¡Hola! Por fin culminé mi primer semestre del doctorado, así que me estoy poniendo al día con mis lecturas. Hoy comparto mi reseña de un libro corto de 20 relatos.
Título: Memorias de una Jíbara Autora: Ivette Crespo Bonet Fecha de publicación: 25 de marzo de 2020
Géneros: Cuentos cortos, Memorias
Editorial: Publicación independiente
Páginas: 64
Cómo obtuve el libro:Enviado para Reseña; recibí una copia del libro a cambio de mi reseña honesta.
Veinte cortos relatos sobre la vida cotidiana en un pequeño pueblo costero de Puerto Rico. Un ameno recorrido por vivencias que comprenden desde mediados de los años sesenta hasta finales de los ochenta. Sencillas lecturas sobre temas pueblerinos y folclóricos que van desde la alegría del circo y la navidad hasta temas sobre traumas infantiles e ilusiones juveniles. Escrito en prosa como lectura ágil y entretenida y estrictamente verídico según el mejor recuerdo de la autora.
Reseña
Sentí como si estuviera leyendo un diario. Eran relatos cortos y todos eran relacionados a la niñez y adolescencia. Es un libro bastante ameno con relatos mayormente jocosos y fue una lectura rápida. Podemos notar lo mucho que han cambiado las cosas al pasar los años; los juegos, la escuela, los maestros, la comunidad, las fiestas, etc. Los relatos que más disfruté fueron: Una aventura llamada Menudo, El carro público, Un viaje estudiantil y El barrendero. Me hicieron sonreír y hasta las pude relacionar con cosas que me habían sucedido. Ahora bien, hubo otro relatos que no disfruté tanto, por la forma en que se discutían algunos problemas sociales. Como el hecho de ponerle sobrenombres a las familias en el relato titulado El zoológico.
"Mi pueblo era casi un zoológico lleno de tantas familias con apodos de animales. Creo que todavía esta costumbre persiste aunque con tanta gente sin humor y ofendiéndose por todo no estoy segura si no les molesta o si ya están escribiendo una nota sobre el acoso y los traumas profundos que esos nombres les causaban."
Nunca me han gustado los sobrenombres, ya que es un tipo de bullying. Y en efecto, sí puede causarle daño a las personas. Creo que no es cuestión de ofenderse por todo, es que estas cosas antes las pasaban por alto y hoy día, se atienden, como debe ser. Otro asunto fue el relacionar los gustos de las niñas hacia Batman como algo mal visto, simplemente por ser niña; de igual forma, el que a una niña le guste la lucha libre. Estas cosas no tienen que ver con el sexo de la persona, se trata de gustos personales. Pero de todos los temas que se tocaron en estas memorias, el relato más que me incomodó fue el de las ilusiones amorosas con maestros en la escuela. En fin, a la hora de discutir problemas sociales, no debemos olvidar que estos temas delicados se deben manejar con mucho cuidado. De todos modos, como mencioné al principio, hubo varios relatos jocosos que sí pude disfrutar. Si quieres aventurarte entre memorias y este libro suena como algo que te gustaría leer, puedes añadirlo a tu lista.
Hey everyone! I hope you and your loved ones are doing well. Today I'm sharing information about a new release! I can't wait for my Christmas break from grad school, so I can snuggle up with Holiday Home Run by Priscilla Oliveras.
Romance, Holiday Romance
Date Published: October 27, 2020
Publisher: Kensington, Zebra Books
Event planner Julia Fernández is in Chicago for an internship that she
hopes to turn into a full-time job. She’s ready to live on her own, out from
under her familia’s expectations that she take over their catering business
in Puerto Rico and away from their year-round baseball fever thanks to her
three ball-playing brothers. Ex-MLB pitcher Ben Thomas knows what it’s like
to have different dreams than your family intends for you, but since his
injury-caused early retirement, he’s been struggling to find the sense of
family baseball once brought him. When he volunteers as the emcee for
Julia’s big holiday fundraiser for a local youth center, he finally begins
to find a sense of purpose working with the kids and alongside Julia.
She’s focused on organizing the best holiday event the youth center has
ever seen, not on romance. But Ben…he’s got a game plan for them that
includes both.
Holiday Home Run was previously released as part of the holiday anthology A
SEASON TO CELEBRATE.
