Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs,

A nationwide book ban has been proposed by the House of Representatives targeting LGBTQ+ books. Action items can be found on Instagram and Tik Tok. Further news and action items coming this week.

The world is feeling HEAVY right now, so I wanted to bask in a moment of Latine bookish joy with you and tell you about upcoming March 3rd Latine releases, before that, I wanted to begin with a GIVEAWAY.

Our March book club selection, Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue, releases TODAY and I've got ONE MORE HARDCOVER COPY UP FOR GRABS EXCLUSIVELY FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES AND COMMENTS ON THIS POST (US address only). If you're a Librito or Lector member, you have another chance at another copy here. I'll email the winner on Wednesday and you'll have 24 hours to get me your mailing address to claim your book!

Also, reminder that our non-fiction sidequest read March through April is Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer (audiobook). Several people who have the paperback have mentioned that the font is VERY small, so if you have vision issues or don't like to read small font, please keep that in mind.

This is a busy week of releases so let's get on with the show...

TRANSLATED LITERARY FICTION & MARCH BOOK CLUB PICK

Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue and translated by Natasha Wimmer (Audiobook)

Diorama by Carol Bensimon and translated by Zoe Perry and Julia Sanches (Audiobook)

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Estela, Undrowning by Rene Pena-Govea (audiobook)

If We Never End by Laura Taylor Namey (audiobook)

BILINGUAL PICTURE BOOK

Gooool! A Bilingual Book Of Soccer by Mike Alfaro and illustrated by Gerardo Guillen:

NONFICTION

Red Stones: A graphic account of the Salvadoran Civil War by Ernesto Saade:

El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory by Jazmine Ulloa (Audiobook)

AUDIOBOOK RELEASE FOR GRAPHIC NOVEL

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel Miyares (audiobook)

xoxo,

Carmen

Happy Saturday, mis internet amigxs,

A nationwide book ban has been proposed by the House of Representatives targeting LGBTQ+ books. Action items can be found on Instagram and Tik Tok. Further news and action items coming this week.

The world is feeling HEAVY right now, so I wanted to bask in a moment of Latine bookish joy with you and tell you about upcoming March 3rd Latine releases, plus I wanted to begin with a GIVEAWAY.

Our March book club selection, Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue, releases on Tuesday and I've got ONE MORE HARDCOVER COPY UP FOR GRABS EXCLUSIVELY FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES AND COMMENTS ON THIS POST (US address only). I'll email the winner on Wednesday and you'll have 24 hours to get me your mailing address via reply to my email! You will have a chance at a second copy in a larger poll of entrants on Tuesday's release day blog post.

Also, reminder that our non-fiction sidequest read March through April is Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer (audiobook). Several people who have the paperback have mentioned that the font is VERY small, so if you have vision issues or don't like to read small font, please keep that in mind.

This is a busy week of releases so let's get on with the show...

TRANSLATED LITERARY FICTION & MARCH BOOK CLUB PICK

Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue and translated by Natasha Wimmer (Audiobook) Alt-Western historical fiction taking place in multiple timelines from multiple POV's about how the West was "won" Revolutionary, in only a way Alvaro can write. Can not way to discuss with you on Discord. We start chatting on March4th!

Diorama by Carol Bensimon and translated by Zoe Perry and Julia Sanches (Audiobook) Brazillian translated literary fiction about Cecília reexamines the case of a close family friend killed by a colleague and rival: her father, after many years trying to outrun her past.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Estela, Undrowning by Rene Pena-Govea (audiobook) Estela Morales navigates her struggles with anxiety, eviction, and both external and internalized racism as she attends one of San Francisco’s most exclusive high schools.

If We Never End by Laura Taylor Namey (audiobook) I'll never NOT celebrate an exlusive limited hardcover for a Latine book!!!! Cuban-American Namey brings us a spec romance about a girl who winds an enchanted watch and a boy appears who has no idea who he is or how he died

BILINGUAL PICTURE BOOK

Gooool! A Bilingual Book Of Soccer by Mike Alfaro and illustrated by Gerardo Guillen: Just in time for the World Cup!

NONFICTION

Red Stones: A graphic account of the Salvadoran Civil War by Ernesto Saade: Saade documents how in 1981, the Salvadoran Civil War reached Miriam's village of Santa Marta and what occurred.

El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory by Jazmine Ulloa (Audiobook) From a New York Times reporter, this sweeping human history of El Paso reveals the violence, power, and privilege at play in America’s most famous border town.

AUDIOBOOK RELEASE FOR GRAPHIC NOVEL

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel Miyares (audiobook) Audiobook release of the graphic novel detailing the dramatic coming-of-age graphic novel memoir of 12-year-old Carlos (who would grow up to become the author’s father), his life during the Cuban Revolution, and his family’s harrowing escape to America.

xoxo,

Carmen

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs!

