Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Club

Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club is a partnership between Las Comadres and
Association of American Publishers (AAP) to promote reading of Latino authors.

• Membership is open to everyone
• Most of the books are also available in Spanish

 

 

Association of American Publishers (AAP) have joined us in a partnership to promote reading of Latino authors by creating the first national level book club: Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club. Initially, select Borders stores in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Utah hosted the new book clubs. Membership is open to anyone. Most of the books also are available in Spanish. The initial launch of the Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club included 15 cities, and future plans called for expanding the book club to all network cities where Las Comadres members are located. If interested in starting a Las Comadres Network in your city, please fill out subscription form and indicate your interest.

The national book club has grown out of a series of highly successful monthly teleconferences which we host, with each teleconference featuring one book club-selected author. The first gathering of our New York comadres for book club was on July 21, 2004 at the apartment of comadre Maria Ferrer. When Maria’s schedule became too demanding, the book club was put on hiatus and was re-started in March 2007 at the Borders Columbus Circle location in New York.

We are launching the book club to promote the work of Latino authors to every book lover, to bring our community to bookstores, and to support our writers. –Comadre Johanna Castillo, national organizer of the book club and a Comadres former board member

Esmeralda Santiago was our initial National Spokesperson for Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Clubs, she also is the best selling author of three memoirs: When I was Puerto Rican, Almost a Woman, and The Turkish Lover, and of the novel América’s Dream. Her film adaptation of her memoir for Almost a Woman for PBS Masterpiece Theatre was awarded a Peabody Award. Esmeralda is also an essayist, anthologist, children’s book author, and a guest commentator on NPR. She is a ’92 alumna of the National Hispana Leadership Institute. Esmeralda lives in Westchester County, NY with her husband of 30 years, filmmaker Frank Cantor.