About the Author
Priscilla Oliveras is a USA Today Best-Selling author & 2018 RWA® RITA®
double finalist who writes contemporary romance with a Latinx flavor. Her
books have earned Starred Reviews from Publishers Weekly & Booklist, hit
the top 5 on Barnes & Noble’s Top 100 Book Bestseller list, &
notched Amazon #1 Bestseller status. Her latest release, Island Affair, made
it onto O, The Oprah Magazine’s “28 of the Best Beach Reads of Summer 2020”
list. Priscilla earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill
University and currently serves as adjunct faculty in the program while also
teaching the online class “Romance Writing” for ed2go. She’s a
self-professed romance genre junkie, who’s also a sports fan, beach lover,
Zumba aficionado, and hammock nap connoisseur. Follow her at
prisoliveras.com and on social media via @prisoliveras and
https://www.facebook.com/prisoliveras.
Experience the World Cup with dragons in this debut fantasy, set in an alternate contemporary world, in which riders and their steeds compete in an international sports tournament.
Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.
But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.
Are you ready for my fangirling?! OMG, this book... this book is just AMAZEBALLS AMAZING! This is the debut novel of Amparo Ortiz and I just can't wait for more. Seeing a Puerto Rican main character in a book made my whole year! Blazewrath Games is one of my favorite books; and I'm talking about top 3, ok? Enough with the fangirling and let's get to the details. I was really excited to read this book because of the boricua Lana Torres, but also because of the dragons. Who doesn't love dragons? (No, honestly, who doesn't love dragons because I'm going to revoke you my friendship card). I even asked Ann Jewelry Collection to make me some dragon earrings inspired in Blazewrath Games. Just in case, I'm not obsessed with dragons, although this post may show you otherwise. (My real obsession are mermaids).
Anyway, this book is pure magic and I love it! Wait until you meet the Sol de Noche Dragons... and the rest of the dragons as well! You are probably going to fall in love with all of them. And the Sire? Wow, such a great character development. I love hating him, you know? I hold Lana near my heart because of the struggles with her identity; I felt instantly drawn to her. Blazewrath Games have a lot of characters! For me, that was a little difficult. But it is something you can work through. One of my favorite things, besides the dragons, was the relationship between Lana and Samira. It made me think of my relationship with my friend, Andrea Carolina; we are always joking around! So yeah, the fun relationship between them was so relatable.
I think I haven't read a YA fantasy novel with such a perfect world building as Blazewrath Games. I was able to see and imagine everything on my mind! Actually, can we get a Blazewrath Games movie, please? Also, I loved the presence of a lot of cultures. Especially everything about team Puerto Rico and all the little details, like the Puerto Rican flag, their pride, and the musical instruments (like we always do cheering our teams!). I felt I was there chanting with the rest of the Puerto Ricans!
Team Puerto Rico all the way!!! ¡Yo soy boricua, pa' que tú lo sepas!
I admire Amparo Ortiz because her writing style is so SO good. The details in every page were gracefully crafted. If this book sounds like something you would enjoy, be sure to add it to you TBR!
Have you read it yet? Let me know so we can talk about it ;)
Amparo Ortiz' interview
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
First of all, thank you so much for participating in the tour and for reading BWG!! As for me, hi! My name is Amparo and I'm an author living in Puerto Rico. I currently teach ESL to college students, but I was almost a clinical psychologist, then I was almost a lawyer. I'm very happy with how things worked out, lol.
What inspired you to write BLAZEWRATH GAMES?
DRAGONS. I wanted to write something with the most badass mythical creature known in the fantasy genre. I just wanted to make it Puerto Rican. And to center its existence around a magical sport. It took many years to flesh out the sport, its rules, and how my main character fit into this specific story. Trial and error times a thousand, lol. But seeing someone who shares my cultural heritage in some capacity in a fantasy novel was what drove me to keep going.
As a Boricua, I got really excited (and I'm still fangirling) with this book because it has a Puerto Rican main character. What can you tell us about the importance of representation in books?
It's crucial. I can't tell you how touched I've felt whenever readers tell me they saw themselves in Lana, or in other characters/aspects of the book. And this book has been on shelves for about two weeks. I can't imagine the kind of hunger there was for stories such as this. I certainly needed this story growing up, so I write it instead of waiting for someone else to do so. Zero regrets.
How did Sol de Noche dragons came to life in your imagination? Tell us about the creative process.
I knew my dragons were going to have black scales simply because black is my favorite color. I also knew they could set their bodies on fire, and they were the only species that's capable of doing so! But that was pretty much all I knew. It wasn't until I started drafting that everything became clearer regarding how their magic would evolve and how they would use it on the Blazewrath field. Any scene with a Sol de Noche is such a joy to write. I dare say nothing will ever bring me that much happiness as a writer.