February 28th is the last day to post your #MeltIceBookStack on Instagram! I encourage you to do the same to help raise funds for Minneapolis. Your stack can help raise necessary funds for mutual aid to assist those in immediate need.

I have a few book club and Discord announcements before we get to this week's releases...

BIEN LEIDOS BOOK CLUB

All the winners of the Now I Surrender giveaway have been contacted via their Bindery email. As a reminder, since the book doesn't release until March 3rd, we won't be opening up discussion on Discord until the 4th. Our chat will be spoiler-free throughout the month, as per usual, so feel free to jump in as soon as you receive your copy. Also, we WILL be chatting with Alvaro again! I'm currently talking to his team to confirm availability and will more than likely poll in Discord, if you want to have a say in those dates.

March 1st also begins our nonfiction sidequest, Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Johnathan Blitzer. We'll be reading through the end of April, so feel free to join us whenever you want in the next couple of months. There is a possiblity we'll be chatting with Johnathan. I'm in talks with his team to see if schedules align.

I'll be posting polls this week in Discord for spoilery book club discussions of Sparks Fly and Racial Innocence.

April and May fiction book club selections have been finalized. Watch this space for some exciting giveaways and announcements coming up very soon!

COMING UP THIS WEEK ON DISCORD

Discord has voted and the 4th Wednesday of every month will be Sticker/Journal night. Name for this monthly event is pending, but for the time being it's Chaos: A Love Story. If you're into journaling, pens, stickers, this is a fun night on Discord where you can share your newest stickers, journal spreads, pens, etc...

*THIS WEEK'S LATINE'S RELEASES*

We've got a massive selection of Latine books releasing this week, so let's get to them!

HISTORICAL FICTION

The Other Moctezuma Girls by Sofia Robleda

TRANSLATED FICTION

Technology and Barbarism: or how billionaires will save us from the end of the world by Michel Nieva and translated by Rahul Bery and Daniel Hahn

The Invisible Years by Rodrigo Hasbun and translated by Lily Meyer (Audiobook)

I Give You My Silence by Mario Vargas Llosa and Translated by Adrian Nathan West

NONFICTION

Tumbleweed Underworld: A Saga of Morphine and Mayhem in the Arizona Territory by Eduardo Obregón Pagán

CHILDREN’S

La Golondrina by Sonia De Los Santos and Illustrated by Teresa Martínez

ROMANCE

The Hope Once Lost by Ambar Cordova

xoxo,

Carmen

Happy Sunday, mis internet amigxs!

February 28th is the last day to post your #MeltIceBookStack on Instagram! I encourage you to do the same to help raise funds for Minneapolis. Your stack can help raise necessary funds for mutual aid to assist those in immediate need.

I have a few book club and Discord announcements before we get to this week's releases...

BIEN LEIDOS BOOK CLUB

All the winners of the Now I Surrender giveaway have been contacted via their Bindery email. As a reminder, since the book doesn't release until March 3rd, we won't be opening up discussion on Discord until the 4th. Our chat will be spoiler-free throughout the month, as per usual, so feel free to jump in as soon as you receive your copy. Also, we WILL be chatting with Alvaro again! I'm currently talking to his team to confirm availability and will more than likely poll in Discord, if you want to have a say in those dates.

March 1st also begins our nonfiction sidequest, Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Johnathan Blitzer. We'll be reading through the end of April, so feel free to join us whenever you want in the next couple of months. There is a possiblity we'll be chatting with Johnathan. I'm in talks with his team to see if schedules align.

I'll be posting polls this week in Discord for spoilery book club discussions of Sparks Fly and Racial Innocence.

April and May fiction book club selections have been finalized. Watch this space for some exciting giveaways and announcements coming up very soon!

COMING UP THIS WEEK ON DISCORD

Every Monday, we host productivity/reading sprints on Discord at 8:00 PM EST.

Discord has voted and the 4th Wednesday of every month will be Sticker/Journal night. Name for this monthly event is pending, but for the time being it's Chaos: A Love Story. If you're into journaling, pens, stickers, this is a fun night on Discord where you can share your newest stickers, journal spreads, pens, etc...

*THIS WEEK'S LATINE'S RELEASES*

We've got a massive selection of Latine books releasing this week, so let's get to them!

HISTORICAL FICTION

The Other Moctezuma Girls by Sofia Robleda: In 16th Century Mexico, a fearless young woman strives to uncover the secrets her mother kept as the last aztec empress in a sweeping historical epic.

