally comic, more often gut-wrenching poems that, in the first part of the book, engage with the lives of members of a large family-all the vulnerabilities and pathos of poverty: repossessed cars, joblessness, leaky roofs, too small houses, second-hand clothing and teen-age pregnancy. Later, the scope of the poems widens to include aspects of the world at large: war, terrorism, rape, imprisonment, incest, mental illness, much of what troubled flesh is heir to. But to say simply that the poems are about big subjects that really matter is not to do them justice. They are invariably characterized by exquisite formal control, the always lovely deployment of language that is a delight to the eye and ear. The Lost Tribe of Us, is a wonderful first book by an exceptionally gifted poet.

Stonewall Jackson and Winchester, Virginia by Jerry Holsworth – The relationship between Stonewall Jackson and the town of Winchester, Virginia, began in June 1861 and lasted until his untimely death on May 10, 1863. Jackson's values and beliefs reflected sentiments of the vast majority of the people of the Shenandoah Valley. This, coupled with his spectacular successes on the battlefield, endeared Jackson to the people of Winchester, helping to form a remarkable bond between the general and the townspeople that is still remembered today. Local historian Jerry Holsworth chronicles the relationship between Jackson and the soldiers and townspeople of Winchester with information gathered from diaries, letters, journals and newspaper articles. Holsworth also recounts stories of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the battles that forever cemented Jackson's place in Winchester history

Washington, DC : a photographic portrait by Jake McGuire – This photographic portrait is a celebration of Washington, DC, the capital city of the world's greatest democracy. Jake McGuire has not only captured the famous "post card" vies of this great city, he has captured its many moods and seasons. Enjoy our nation's capital, a city with no equal in the world.