Who is your favorite character and why?
NO FAIR.
But also let's pretend I have two favorites, since Lana--my main character--would obviously win. I also adore writing anything with her best friend, Samira! She's just funny and ambitious and hopeful in a way that Lana never could be. That contrast between them was so lovely to explore for me.
And just for fun, name 5 random facts about you.
1) I am a Capricorn Sun, a Libra Moon, and a Scorpio Rising.
2) I don't know how to ride a bike!
3) My BTS biases are Jin and Jungkook.
4) I've traveled to 16 countries.
5) I once stood behind Chris Evans for about five or six minutes and never plucked up the courage to talk to him.
Ok, this was fun! Thank you so much for your time, Amparo! It was a pleasure having you on my blog.
Amparo Ortiz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and currently lives on the island’s northeastern coast. Her short story comic, “What Remains in The Dark,” appears in the Eisner Award-winning anthology PUERTO RICO STRONG (Lion Forge, 2018), and SAVING CHUPIE, her middle grade graphic novel, comes out with HarperCollins in Winter 2022. She holds an M.A. in English and a B.A. in Psychology from the UPR’s Río Piedras campus. When she’s not teaching ESL to her college students, she’s teaching herself Korean, devouring as much young adult fiction as she can, and writing about Latinx characters in worlds both contemporary and fantastical. Her debut novel, BLAZEWRATH GAMES, hits shelves on October 6, 2020 from Page Street Kids.
Again, thanks to Hear Our Voices Book Tours and Page Street Kids for this wonderful opportunity!
Hi everyone! Today is my stop at the blog tour of Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro. This is the first book I've read by Oshiro and I definitely want to read more. Thanks to Colored Pages Bookish Tours for having me in this tour.
Book title: Each of Us a Desert
Publication date: September 15th, 2020
Author: Mark Oshiro Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 432
How I got the book: Sent for Review; the publisher provided me an ARC in exchange of my honest review.
From award-winning author Mark Oshiro comes a powerful coming-of-age fantasy novel about finding home and falling in love amidst the dangers of a desert where stories come to life.
Xochitl is destined to wander the desert alone, speaking her troubled village's stories into its arid winds. Her only companions are the blessed stars above and enigmatic lines of poetry magically strewn across dusty dunes.
Her one desire: to share her heart with a kindred spirit.
One night, Xo's wish is granted—in the form of Emilia, the cold and beautiful daughter of the town's murderous conqueror. But when the two set out on a magical journey across the desert, they find their hearts could be a match... if only they can survive the nightmare-like terrors that arise when the sun goes down.
Review
Wow... I'm obsessed with this book! The author takes you to a journey through a desert and self-discovery. I love that this book talks the way I do. Does that makes sense? I've said this before; I'm a fan of books where a character speaks another language (besides English), and the word or phrase is just thrown right there in the text, without any explanation, no italics or quotation marks. It makes me feel like I'm seen. Yes, I love the occasional Spanglish! With the bilingualism in this book, I felt represented. :) I enjoyed the stories as a cuentista; I felt it was a way of releasing stuff accumulated inside. Also, I like the way faith was approached in the story. One of the things I love the most about this book is the poetry. Can we please get a poetry collection by Mark Oshiro?
Each of Us a Desert was a rollercoaster of emotions, I got goosebumps, I cried... The romance was there, yes, but this book was more about healing. Mark Oshiro's writing style is beautiful! The dynamic between Xochitl and Emilia was good but kind of heavy. I don't want to give any spoilers but there was a lot going on. I had to take some reading breaks because of this, so I think you should consider this content/trigger warning for emotional abuse, violence, and death. Even though I felt there were some things that could've been left out of the story, and at the beginning it was kind of slow paced, this is honestly one of my all-time favorite books and I highly recommend it.
If this book sounds like something you would enjoy, be sure to add it to you TBR!
Have you read it yet? Let me know so we can talk about it ;)
Mark Oshiro is the author of Anger is a Gift (Tor Teen), winner of the 2019 Schneider Family Book Award and nominated for a 2019 Lammy Award (in the LGBTQ Children’s/Young Adult category). Upcoming novels include Each of Us a Desert (Tor Teen), a YA Fantasy novel out September 15, 2020, and The Insiders (Harper Collins), an MG Contemporary with magical elements out Fall 2021. When they are not writing, crying on camera about fictional characters for their online Mark Does Stuff universe, or traveling, Mark is busy trying to fulfill their lifelong goal: to pet every dog in the world.