TRANSLATED FICTION

Technology and Barbarism: or how billionaires will save us from the end of the world by Michel Nieva: Argentine wunderkind, Nieva, is back with a collection of essays about the crossroads of technology, science and art and all they inspire for better or worse.

The Invisible Years by Rodrigo Hasbun and translated by Lily Meyer (Audiobook) Bolivian writer, Hasbun, is back with is 9th work, about 2 friends reunited decades after a night that changed them and their friend group forever.

I Give You My Silence by Mario Vargas Llosa and Translated by Adrian Nathan West: new translation of Peru's Nobel Prize-winnning author.

NONFICTION

Tumbleweed Underworld: A Saga of Morphine and Mayhem in the Arizona Territory by Eduardo Obregón Pagán: history of the US's first opiod epidemic at the turn of the 20th century that exposes a dark underground of the "Old West."

CHILDREN’S

La Golondrina by Sonia De Los Santos and Illustrated by Teresa Martínez |

ROMANCE

The Hope Once Lost by Ambar Cordova, releasing on February 25th, this Kindle-exclusive romance is a small town emotional romance where a widowed single mom and a guilt-ridden retired hockey player, find friendship and love after life has thrown curve balls at them. 11/10 would purchse just for the library ladder on the cover.

xoxo,

Carmen

Good morning, Bien Leidos!

I wanted to announce the winner of our April book club poll as well as let you know some changes to upcoming book club selections--it'll just be a change in reading order versus changing books, though so keep reading!

So the winner of our April fantasy pick was Asiri and the Amaru by Natalia Hernandez! As I was putting together the post, I saw Isabel Allende's Instagram post that La Casa De Los Espiritu Spanish language television adaptation would be releasing on April 29th on Prime. For our Bien Leidos 2 year anniversary, I'd been planning to select a classic of Latine literature to read in May. In fact, I was going to be putting up a poll today, but this announcement made the answer clear to me (as did a 4 hour poll I put up on Discord--YOU REALLY NEED TO JOIN IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY), so what I did was switch up the order of our book club reads for April and May. I'll be posting the announcements in a bit on social media, but I wanted to deliver the announcements exclusively to you first.

I also wanted to remind you that we're still reading Sparks Fly this month so it's not too late to join! I'll be putting up a poll today to schedule our spoilery chat early in March.

Also, our March pick is Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue. It releases March 3rd, so we'll get started with our chat a little bit later in the month since this is a new release. And in case you haven't entered, I have a MASSIVE 15 BOOK GIVEAWAY FOR NOW I SURRENDER up that ends tomorrow!

I am very much looking forward to reading all these books with you! Thank you for being a part of this amazing community!

xoxo,

Carmen

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs!

Before I get to today's releases, I wanted to update you on a few things.

I posted my #MeltIceBookStack this week and I encourage you to do the same to help raise funds for Minneapolis. While the news has been lauding ICE pulling back, news on the ground is dire. Your stack can help raise necessary funds for mutual aid to assist those in need.

Thank you all so much for your support with the announcement last week that I was accepted into the News Creator Corps Trusted Creators Spring Fellowship! Classes begin next week. I can't wait to share more with you.

DEADLINE TO VOTE FOR APRIL BOOK CLUB SELECTION IS TONIGHT!

As a reminder, you have until TONIGHT to get your vote in for our April book club selection. Our genre is FANTASY for April. You can vote on Bindery and on Discord. So far, the results are slightly different on both platforms, so if you feel strongly about a particular choice, then get your votes in on both platforms before the deadline!

ESPERANZA HOPE SNYDER AUTHOR CHAT REPLAY IS LIVE

For those that missed the author chat last week with Esperanza Hope Snyder, here the link to the unlisted YouTube recording of our chat in case you want to check it out.

GIVEAWAY FOR MARCH BOOK CLUB SELECTION: NOW I SURRENDER BY ALVARO ENRIGUE

NOW I SURRENDER GIVEAWAY! I have 10 physical copies and 4 audiobooks of April Bien Leidos book club pick, Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue, up for grabs for ALL BINDERY SUBSCRIBERS. (Lectores and Libritos members, you have an additional chance to win 1 audiobook and 5 copies in this post where the pool of entrants is significantly smaller). This giveaway is US only.

TO ENTER: Just like this post and let me know in the comments whether you prefer a physical or audiobook copy. I'll pick a winner on Thursday, February 19th.

Quick note on a February 10th release I forgot to mention: Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas released on paperback last week!

And, finally, on to this week's releases...

ROMANCE

The Ex-Perimento by Marla J. Morillo (Audiobook)

NONFICTION

Citizenship: Notes on An American Myth by Daisy Hernandez (Audiobook)

Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself by David Archuleta (Audiobook)

xo,

Carmen