Thursday, December 10, 2009

What I'm Reading this Week ~ December 10, 2009




Puerto Rican obituary
by Pedro Pietri

This is a must read. Powerful poetry that stirs emotions.
Pedro Pietri, a poet and playwright who chronicled the joys and struggles of Nuyoricans.





The Meaning of Consuelo
a novel by Judith Ortiz Cofer

I really enjoyed this story which is an interesting point of view of a not too far long ago time. Puerto Rican novelist, essayist and poet Cofer chronicles the childhood and young adulthood of Consuelo, a bookish girl growing up in a San Juan suburb in the 1950s. Cofer's novel is richly descriptive of the shifting mores of Puerto Rican culture and the historical particularities of the era.




Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
When Clay Jenson plays the casette tapes he received in a mysterious package, he's surprised to hear the voice of dead classmate Hannah Baker. He's one of 13 people who receive Hannah's story, which details the circumstances that led to her suicide.

A bit hard to read because it switches back and forth so much between Pov's but it's a great story.





The Ladies Gallery A Memoir of Family Secrets
by Irene Vilar
From the Inside Flap
"Lolita Lebrón's granddaughter, heir to the most public female embodiment of heroic self-sacrifice in Puerto Rico in this century, [has written] a memoir full of searing, intimate truths, silences broken open to reveal the personal costs of public myth making. . . . A momentous act of courage. "

Very hard to read. It's like being inside the mind of an insane person.




Notorious
a novel of suspense by Michele Martinez

The exciting fourth legal thriller from former federal prosecutor Martinez to feature Melanie Vargas (after 2007's Cover-up) starts with a bang: a car bomb detonated by a cellphone explodes outside the Manhattan federal courthouse and kills Lester Poe, a distinguished defense attorney who was opposing Melanie in her murder prosecution of rap legend Atari Briggs.
I will be starting this one soon.
Have you read any of these books? What do you think?

2 comments:

mitad soy yo said...

I absolutely love your picks on sharing these great books. I would love to check Puerto Rican Obituary out since I am Puerto Rican seeking my roots. Gracias por the insight!

Unknown said...

Thanks for dropping by. I highly recommend you check that book out. I have a feeling you will love it as much as I did.

Have a fantastic weekend.